My first blog for Nottingham Classics

Hi,

It's not often I can claim a first for anything but here's the genuine article - a first blog for Nottingham Classics.

So, where to start?

Maybe I should begin with saying a little about myself. I've been interested in orchestral music since I was too young to be able to spell 'trombone', but it really all started for me when I took up that very instrument when I was 12. I've played in all kinds of ensemble but my eyes were really opened by playing in my county youth orchestra. I carried on playing at university, where I spent far too many years doing a B.A, M.A and then a PhD in English Literature. Some time into my PhD I realised that what I really wanted to do was work with orchestras and shortly after this I started working for the University's concerts office, where I got the chance to meet several classical artists and a few orchestras, too. I got some voluntary work at the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, which ultimately helped me to get my first job at the National Youth Orchestra. After a couple of years I moved to Nottingham to work at the University Arts Centre, now Lakeside Arts Centre, before working for the County Council's arts service.

That's where I got involved in marketing Nottingham Classics, which I've been working on for more than three years now. When Nottingham Classics became a promotion of the Royal Concert Hall this summer, I moved with it and took up the post of Classical Music Marketing Manager.

This was probably the shortest time I've ever spent in a job, because within days of taking up the position I learned that Peter Bolton, who has programmed the season from October 2006 up to October 2009, had gone and got himself a new job as the Chief Executive for Kent Music Service. Which is great news for Peter and we all wish him well in his new role.

The only downside was that we now didn't have a Programmer for the season. And this is why my tenure as Classical Music Marketing Manager was so short. Once Peter had accepted his new job I was offered the newly-created role of Classical Music Manager - I'd lost one word from my job title but had gained a whole new set of responsibilities.

So, what'll I be doing now? Well, I'll still be marketing the season but I'll now be programming future seasons and liaising with orchestras, artists, artists' agents, the Royal Concert Hall staff and all our various partners to develop the season over the coming years.

Naturally, a change of programmer can bring anxiety that things might suddenly change - and not always for the better. And here, please can I reassure you? Peter's simple formula for concerts - the best orchestras we can get, with their Principal Conductors wherever possible, plus great soloists and, above all, with the right repertoire - has done great things for Nottingham Classics. Our audiences have grown by over 300 per concert on average and there's a real buzz about the place now. I'd be mad to move away from this - so I'm not going to. Hopefully you'll agree in 2009-10 that the season builds on what's been achieved over the last four years.

What I will be doing is to look at ways of giving you a bit more. I'd like to bring some more pre- and post-concert performance into the Concert Hall and to find ways of making classical music more accessible to more people. We're starting this on 16 June with our first ever Drivetime Concert, which will offer the chance to discover live orchestral music in a friendly introductory concert that lasts an hour from 6pm. the perfect opportunity to leave the traffic jams behind and go on a more exciting journey.

And there's going to be more stuff on the Nottingham Classics website, too. We're going to add more features and resources (including suggestions on what to listen to next, clips of music for special occasions, fun stuff (not necessarily always musical), podcasts and the chance to have your say on Nottingham Classics through this blog. I'm hoping to add video and audio content to the blog, too, to spice things up a bit. I'm just getting to grips with my webcam at the moment so before too long you can look forward (?!) to a few audio-visual contributions from me.

Hmmm. That sounds like a fair bit to do, so I'd better get on with it.

Bye for now,

Neil