Starting with the idea that a concert is a social connection, members of England’s Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment have organized Night Shift, a series of five concerts in pubs. It means patrons can enjoy fish and chips, as well as Bach and bitter.
It’s a great idea, as explained by the orchestra’s co-leader, Maggie Faultless, in the Guardian’s Music Blog. She writes:
You might think that the informality of these venues would create a casual relationship with the music – I’m often asked if pub venues means it’s noisy, but not a bit of it (the clank of a few glasses from the bar aside). In fact we’ve found that there seems to be an enhanced degree of listening as people are much more directly involved in the music making, and this intense listening creates the atmosphere of the performance. I like to think that we are sharing in each other’s listening.