It’s untrue to say young people no longer love classical music
Budding listeners and musicians alike are re at risk of losing out, says Julian Lloyd Webber
When, in May 2014, I was forced to stop playing the cello – a herniated disc in my neck having reduced the power in my bowing arm – there were many things I missed. On a practical level, there was the sudden loss of income. On an emotional level, I had lost everything I had worked towards since I was 13, and this made me question who I was and what, if anything, I could become. Yet the thing I missed the most – and still do – was that extraordinary connection, through music, to a live audience.
My own hiatus from the music profession lasted for 14 months, until I was appointed principal of the then-Birmingham Conservatoire in July 2015, where I remained until last September. So I recognise the emptiness that so many talented young musicians will have felt over the past year, and the frustration that all their hours of practice have failed to result in public concerts. Both the music and acting students s are incredibly dedicated. They ey practise for hours every day and often n work long into the night. Many were e devastated not to be able to perform their final projects in front of an audience, dience, as that was what they had been working towards for the past four years. On the plus side, the imagination ation they showed when submitting itting their final projects online was a joy to behold.
Creativity has been the watchword as the arts world orld attempts, with varying degrees of success, to cope pe with its worst crisis in living ing memory. Where some have ve remained passive, others have taken the lead. A few w days after the first lockdown wn began, the Russian-born and German-based pianist Igor or Levit decided to relay a series of “house concerts” on Twitter from his Berlin apartment. By the time he had reached recital number 52, they were attracting more than 20,000 viewers every evening. When Isata KannehMason’s performance last April at the Royal Alber Albert Hall was cancelled, the other memb members of her extraordinary family rallie rallied round and produced an arrangemen arrangement for five players of the work she sh should have been playing with an orch orchestra (Beethoven’s Third Piano Conce Concerto). Their subsequent performanc performance on Facebook was seen by a far great greater audience than could ever hav have squeezed into the Royal Albert Hall.
An And throughout the pand pandemic, the Wigmore Hall has been a beacon of light, offe offering free live-streamed lunc lunchtime concerts (their lates latest spring series has just been announced). These perfor performances continue to provid provide a lifeline for musicians and a audiences alike.
F From this evening on Classic FM FM, I will be focusing on some of the many brilliant young musicians both here and abroad, with a new five-part series that will showcase six performers every week. By the end, we will have heard 30 exceptional artists under the age of 30. Apart from the need to provide a platform for young musicians – at a time when it has never been more difficult for them to share their talents with us – there are many other good reasons for me to showcase them. For as long as I can remember, there have been rumblings that classical music is no longer “relevant” to young people. Some of the murmuring even comes from members of the music-education establishment, who should know better.
Yet recent research commissioned by the British Phonographic Industry, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the streaming service Deezer, relating to classical music streams and young people, demonstrated that the opposite was true. Published last August, it found that 18-25 year olds had accounted for a third (34 per cent) of classical music streamers worldwide in the past 12 months. The RPO’s own research also found that the under35s were the most likely group to listen to orchestral music during lockdown: 59 per cent, compared with a national average of 51 per cent. By way of comparison, a decade ago the BPI’s purchasing data showed that the under-30s made up just 10 per cent of classical music listeners. At Classic FM, 1.2million out of the 5.5million weekly listeners are under 35.
Researching my new series has been exhilarating and, at times, almost frightening. Watching films of countless teenage pianists, violinists and cellists playing with consummate technical prowess, I cannot help but wonder what will become of many of them; there is simply not room for them all to be successful soloists. The upside of their apparently mandatory technical perfection is that it becomes quite easy to spot a musician who has that special ability to connect with their audience – and I believe that all 30 of my “rising stars” possess that quality in abundance. In fact, it would have been easy to find at least 30 more at that level.
Without giving too much away, I can tell you there will be one or two household names on show, but that many of my amazing “rising stars” will be new to Classic FM listeners, and a few will have never been heard in the UK before. There will be exclusive previews of new recordings, and a mix of music and instruments all demonstrating the incredible vibrancy of today’s classical music scene.
There will be the violinist Daniel Lozakovich, who lists boxing as his hobby; the organist Anna Lapwood who, after being told at an early audition that she should “play more like a man”, created her hashtag “play like a girl”, and the violinist Esther Abrami, who has acquired more than 200,000 followers on Instagram.
Listening anew to so many brilliant young performers brought back many memories of my own beginnings as an aspiring solo cellist. The difference, of course, is that I had the opportunities to play in public, whereas that vital necessity has been denied to so many outstanding musicians for far too long.
All 30 of these wonderful, dedicated musicians deserve this spotlight on their talents at a crucial time in their careers.
Under35s are more likely than any age group to listen to this genre
Julian Lloyd Webber’s Rising Stars starts tonight at 9pm on Classic FM