Classical music is attracting a younger audience, Derham says
A RADIO 3 presenter has claimed that the coronavirus crisis has led to younger audiences being drawn to classical music.
Katie Derham, 50, is also one of the presenters of this year’s Proms, which will feature live performances in the final fortnight.
In an interview with Radio Times magazine, she said “perhaps this dreadful pandemic has given the classical music world a glimmer of hope”.
Derham said her Radio 3 show has enjoyed “more messages and feedback from listeners than I’d had in months – classical music is clearly filling a very distinct, very important need”.
The streaming of performances in the lockdown had enticed a new audience and “democratised” classical music, she added.
“Over the past four months we’ve all had (mostly) free access to a fabulous selection of streamed performances from the world’s finest orchestras and opera houses,” Derham said.
“Top-flight musicians have switched on camera phones and given us free recitals from their living rooms.
“Classical music has always provided escape and solace, but with the wonders of modern technology, a whole new audience has been welcomed in.”
Derham said a recent study suggested that during lockdown, 60 per cent of young people have been listening to classical music.
“This is unbelievably heartening,” she said.
“For more than a decade... there has been a dull, rather repetitive narrative that our audience is ageing, that classical music is too elitist, that the best concerts and operas are too expensive.”
Derham predicted there will be a “whole lot more young people watching and listening at home” to the live Proms’ performances, which begin on August 28.
But she said she wonders when we will “hear live orchestral music again” indoors.
She added: “Despite welcome Government bail-outs, we don’t yet know when audiences in any numbers will be able to enjoy live performances indoors, and many freelance musicians will suffer terribly until then. It’s beyond tough.”