21st Century

Classical orchestras at the beginning of the 21st Century find themselves at an evolutionary crossroads. Their traditional audience tends to demand familiar material from the 19th Century and before, but attracting a new and younger audience requires a sense of relevance. The CD market is reducing all the time, as the audience purchases all that it needs. Orchestras are having to find new ways of giving access to people if they are to survive. Often it is Education departments that lead the experimentation and innovation. The Philharmonia Orchestra's Web Development is a case in point, using the internet as a way of reaching out to people who would never normally consider going to a concert. The roots of the orchestra historically lie in the musical culture of the people around it, and this is something that contemporary orchestras often seek to rediscover.