Opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, are appealing to a younger opera audience through different programs such as live HD broadcasts and young opera guilds.
As I have been reading several different opera music message boards over the last few weeks, one common thread that I have been seeing ring through is a total disconnect between older opera fans and an attempt by many opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, to find a younger audience. I believe that it is imperative, for the health and continuation of the art form to try and gain a larger, and frankly younger, audience. How do you do this though? How do you make opera music more relevant to the general public and this younger generation? How do you do this without "ruining the art" that the older generation has come to love?
One thing that I have noticed is that many companies are doing a great job of trying new things to make opera a more social event for the audience. The formation of opera clubs, such as Cincinnati Opera's Center Stage (which is a group for young professionals under the age of 40) is one such way. If you can make a night out at the opera a fun, romantic date evening where "everyone is doing it," then you will tend to gain a more of audience.
Peter Gelb and the Metropolitan Opera are trying to bring opera to the general public, with great success, through the use of live broadcasts in HD at local movie theaters. This is a much less expensive, but equally effective way of letting the Met travel, as they used to on tours generations ago. I believe that one of the reasons that opera music was as popular to an older crowd is that people were brought up going to live theater when it came to town. Now we have movies or live Broadway shows. It is expensive to tour an opera, (the reasons are far too many to go into here) so how do we bring the music and world-class singers to a town near you? Why not broadcast into a movie theater, using technology that we didn't have only a couple of years ago. Opera is now cutting edge, and as the popularity of the Met's HD broadcasts increases, so to will the audience get younger. A $20 ticket plus some popcorn and a soda is much less expensive than a great orchestra seat at the Metropolitan and many other opera companies, making it a viable experience for younger adults, especially if they want to bring their families.
I know that some people would think that a younger generation has the attention span of a gnat. I have even heard the 20 or 30-somethings referred to as the "ADD generation." I also know that change is sometimes difficult to swallow, but to keep the music coming for generations into the future, you have to cultivate a younger audience. If this comes from exclusive "young adult opera guilds" and "HD movie broadcasts," then the opera is trying to get ahead of the curve, and get out from behind the 8-ball. What will they think of next?
