Capturing the passing crowd

The University in its publicity makes a great deal of the 800,000 visits made to the Canterbury Museum  and surrounding area each year by out-of-town visitors. We are  told  it is this passing crowd, as much as the citizens of Christchurch, that they want to expose to the talent within the music programme.  Apparently, this would not be possible with a building anywhere other than the Arts Centre.

In reality, turning the passing crowd into a fee paying audience is far easier said than done, as Elric Hooper, with years of experience in trying to achieve that for the Court Theatre,  can attest.  By and large theatre and concert performances do not capture an impulse audience.  The best way to display the talent within the school would surely be to provide performances in as wide a range of venues as possible, preferably for no charge or only a nominal charge.  The very successful National School of Music has a no charge policy for the majority of its concerts and it performs at a range of venues throughout Wellington.  The Music School does not need to build a costly auditorium at the Arts Centre to showcase the talent of their students within the cultural precinct.  Numerous potential performance venues exist, of varied size, acoustics and atmosphere. The possibilities are only limited by lack of imagination.

The first and most obvious one is the Great Hall. As the original home of the university and an outstanding heritage building, it surely has the gravitas Mr Carr desires.  A new auditorium at the Arts centre would directly compete with this venue, reducing the income stream for the Arts Centre Trust Board.  A second option, one entailing no additional cost to the University, would be the use of the SOFA gallery for intimate recitals or chamber concerts.  This would allow the audience to experience the talents of the Fine Arts Department at the same time.  In spring and summer outdoor concerts could be held in the quandrangles with the musicians seated under the arcading.   The Southern Ballet Theatre might also be willing to hire out its small and very intimate venue from time to time.  

What about an occasional concert in the McDougall Art Gallery?  That would certainly showcase the talent of the university to the passing crowd intent on making their way to the Museum and Botanic Gardens.  In the daffodil season,  performances in the Band Rotunda could add to the atmosphere for all those tourists who go to admire the daffodils in bloom.  The new visitor centre for the Gardens might provide another location.  The shelter near the childrens' playground  area could provide an opportunity to introduce music to young people. 

It has previously been noted that the atrium of the Art Gallery provides a wonderful opportunity to perform to a captive audience and there is also precedent for using the gallery spaces.  In addition there is a small auditorium.  From time to time COCA is also used for performances and this could provide another possible venue with mutual benefit to the gallery and the Music School.  A little further afield, but still within the cultural precinct, both the Provincial Buildings and the Cathedral offer further possibilities. Still within the Central City but beyond the cultural precinct there are of course places such as the Music Centre,  the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, St Michaels and All Angels in addition to obvious venues such as the James Hay Theatre for more formal concerts or opera performances.  In reality, there are innumerable possibilities for bringing the vibrancy and talent of the music students to the centre city while still locating the music building on campus. All that is needed is the will to do so.