A new structure especially conceived for international media operators gathering in Cremona during the Show: this is the media lounge. It will welcome all the international media operators offering customized itineraries through the Exhibition, face-to-face meetings and one-to-one interviews providing a comprehensive overview of the exhibition repertoire well tailored on journalists and readers’ interests. From bloggers to the critics of the major newspapers, going through the highly specialized press.
Andreas Kern is a Berlin based pianist, inventor of new musical formats, both live and for the media, such as Pianocity, PianoBattle and Arte Lounge. Andreas, with Roberto Prosseda, is the inventor of the “Happy Cow Concert” project, produced by CremonaFiere. He is also a founding member of the Media Lounge, which will be installed at Cremona Musica 2017. In this interview, he talks about his points of view on the classical music communication.
You are a very innovative musician: inventor of new live music formats, TV presenter and much more. So what does it mean for you to be a musician today?
Being a musician today is wonderful. We can play all over the world and can discover different countries and cultures and we can make a living from playing music. This is a privilege but I think it has also to do with your origin. If you would live in Pakistan or Venezuela, it would be much more difficult to make a living from your dreams. On the other hand, I believe that we are also responsible for creating new audiences. Therefore, we not only need to practice, but also innovate new formats to reach out to new target groups, for audience developing.
How do you see the influence of internet and of the social media in the way people perceive classical music?
A contemporary composer told me once that one day he would need to compose only short pieces of a 3-minute length, so they can be easily downloaded, as the data should not be too big. The influence of social media is only to promote the artists and the concerts. At the end, the people need to go to a concert to listen and enjoy. Personally, I never got goosebumps while listening music on Youtube.
Can you give some suggestion to young students who are trying to make a career as classical musicians?
Be yourself and find out who you are. Sounds easy, but it is the hardest in our jungle. Don´t waste too much time with social media and try to build up a team around you.
What is the future of classical music? What are the most surprising changes that we will experience in the next 10-15 years?
The most surprising change is probably that we will not have a change in that way, that we will still have an audience, of the same age as now. The future of classical music is to trust in the value of the classical music and not trying to be pop music.
You had the idea of establishing a Media Lounge at Cremona Musica 2017. Can you tell us what would you expect from it and what are its goals?
I would hope that Cremona Musica could build up a group of people from media background annual exchanging experiences and discussing ideas how to work on classical music in media fields.
Last time you came in Cremona Musica, you made a Skype call with Beethoven. Then you filmed a video, “Happy Cow Concert”, where you were giving a concert for a special audience, just made of cows. What else would you like to bring to Cremona in the near future?
In my early years at the University I was already combining arts: Music & Food, Music & Dance, Music & Fashion. In Cremona we were connecting music with other fields, like technology or cows. I would wait which other keyword Cremona throws to me and then we see what comes out. Stay curious!