Once the project has been designed, the methods have been chosen, the target audience has been defined, the participants have been recruited and selected, and the materials are organised, it is time to bring the participants to the process of developing the project (the concert, or part of it, depending on the goal of each project).
For projects involving participation in advance to the concert, the scheduling of meetings and/or workshops can be a great challenge, which can be approached using different styles / strategies. One style may be for the leader to set a date and time and inform the participants. Another style may be for the leader to inquire about the participants’ availability, and try to find a common available time.
While the first option may have the advantage of simplifying the process for the leader and keeping the dynamic more objective, it may set a top-down tone to the project, and also lose the engagement of some participants who could not attend on the set date and time. On the other hand, although the second style may set a more democratic tone from the start of the project, it may bring extra management difficulties, especially when dealing with a larger group and when dealing with factors such as multiple time zones.
In either case, some elements to be taken into account when scheduling meetings / workshops include:
- The characteristics of the target audience and their usual routine: for example, if there are school-age participants, it is imperative to avoid school hours (unless the project is included in their school hours activities).
- Time zones, if the participants are joining from vastly different locations
- The timescale of the project, including feasibility of the tasks to be done by the participants in between meetings / workshops (if applicable).
In regards to timescale, it may be interesting to draw a timeline where the participants would be able to clearly visualise the steps, phases, or milestones of the project. Depending on the chosen style of leadership and/or other characteristics of the project, this timeline can either be traced collaboratively with the participants or be drawn by the leader and communicated to the participants later on. In either situation, our experience has shown that it is helpful to always allow extra time for the completion of steps and/or milestones, and to be aware of the need to be flexible at times.
Besides the infrastructure mentioned in the previous chapter, the preparation also includes the organisation of any other materials that may facilitate the unravelling of the meetings / workshops. This may include ice-breaker exercises, visual material presenting the project, activities, and visual or sound examples for the development of some ideas.
It is then important for the leader / facilitator to prepare for the meeting / workshop. One aspect that may be interesting to consider is the leadership style and communication tone. Astrid Breel points out how essential the development of a relationship between artist and audience is, highlighting that
It is therefore necessary to consider the way the artists approach the audience, the way invitations are framed, and how the tasks build throughout the work.[1]
A proposal of inclusion is generally understood as central to participatory works. Therefore, it is important for the artist / facilitator to develop skills of empathy, and be attentive so that the meeting / workshop has an inviting environment where the participants feel comfortable. The artist / facilitator needs to be sensitive to differences in cultural and social backgrounds, and be attentive to the participants’ different personality types. For example, there may be situations where some participants are quieter and seem to not be engaging in the discussions of the workshop. The artist / facilitator may need to then be sensitive, helping them engage actively but in a way that will not make them feel exposed.
Another great challenge, especially when working with volunteers, is to keep the participants motivated. Here, our experience showed that the interpersonal relationships developed between artist and participants, as well as the development of an inclusive environment, are among the most powerful elements to keep the participants' motivation. It is also crucial to present and maintain inspiring and intriguing creative proposals, while simultaneously providing realistic expectations regarding the tasks the participants are asked to complete. It can be helpful to maintain clear, warm, and empathetic communication, as well as an ongoing accountability regarding the management of the project.
In projects that involve production of materials by the participants throughout a period of time, it is crucial to keep the communication, calendars, and files organised as the development of the project unravels. There are several methods and tools available for such organisation, including shareable cloud storage programs, online calendars, and forums. A well-organised project is helpful not only for the artist / leader / facilitator herself, but for the participants as well. They can thus have confidence in the leadership, and also possibly feel more in control regarding their own participation in the project.
The management of the pace of the project is also very important, not only to ensure its timely development, but also to help in the motivation and enthusiasm of the participants. In our experience, when a project is developed over a long period of time, there are moments when there is a higher level of energy, which could be reflected, for example, in a higher volume of communication. This is then balanced with periods of more quietness, experienced for example during moments when some editing work is done. A crucial moment, however, is the anticipation for the delivery of the work in which the participants have been involved. Here, the artist / leader / facilitator needs to develop skills to bring the participants together and build a positive atmosphere of expectation for the culmination of such collective work.
Case study 1: music as an invitation (year 1: 2023-2024)
In the music as an invitation project I first asked each participant, via email, for their availabilities before scheduling each workshop. Although this dynamic demanded a great amount of administrative time, it helped to establish a democratic leadership style and a horizontal dynamic.
My aim was for the workshops to be spaces where conversations would flow naturally. Nevertheless, I would always have a set of questions prepared to help stimulate the conversations. Since this group was very participative, the participants themselves would usually quickly volunteer to speak after I asked a question, and would respond to each other, keeping the conversation up. However, I sometimes noticed that some participants had been quiet for a long time, in which case I tried to gently encourage them to speak by asking them some questions directly. I tried to keep a warm and informal tone. Sometimes, some participants would ask for my vision as the leader of the project, but I tried to encourage them to suggest ideas instead, positioning myself as a facilitator, or even as a participant as well.
The experience was very welcoming, open, and inclusive. I felt enough time was given for each of the participants to voice their opinion. The questions posed by the moderator were non judgmental and therefore I could express freely my opinion (it was equal either/or).[2]
We decided that the workshops were to have a monthly frequency. Due to the deadlines of the project regarding the funding agency, I proposed a goal date for the finalisation of the collaboration and presentation of the online concert. I then drew a timeline, and posted it on the project’s website.
The participants were in five different time zones, and many of them were professionals who worked office hours. Therefore, the meetings usually happened on Saturday afternoons (in the European time zones), which was the time and day that would usually suit all the participants.
In between the workshops I made sure to send reminders to the participants via email. These reminders were helpful to keep the motivation of the group up, however I tried not to contact them too much so as not to have the opposite effect of becoming intrusive or inappropriate.
The gentle and inclusive tone of the project was also built from an attitude of being understanding regarding potential delays and eventual absences. This was possible due to the freer nature of the creative proposal, as well as the emphasis on the process rather than on the final product.
As the date for the premiere was approaching, the project took a faster pace, with more meetings in order to work on the editing of the online concert video. The involvement of the participants in other tasks (video editing, poster) also helped increase the energy in the days leading up to the concert.
Case study 2: Hecate writes / rsvp: piano, toy piano, electronics, and actions
For the second year of the music as an invitation project, I initially sought to keep the democratic-horizontal style of leadership of the first year. Similarly to the first year, I firstly asked the availability of each participant in order to find common times to schedule the workshops. However, sometimes it was indeed not possible to find a common time. On those occasions, I had individual meetings with participants who could not attend the workshop. However, for workshops where the participants were supposed to work together, it was imperative to find a day and time that would suit everyone.
For this group, which was made of teenage girls, the proposal of setting up a space for conversations and free exploration did not seem to be flowing so easily. Then, a decision was made to change the focus, now with a direct objective of realising a piece already designed by the commissioned composer: Hecate writes, by Alwynne Pritchard.
Here, there were clear tasks to be done by the participants - either during the workshops or in between meetings (which usually took place every three weeks). This more condensed timescale was beneficial to keep the motivation of the girls up, alongside the creatively inspiring characteristic of the project itself.
Although a more top-down style of leadership was needed with this group, I tried to keep a warm tone and establish an environment of inclusion and understanding.
Since this was a group comprising under-age participants, communication with the parents was essential. Firstly, the communication with parents was a requirement of the Ethics Regulations of the project. This mediation was also helpful for the organisation of the workshops, to keep the participants motivated and aware of the deadlines for their tasks. It also eventually gave me some insights about the girls’ experience of the project, which I could not get from them directly.
The work with this group of teenagers revealed the necessity of having sensitivity regarding generational differences, understanding the demands of this age group, and trusting in their ability to rise to challenges. Sometimes, some of the participants indeed missed a deadline for the delivery of a certain task. In those occasions, it was helpful to have allowed extra time in the timescale. Also, it was important to appreciate that this age group, nowadays, is usually under great pressure from school and other demands. Even so, all the participants showed much dedication in the accomplishment of their individual tasks, which were still delivered in time for the development of the next steps of the creative process.
The piece developed with the teenage girls - Hecate writes - was premiered in the live-streamed concert rsvp: piano, toy piano, electronics, and actions, which also featured participatory elements for the in-situ audience.
The participatory proposal of this concert did not require workshops in advance. Rather, they involved providing materials and instructions to the audience during the concert itself.
Firstly, I had told some audience members in advance about the participatory actions that they would be asked to do during the concert. Thus, these pre-informed people could lead the others by example, helping the artistic proposal to flow in a more organic way.
In order to create an inviting atmosphere, the room was set up in a ‘café-style’, with chairs around small tables. The door was also open during the concert, with a sign stating that latecomers were invited to enter at any time. I prepared ‘audience participation kits’ - small paper bags with the material that the audience would need for the participatory actions - and placed them on the audience’s chairs. For the remote audience, the publicity material for the concert included a suggested material list needed for the participatory actions, in case remote listeners wished to experience them as well.
During the concert, I tried to keep a warm and informal tone in my communication with the audience, both in-situ and remote. I gave the instructions before each piece, and even joined the audience when the piece of music allowed me. The instructions were also written in the live chat before each piece by a person in charge of communicating with the remote audience during the livestream.
Although this concert had majorly positive feedback, both from the in-situ and the remote experience, the element of instructions is still a question to be developed. Firstly, since the communication was in English, this can compromise the reach of audiences who do not speak this particular language. The verbal communications could also sometimes break the flow of the concert as a whole. Additionally, how to find a balance of how much instruction to give - not too little that the specific proposal of the piece is not met, yet not too much so not to become didactic and cut off the creative input from the participants?
Summarising the steps of Into the process of developing a participatory online concert:
- Scheduling the first meeting
- Preparing for the meeting
- Finding a tone / style of leadership
- Creating an inviting environment / engaging your participants
- Keeping participants motivated - communication, accountability
- Keeping the materials organised - helpful for you and for your collaborators
- Warming up for the culmination - the delivery of the concert!