Pro-practice - Rules of engagement

In his penultimate BBW Pro Practice session, Besson Artist, Les Neish, outlines how to engage with the audience

For my penultimate class in the series, I’m focusing on the idea of stage presence and communication. As a performer who spends time in many different guises, there are occasions when I perform as a soloist, either in a recital setting or as a guest soloist with an ensemble.

MUSICIAN

I thought the best place to start would be to look up the meaning and related words for musician:

Artist, instrumentalist, diva, soloist,
player, performer…
A person who performs music.
A person who entertains an audience.  

AUDIENCE

Essentially, the audience is the most important dimension in the equation. In most cases, the audience has paid money to hear a performance, and it is only quite right that it feels engaged and entertained by it. Remember that no matter how much you practice or rehearse, it all means nothing if you cannot connect with an audience.

The truth is that, once you walk on to the stage, it is no longer about you anymore; it is all about the listener and how you make him/her feel. Many a time I have watched a performance where this isn’t the case and it certainly is an easy thing to forget. Having just returned from a fantastic few days with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, I can confirm that the band certainly got this right at our recent concert. The crowd jumped to its feet three times during our performance and it took the audience over an hour to leave the auditorium after our concert. That is what making music is all about and there is no better feeling…

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For his final class in the series, Les has decided to open up a question and answer session, so please send your questions via www.facebook.com/LesTuba or www.tuba-artist.com and read Les's answers in the next edition of BBW!