Not a good recital

By Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene (get free updates of new posts here)

What if I told you that most people get the idea of playing an organ recital wrong in this day and age?

​What if for many people playing an organ recital and using common sense no longer works anymore?

It used to be that an organist would learn some exciting organ pieces (about 50-60 minutes total), find a venue or receive an offer from organizers, schedule a time for the recital and perform for an excited audience.

You see, people have changed. Times have changed.

Today people have so many choices if they want some cultural and/or entertainment activity besides going to your recital - they can go to other peoples concerts, opera, theater, museums, movies. Or they can be wherever they want and watch online videos on their smartphone. Or they can read a book (fewer and fewer people do, apparently). You get the picture.

The choices are enormous.

On top of that, your organ recital is competing with a billion channels on YouTube.

That's why nobody cares anymore (well, some of us do, but we're in the minority).

So how do you stand out from the crowd?

How do you get noticed, liked, trusted, and talked about?

The rule is NOT to compete.

The rule is to avoid competition altogether.

The rule is to be unique, to do things that nobody else can.

So if I can substitute one organist for another and the recital would still make sense, it's not a good recital anymore.

But...

(and this is a big but)...

...what you offer should not only be unique every time.

It should also be desired by your fans.

No wonder, why so many organists are struggling.

​But it's worth thinking about it now, than wondering why you are no longer relevant later.