Rethinking Audience Development in Classical Music with Holly Mulcahy

What if audience development started with listening to audiences rather than telling them what they should appreciate? In this episode of "Modern Musician’s Survival Guide", Ghenadie speaks with violinist, Wichita Symphony Orchestra concertmaster and Arts Capacity founder Holly Mulcahy about audience development, meaningful engagement and rethinking the relationship between musicians and their listeners. Through her work bringing live music into prisons, Holly discovered how important it is to give people the freedom to experience and interpret music on their own terms. These experiences inspired "The Orchestra Is Listening", a new audience engagement experiment at the Wichita Symphony that encourages meaningful conversations between musicians and audiences and among audience members themselves. Rather than simply asking whether someone enjoyed a concert, Holly is exploring what happens when we ask deeper questions, listen with curiosity and make audiences feel that their experiences and interpretations matter. The conversation explores how these interactions can help build trust, create a more welcoming concert environment and potentially strengthen long-term relationships between audiences and arts organizations. Topics discussed include: Rethinking audience development in classical music The Orchestra Is Listening: Holly's audience-engagement experiment Lessons from bringing classical music into prisons Why musicians shouldn't assume what audiences want Creating more welcoming and participatory concert experiences How to start meaningful conversations with audiences Practical audience-engagement ideas for freelance musicians The relationship between audience development and marketing Measuring the impact of meaningful audience relationships Rethinking success, diversifying skills and finding purpose as a musician At the heart of the conversation is a simple idea: live music is not just something musicians present and audiences receive. It is an experience we create together. Episode Links and Resources Holly's website:⁠ https://hollymulcahy.com/ Holly's non-profit Arts Capacity: https://artscapacity.org/ Follow Holly on Instagram: ⁠  / violinmulcahy   Connect with Holly on LinkedIn: ⁠  / holly-mulcahy-b6180575   Connect with Holly on Facebook:   / holly.mulcahy   Holly's YouTube channel: ⁠   / @hollymulcahy8820   Wichita Symphony Orchestra: https://wichitasymphony.org/ Connect with Modern Musician’s Survival Guide LinkTree → ⁠https://linktr.ee/modernmusicianssurv... Free 15-minute clarity introduction call for musicians → https://tr.ee/Seu_ed1duN