Up-to-date

»Gillam spreads joy around« – probably the plainest and most apt sentence written about British saxophonist Jess Gillam. She is the new ambassador of the sax, performing Bach and Bowie, Shostakovich and Radiohead and presenting her own weekly show with classical music on BBC Radio 3. And she does all this not only with indisputable virtuosity, but with such infectious enthusiasm that her throng of fans, young people among them, has multiplied in the last few years: she has 30,000 followers on Instagram and a quarter of a million clicks a month on Spotify. Gillam wants to show everything that the saxophone can do, appealing to a wide audience in the process. This is nothing if not modern. But Gillam has a different priority: »Our no. 1 responsiblility in my opinion is to be compassionate and empathetic. I try to create a magical world for my audience – an alternative reality.«

»It's really simple,« says Cristina Gómez Godoy. »For me, an artist who manages to hit it off with his audience is a modern artist.« A dream came true for the Andalusian oboist when she was taken on by the Staatskapelle Berlin at the age of 21. She has been principal oboist in the orchestra for ten years now, and also teaches at the university, gives master classes and makes guest appearances as a soloist with other orchestras. Does she also have a private life? Gómez Godoy smiles. »It's certainly become harder to achieve the right work-life balance.« She finds the social media a source of pressure. »It's so easy to get the feeling that you need to be constantly working and posting in order to be successful. There can be no disputing that these platforms have done a great deal to make music more accessible. But there is one thing you can't buy online, and that's maturity. To achieve that you need to see the world, you need to be inquisitive, to talk and travel and sometimes suffer with people – with other generations than your own. And you need time to do that.«

Caspar Vinzens is still under 30, but he has been playing in the Aris Quartet almost half his life. Back then, they were four young lads that a teacher at music college put together to form a quartet. And the experiment was a success: Anna KatharinA, CaspaR, NoémI and LukaS –»Aris« for short – bonded and grew up in the quartet. Maybe this is why modernity for  Vinzens starts with ensemble culture: »We are a democratic group, and important decisions have to be unanimous.« But being modern also means being present on Instagram and Youtube. »Reaching young people is a top priority. However, in the social media it's often not the best quality that attracts the most attention, but the most effective self-promotion. Dumbed-down content and algorithms determine what sells.« This doesn't affect his quartet's repertoire: »I would rather be called ›old-fashioned‹ than do without milestones of music history.«

»Music doesn't start punctually at 9 in the morning, and it doesn't clock out at five either,« says Anna Katharina Wildermuth, leader of the Aris Quartet, about the life of a modern artist. »We are never through with rehearsals and practice, there is always something that can be improved on. What's important is to ensure ur everyday life has structure. When do I have time to myself? When can I put my instrument away without a bad conscience?« Being up-to-date means two things for Anna. Firstly, you need to have empathy. »In chamber music you learn to think along social lines, with individual interests taking a back seat. That's the only way to progress.« And secondly, it's important to »be open to new formats and ideas«, to respond to the needs of a fast-changing society. »We live in ever more complex times. We musicians can't ignore today's problems in our professional lives any longer.«

For British baritone James Newby, a musician's most powerful instrument are his own feelings. »I can remember an experience I had as a student. I was in a rehearsal room and was going to rehearse a song, but I wasn't feeling so good. A glance at the song text showed me that it described exactly my emotions at that moment. That really knocked me out!« Newby wants to convey this effect to his audience. »I try to tell my own stories when singing – and if I do that, I am automatically modern. Some practices in the world of opera, however, I find to be totally outmoded, such as white singers painting their faces black. We need to do more against discrimination, be it racist or sexist in nature.«

»When I think how few people classical music reaches, compared with genres like pop and rock, I find myself confronted with numerous questions.« The topic of music in the future makes Ukrainian violinist Diana Tishchenko thoughtful. »I've often heard comments like›I don't know anything at classical music ‹ or ›After work I'm too tired to go to a concert‹. We need to reduce people's inhibitions.« Tishchenko dreams of new formats, getting away from sitting stiffly in rows, getting away from the cramped imge.. »For example, I like playing in the dark. We experience music very differently when our eyes are not so involved. I can imagine a concert given by candlelight, under a starry sky.« She recently put on something similar herself: on the beach of Royan in south-west France, and also on the uninhabited Greek island Delos.

Higher, faster, louder: Vanessa Porter doesn't fulfil any of these clichés about percussionists. She uses her set of instruments like a paintbox. With gongs, metallophones and drums she tells stories and creates moods like in a film. She has been choosing her programmes with more care since coronavirus. »The music industry is in the midst of a massive change. Many artists have given up or retrained. Money to subsidise art will definitely not be as easy to come by as in the past.« Porter doesn't pass the buck for this to politicians or to the public. »We artists have got out of touch with society in part. We stick to a concert format that doesn't appeal to a lot of people any more.« So what does an artist need to offer today? »We really have to get close to the audience again,« she says. »A concert should provide a sense of wellbeing, like a good film or a good book.«