Presenting, Producing, Creating: Andrew Ousley's Chamber Music Vision

When Chamber Music America first contacted Andrew Ousley to lead a webinar this spring, selecting the ideal date was tricky. Mid-April was out: the media pro would be in Los Angeles, coordinating publicity appearances for his client, Gustavo Dudamel, between LA Phil’s Coachella performances. Many dates in May were also out: Ousley’s sell-out chamber music in the crypts, catacombs and cemetery series, Death of Classical, kicks off its ninth season on May 7 (with performances throughout the month).

But CMA was persistent, and on Tuesday, May 6, Ousley will help kick-off CMA’s National Chamber Music Month weekly webinars with a session titled “Finding a Digital Balance: Creating Artistic Work vs. Content Creation” at 12:00PM ET. Register Here.

The founder of leading classical music PR and marketing firm Unison Media, Ousley counts chamber music titans, including Joshua Bell, Arturo O’Farrill, Paola Prestini, Jeremy Denk, Tania León, and Conrad Tao, among others, as clients. For them, his firm builds websites, crafts social media campaigns, and leads major marketing and branding efforts. And while many of his clients’ careers can speak for themselves, Ousley doesn’t aim for traditional media opportunities. (Case in point: Dudamel at Coachella.) Previously, Ousley was Director of Marketing and Publicity for Warner Classics. Today, he’s shepherding classical music into the mainstream—and he isn’t afraid to share his secrets.

Ahead of the webinar on May 6, CMA spoke with Ousley to learn more.

At Coachella, we experienced 100,000 people cheer as loudly for Beethoven as they cheered for LL Cool J. It was amazing to see so many people being moved and affected by music on a scale that classical music rarely or never operates on. And because the music was presented in a way that let the crowd respond authentically, there were immediate connections made. It’s when we try to force feed audiences—or talk down to people about classical music—that those connections and any potential for connection are immediately lost.

CMA: It’s now your ninth season as a concert presenter. What have you learned in that time? 
AO: While there continue to be a handful of people from the old guard who call the concerts gimmicky, I was truly taken aback by the industry’s support. Artists, representatives, and audiences have continued to champion the series.

CMA: With sell-out crowds and constant press, I can imagine that artists are eager to perform on the series. How do you program?
AO: I really try to listen to as many pitches as I can—and we’re getting multiple emails a day. Yet the series does require a very specific type of artist who understands the nature of the space and the experience we’re aiming to create. We’re obviously not setting the music in Carnegie Hall, or even your average proscenium theater with a nice green room. It’s literally a crypt and catacomb and a cemetery. So there is a certain amount of flexibility required. Yet the series aims to create a musical experience—a sense of communion and connection between performer and audience. There’s a constant spiraling between the audience’s reaction to the artists and the performers’ reactions to the audience’s reaction. That intense intimacy can be extraordinary, and the artists and programming work in tandem to create that experience.

CMA: In our conversations, you’ve used the words “experience seekers” in reference to the audience. Can you share more?
AO: I’d agree that in our industry, the audience experience gets lost. It should be one of the most important aspects of a performance. If you don’t create a good experience around the music, the quality of the music doesn’t matter, because audiences won’t seek out the experience again. To me, the experience is about welcoming people. It’s about funneling them emotionally or psychologically toward a highly focused musical experience, and then afterwards, providing a release. Maybe that’s a moonlit walk back through the cemetery, or an ascent back up from the crypt. Something that brings them back into the world. As a presenter, you have to think about that every detail, from the reminder-email copy to the program design and how someone is greeted at check-in. Each of those aspects—right down to a reception’s cheeseboard layout—impacts how an audience member feels when they sit in the chair to experience the music.

CMA: Turning towards the webinar that you’ll lead for CMA—what’s your top piece of advice for those looking to your company for social media help?
AO: First and foremost, you have to know what makes you different. And that’s the same first step when you’re talking about traditional press and media. You have to understand what makes you different, and become very comfortable talking about yourself or your ensemble in a way that is clear, concise, and differentiated. Then, you have to understand how to represent that uniqueness with content that you can consistently and comfortably create—and that your audience engages with. This initially requires a tremendous about of experimentation and research, and that is something I’ll talk through on May 6: how to approach that experimentation.

CMA: What’s the recipe for disaster on social media?
AO: That’s another important piece: calibrating your internal barometer for cringe. There is a lot of damage you can do to your public perception in the industry. And what is cringy content? On one hand, there are the folks who could stop posting shirtless selfies on vacation. But there are also people who are trying too hard–and this is the problem with publicity in general. The second people see you trying, you’re done. The goal is to create a perception of organic momentum. But the paradox is that the creation of that momentum requires an insane amount of focus work. Yet if people see you doing the work, you lose that mystique.

CMA: So it sounds like it goes back to the work of defining your authentic self. 
AO: That’s branding. I find that so many emerging artists need help with their storytelling. So many say, “Well, I don’t have a story, I’m not that interesting.” And I’d say that 100 percent of them are wrong. They simply need help clarifying what makes them unique and why that is important.

CMA: As you know, May is National Chamber Music Month, and your CMA webinar falls during this celebration of small ensemble music. As someone who has built your career in this industry, what do you love about chamber music?
AO: Chamber music is what made me fall in love with classical music. I was a late-comer to it, but I remember the exact moment I caught the bug: experiencing the Daedalus Quartet play Beethoven’s Opus 132 in someone’s New York City living room. By the end of the slow movement, everyone—players included—was just crying their eyes out. And that was the moment. Chamber music is a small force in terms of the assembled players, but it can feel beyond multitudes when everything is in sync. It’s transcendent on an unfathomable level. I’m constantly seeking that alchemy—the magic that chamber music is capable of. The intimacy yet profound expansiveness.

Attend “Finding a Digital Balance: Creating Artistic Work vs. Content Creation” featuring Andrew Ousley at 12:00pm ET on Tuesday, May 6. Register Here. The webinar is free and open to Chamber Music America members and constituents.
For more National Chamber Music Month events, click here.