SmartPhones in the Concert Hall

Here's an interesting article written for the Huffington Post by James Ehnes ... on bootlegging and the modern-day behavior of documenting and sharing every life experience. Maybe it's time we put our cameras away and simply enjoy being in the moment. At the very least, think before recording and posting that live musical performance.

"At a recent concert where I played the Brahms concerto, a young man in the second row filmed my entire performance on his smartphone. When I first noticed him, my reaction was one of surprise and mild annoyance. This sort of thing is prohibited, as a rule, in most if not all traditional concert halls. I stared at him with my best, "seriously?" look, but he didn't seem fazed by that at all. So I just tried to ignore it as best I could. I'm guessing he had no idea that I might find his filming objectionable. He applauded enthusiastically and smiled at me at the end.

This got me thinking about the pros and cons of recording a performance in this way, both for the musician and for the potential audience for such a recording. I admit to feeling a bit conflicted about the issue ..."

James Ehnes is the Violin Soloist and Artistic Director for the Seattle Chamber Music Society. Read his entire Blog post here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-ehnes/smartphones-in-the-concer_b_3802905.html 

Familiar scene? Photo by Josué Goge, some rights reserved