Concert hall manager of the year: John Gilhooly

John Gilhooly found himself conflicted on hearing he was the 2020 ABO/Classical Music magazine Concert Hall Manager of the Year. ‘I had reservations about the idea of awards being given out during the Covid crisis – the notion of competition seems alien given what we’ve all been through together. And I’m well aware that in a dreadfully difficult year for the Wigmore Hall – a time of pure anguish – seven members of staff had to suffer redundancies. But the fact that this was an award from the industry – and that other concert hall directors were swift to send messages of congratulations – meant a great deal to me.’

The most eye-catching (but not the sole) element in Gilhooly’s nomination for the award was those streamed/broadcast concerts from a hauntingly empty or sparsely populated hall. Disseminated via a variety of platforms, they have simultaneously captured the mood of the moment and provided its antidote, for a massive online audience around the globe (while also bringing in over a million pounds in donations to help plug the sizeable hole in the Wigmore’s annual budget). And there has been no shortage of programming boldness in this time of crisis, exemplified by the way Gilhooly has turbo-charged his existing diversity agenda, motivated by the fact that ‘I think this situation made me lose all fear'. Among the outcomes here have been multiple engagements for the ground-breaking, socially aware Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, and Gilhooly’s tapping into ‘the wealth of wonderful black singers in this country who normally are too busy in opera houses abroad to come to the Wigmore.’ (Plus – breaking news as I write – the Wigmore Hall green room is to be named after a legendary star of the venue’s past, Jessye Norman).

 The inspiration for these Covid-defiant concerts came from a 2020 Easter Sunday Mass streamed live from St James’s Roman Catholic Church in Marylebone. ‘I remember feeling particularly low on that day,’ Gilhooly recalls, ‘being unable to attend Mass in person. But this relayed ceremony made me think. There were two priests at the altar, an organist and a few singers, socially distanced, all behind locked doors, with no congregation present. I got in touch with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – if the church could do this, why not Wigmore Hall? They said fine, as long as there were no more than two people on the platform. I then spoke directly with Radio 3 Controller Alan Davey and commissioning editor Edward Blakeman – they came on board straightaway.’

The first run of 20 concerts tapped almost exclusively into London-based artists, among them Stephen Hough, Steven Isserlis and Mitsuko Uchida. Some artists cycled or walked distances to perform. There was an initial ‘reticence’ (says Gilhooly) about taking part from several who were invited. ‘It was both manna from heaven – being able to perform – and yet it was scary. They hadn’t played in public for a while and here they were being asked to give a streamed/broadcast concert. Stephen Hough appeared first and he was contacted afterwards by other performers in the series, wanting to know what the experience felt like.’

Nothing, though, prepared these artists for the warmth of reaction from viewers and listeners worldwide. Says Gilhooly: ’For example, Steven Isserlis said he’d never had so many people get in touch – by whatever means – after a concert to thank him.’ A substantial number of online/social media communications to the hall itself were fielded as the concerts continued during 2020 (eventually totalling over 200, including some involvement from artists arriving from abroad). Enquiries have come from around the world, with Russians – for example – among the most regular correspondents. The need to respond to these communications has allowed the venue to redeploy some staff rather than make as many redundancies as seemed likely.

‘Often people who post messages are wanting information about the music they’ve heard,’ Gilhooly observes. ‘Maybe they’re after historical background or more information about a composer. Or it’s ‘technical’ questions, like, “What’s a sonata?”. A good number of those who made contact have stayed in touch, many of them becoming members. Our digital mailing list has grown from 60,000 subscribers to a quarter of a million.

‘Time will tell how this translates into attendance at future concerts. What we can say is that this situation has broken down barriers, not just when it comes to prompting younger people to reach out to us, but those in an older age bracket. We have to remember that someone who engages with us now at the age of 50 might be with us for 30 years. I’m hugely encouraged that this situation has confirmed that the audiences are there to fill halls in the future – across all age groups.’

As his award nomination showed, Gilhooly has not been slow to use his share of the limelight in these Covidian times to look beyond the Wigmore situation and campaign very publicly for overall government support for the arts, while also pinpointing the plight of freelance musicians disallowed from tapping into public funds. Equally, this ever-gregarious Irishman doesn’t mince words in pronouncing his disappointment at journalists who criticise other musical organisations for not following the Wigmore’s lead by staging more in the way of online performances. ‘Anyone who condemned an opera house or an orchestra for not moving as quickly as us doesn’t know what they’re talking about, doesn’t appreciate the complexities of putting on large-scale events.’

While these instantly legendary Wigmore Hall concerts have stolen the limelight, Gilhooly’s award also recognises the way in which the venue adapted its existing Learning programme (targeted at a range of family, community and education settings) for an online audience in 2020. Gilhooly takes the example of the Wigmore’s longstanding work with women’s refuge centres. ‘For some time I was the only person opening the post and fielding phone calls,  and I could see the domestic violence situation worsen. So I encouraged our exceptional Learning department to develop something online that might make a difference to these women and their families. Likewise I’ve been pleased at what the team’s been able to put together for people living with dementia, where the offer has to be something very personal. None of this is perfect, but hopefully it’s made a difference.’

How 2021 pans out remains to be seen. A 25-concert festival in May/June is due to celebrate the venue’s 120th birthday. Those celebrations will also take to the streets: Gilhooly has been at the heart of an initiative, involving major local businesses, to bring live music to nearby Paddington Street Gardens and Portman Square, thereby breaking the silence that has cloaked the area for so long.

Concerns? A good few, including the inevitable uncertainties about the venue’s financing. Gilhooly remains troubled by ‘a lack of clarity’ from government about how exactly venues may progress in stages towards something approaching normality, not least in the area of vaccine-related passports: ‘We need the government to make decisions at the right time, not two months later.’

And yet the overall mood remains upbeat. ‘We’re not out of the woods yet, of course. But the amazing Wigmore Hall team shouldn’t be afraid of any of this. We have to believe that we can turn everything to our advantage, and in the right way.’