Graham Henderson has been active in exploring the possibilities for live streaming of events and for the digital capture of arts content. He was fortunate in 2012 to work with the Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, and to stage a major live event with him at Kings Place in London, a venue which had installed high-quality cameras and a state-of-the-art live streaming capability. When, as expected, demand for tickets greatly exceeded the 450 seat capacity of Hall 1, Graham organised a live streaming event in Hall 2 which attracted a further 250 paying customers. The secondary live streamed event was hosted and animated by a member of Graham’s team, and the audience experienced an intimate close-up version of the live event taking place next door. The customer feedback from Hall 2 was even more positive than that from Hall 1, suggesting that digital technology has effectively expanded the definition of a real, live and authentic arts experience.
This sort of positive experience of digital capture meant that Graham was well-placed to respond to the cancellation of all live events during COVID. He commissioned two series of music films of live classical song, recorded specially at Lauderdale House and the Romanian Cultural Institute. Featuring leading classical singers and accompanists these films proved extremely popular with audiences, bringing them the sort of stimulating original performance content which they were unable to experience directly at that time. Live streaming and digital capture remain important and dynamic elements for the arts, offering opportunities to grow audiences and monetise great cultural content. It potentially offers a bright future for the dissemination and consumption of high-quality arts content. It also offers new and more effective ways of converting online engagement with the arts into terrestrial participation in live arts events and activities.
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