lily pad concerts

Last year the MAM department started a concert series at the nearby venue, the Lilypad (formely the Zeitgeist). The idea of the concerts was to have a relaxed friendly atmosphere, where people can come and really listen to music, and not worry about the formalities of most concerts. Collaboration is also key in the function of these events. The concerts try and combine depatments, so many different people can enjoy them. Last year there was a chamber music MAM collaborative concert that I attended. First chamber music, and then the Jazz. A fine idea this concert was, but its design was flawed. Few people from the chanber concert stayed to hear the jazz, and almost nobody playing in the jazz concert arrived early enough to hear the chamber music. Hardly a collaborative concert. But who can expect people to sit around for a 5 hour concert, or whatever it was.
Classical music concerts have become such a hassle to go to for many people. They have been slowly crafted into this form for over 100 years. It will take more than just contriving a relaxed concert series to actually change anything. All you'll get from that is underatteded concerts, and eventually, no concert series.