As opera houses open up for the season and concert halls welcome musicians for new programmes after the summer festivals, the focus for classical music in France is on individual artists, many of them independent and outside the agency circuit.

YouTube, Spotify and Vimeo have allowed classical musicians to play directly to their audiences, and develop new ones.

Two musicians come to mind in France – The American Joachim Horsley with his “Beethoven in Havana” programme and French pianist Caroline Haffner with her Chopin Ballades World Tour 2019-2022.

Joachim has millions of views for his crossover programme.

Caroline has reached new audiences and found again people who remember her from her early career. She plays again in Paris at the end of October.

Both appear at the not-for-profit New Year Music Festival in Gstaad in December.

Joachim Horsley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRb0FyAa9s

Caroline Haffner: https://vimeo.com/344746816

In Gstaad: https://bachtrack.com/search-events/freetext=Gstaad%20Music%20festival

The festival opens the City of Bonn’s international celebrations for the Beethoven anniversary – Beethoven 2020 – and Caroline is an artist playing for the Beethoven Pastoral Project with a recital in Venice, Italy in June.

New ways of finding audiences – but all dependent on artistry in music. Great moves.