Hi Ruth,

In principle, I'm with you all the way on this one - but it's vital to get the balance right. Of course the managers of venues (whether subsidised or free-market) should introduce audiences to unfamiliar and challenging experiences, rather than just "giving the public what it wants". (Which actually means giving the public what it wanted the day before yesterday - a sure recipe for stagnation and sterility.)

But it's dangerous to get too far ahead of your public. When I started teaching many years ago, the most useful advice I ever got from a senior colleague was this: "Wherever you want them to get to, you have to start from where they are." I think this tip is applicable in the performing arts, as well as in education.

Furthermore, if some artists (or genres) seem to be getting a disproportionate amount of space on the programme, then performers (or punters) who think that they (or their favourite artists)are being unjustly ignored will be likely to cry "foul". And although such claims are often completely unjustified, there have been a few occasions in the past where a certain amount of mutual back-scratching and favour-exchanging between interested parties has gone on behind the scenes. (Not anybody we know, of course!)

But anyhow, keep up the good work ...

Wassail!