The debate about the future of classical music concerts has continued on its never-ending path this year. People like Philharmonia Orchestra manager David Whelton have expressed their pessimism in print. The National Centre for English Music, meanwhile, has done the very British thing and convened a high-profile conference (A Future for Classical Music in Britain?) this September in order to debate where we might be heading.

And yet suddenly, there was the present apparently virtually colliding with the future as news came through that the BBC's offer of free Beethoven symphony downloads had been an enormous and worldwide success, putting sales of the new Coldplay album in the shade. What did this prophesy about coming times?

The truth is, of course, that the classical music world has been reinventing itself for centuries. I happened the other day to re-read the historical reference to the world's first subscription concert series starting up in London in 1765 under the management of Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel. Bet there were plenty of people in the West End scoffing at that idea. No, composers, musicians, entrepreneurs and promoting bodies have always known what it means to be flexible in order to meet the demands of the market. So - what strategies and ideas will help safeguard the audiences of the future....the audiences for concerts you and your successor musicians will be involved in? And how far can you play a part in shaping that future?

Some of the most interesting and innovative work with first-time concertgoers I've come across emanates from the London Symphony Orchestra. For one thing, there's been a bold decision to base concert publicity less on musicians and personality factors than perhaps ever before. 'A major thrust is now about getting across what music feels like to listen to,' says Karen Cardy, the orchestra's Head of Marketing. 'So we go big on positive images, say of fields of poppies or mountains...and emotional words.'

But things become more intriguing with the LSO's new marketing 'channels', as Cardy describes them. 'We're into text messaging via SMS, for example. And one thing we do each year is visit freshers' fairs at universities. We've recruited around forty student 'ambassadors' who sell particular concerts to their peers. They can use their mobiles to book tickets using a code relating to their particular 'ambassador', with special financial concessions. Many of these people have almost no experience of classical music at all.

'I have this picture of them sitting in pubs together and signing up en masse for a concert Ð often we see a clutch of texts booking tickets coming in at the same time, with a particular ambassador's code attached to them all. These people would never have gone to a concert on their own, but they will with someone they trust Ð their ambassador. We now have contact with around 500 students who've been to LSO concerts.'

So....missionary work there even for LSO players themselves, maybe. And, says Cardy, they've also become involved in the technological processes of the mobile phone world. 'Two members of the orchestra have taken it upon themselves to create dedicated LSO mobile ring tones, based on upcoming repertoire. They've taught themselves all the skills they need, using simple equipment at home. Our mobile phone consultant says they're the highest quality ring tones he's heard.'

And orchestral musicians could get even more commercial in the business of targeting new audiences. I was intrigued to know from Hazel Wright, BBC Worldwide's Executive Manager International Television, just why the corporation's classical music DVD output contains virtually no educational product. 'Well, our DVDs can only ever reflect the ideas that are brought to me....and by that I don't just mean by BBC producers. I'm open to ideas from anyone. Including members of orchestras.'

'I think people are going to observe the potential when they see the new film Rhythm Is It, featuring Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. This is being shown first of all in cinemas and only then on television. It's a great storyline. 250 deprived and difficult kids from east Berlin with no experience of classical music at all have been at the centre of a Rite of Spring dance project, working with a British choreographer. They started from scratch, learning to be disciplined, how to touch, how to dance...before bringing their performance into the concert hall. I think this film is going to have a huge effect.'

Nothing is to stop anyone, orchestral players included, coming up with similar ideas, says Wright, who also emphasises the difference a particular communications revolution is about to make, offering opportunities for the brave and imaginative. 'High definition television is almost with us. Combined with 5.1surround sound this is going to make a huge impact. Watching a performance on screen will be as good as being there.'

Another technological field with under-exploited potential for sparking new interest in classical music is that of the computer game. The possibilities are surely emphasised by the current vogue in the USA for orchestral concerts of music from the massively successful Final Fantasy games. Coordinated tours to major cities are involved, pulling in sell-out audiences. (See http://na.square-enix.com/uematsu/concert/dear_friends.html ). 4,500 turned out for a recent concert in Chicago, with youngsters even involved in a choir and Final Fantasy scenes beamed via giant video screens. One 21 year-old choir member interviewed afterwards was convinced the experience could take him on to 'higher' things. 'Music from a game like this can pull people in to hear some of the classics,' opined a certain Donald Milton III. John Sear of the University of Derby, which runs a computer games module within its computer sciences course, says there's no reason why central classical repertoire shouldn't infiltrate the computer games world. 'The musical element has to be inherent in the game itself....it can't stick out like a sore thumb. The musical 'messages' have to be subliminal. Kids aren't stupid....they'll know when people are trying to 'educate' them. 'Various ideas come to mind. You could have a game in which the player prompts a character to play different classical music themes in order to trigger different kinds of magical ability. The Nintendo DS handheld console has a built in microphone Ð so games could respond to the player whistling or humming a classical melody.' But this could be just the thin end of the wedge, says Sear. 'There's been a big movement in the USA to look at the educational role computer games can play Ð as some of your readers may know, Serious Games is the generic title.' What surprised me, though, was that one prime US website displaying quantities of Serious Games ( http://www.socialimpactgames.com/ ) had not a single example with a classical music theme. What the site does make a point of emphasising is that anyone thinking of creating a 'social impact game' can find here plenty of ideas on how to go about things. Is this, or is this not, an open invitation for dextrous, computer-literate orchestral players to forge new territory?

When it comes providing new revenue streams, or encouraging new interest in classical music, or both, the issue of downloads has sharpened up no end since the BBC's free Beethoven offer. Exactly what this remarkable success means is another matter. On the one hand, of course the BBC was delighted to trumpet an astonishing 657,399 downloads worldwide of symphonies 1 Ð 5 and to talk of a large 'untapped audience' for downloadable classical music on demand.

But just what are the implications? Are free downloads the way to stimulate interest in classical music and hence encourage audiences? Or is there money to made here, even with hundreds of orchestras potentially competing worldwide, and even as it's becoming clear that own label CDs have produced no truly sizeable pots of gold?

As BBC Philharmonic General Manager Richard Wigley told me, 'It feels like we're on the cusp of something, but it's unclear exactly what. We all have to discover what internet audiences will pay for the same facility. Still, I can guarantee now that those orchestras which swiftly accept the challenges new technology offers are the ones who'll make money from it.'

Radio 3 Controller Roger Wright responded open-handedly to the successful experiment by calling in music industry representatives to discuss what might now follow for the business as a whole. The one certainty, he said, was that the download market is '...still astonishingly immature as far as classical music is concerned.'

One person offering practical applications is Martin Maris, Projects Manager (Education) with the BBC Philharmonic. 'It would be brilliant if after a schools' concert, say, kids could download the music free onto their ipods. I just love the idea that kids can have Green Day stored right next to some Grieg or Mozart. They won't discriminate between the two types of music...as long as both give pleasure.'

And so the visions of the future mount. Hazel Wright forecasts a significant development of hi-definition super-sound relays into cinemas, linking all parts of the world. How will orchestras make money from that...and how much? Meanwhile, Martin Maris has been looking into the practicalities of internet link-ups between the BBC Philharmonic players and children around the country. 'The technology to guarantee real quality isn't quite there yet, though.'

Andrew Green

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