The Quiet Disappearance of Live Music from Australian Stages

The growing use of recorded music in ballet productions is part of a broader trend that threatens the future of live performance in Australia.

Across the performing arts, producers are increasingly replacing live musicians with technology and pre-recorded soundtracks. Every time a live orchestra is removed from a production, audiences lose something essential and professional musicians lose opportunities to work, create and contribute to Australia’s cultural life.

In the space of a single year, Adelaide audiences alone have seen productions by major ballet presenters including West Australian Ballet, The Australian Ballet’s touring program, and other commercial ballet producers rely on recorded soundtracks rather than live musicians. More recently, this includes the Australian Ballet On Tour production replacing musicians with recorded music in Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin. What should be an exception is at risk of becoming normalised.

This is about more than jobs. Live music is a fundamental part of the artistic relationship between music and dance. The interaction between dancers and musicians creates a performance that is unique, responsive and genuinely live. When recorded music replaces live accompaniment, audiences are denied a vital element of the art form and musicians lose opportunities to practise their craft.

 

 

We recognise that companies often distinguish between their mainstage productions and regional touring programs. However, that distinction cannot become an excuse for lower artistic expectations in capital cities around Australia. Audiences deserve the same commitment to artistic integrity that ballet companies rightly champion elsewhere.

Lachlan Bramble, Musician and MEAA President for Musicians for SA and NT, says that publicly funded institutions such as The Australian Ballet have a responsibility to present ballet with artistic integrity, and that requires live musicians.

Mr Bramble:

The relationship between live music and live dance is not incidental to ballet. It is one of the defining features of the art form. The collaboration between dancers and musicians creates performances that are responsive, dynamic and unique. Recorded music cannot replicate that artistic exchange.

Our KEEP MUSIC LIVE campaign is fighting against a growing pattern of decisions that normalise the idea that live music is optional. What begins as an exception can quickly become an accepted industry practice.

Added Mr Bramble:

We reject the notion that recorded music should become the default option whenever producers face financial or logistical challenges. The choice is not between recorded music and no performance. The challenge is to find solutions that preserve the live artistic collaboration at the heart of performance.

Australia has an extraordinary pool of skilled professional musicians who are ready and eager to collaborate with dancers, singers and other performers.

We have outstanding musicians in every state and territory. Producers should be looking for ways to engage them, not bypass them.

The campaign is also calling for greater transparency for audiences, asserting that consumers have a right to know whether they are purchasing a performance featuring live musical accompaniment or a pre-recorded soundtrack.

Live music is what audiences rightfully expect when attending ballet. When recorded music is used, producers should clearly disclose that fact when a production is announced and tickets go on sale.

Audiences deserve to know whether they are buying a performance featuring live artistic collaboration or one relying on a soundtrack. Transparency is the minimum standard.

Recent productions presented without live musicians demonstrate that this issue is not confined to a single production company or a single city. It reflects a wider shift in the performing arts that requires a collective response from artists, audiences, producers and governments.

“The future of live performance depends on valuing live music as an essential artistic and cultural contribution, not an optional extra.”

MEAA will continue working with musicians, performers, audiences and arts organisations to ensure that live music remains central to Australia’s cultural life and that future generations can experience the power of live performance as it was intended to be experienced.

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