The God of Conducting Starting from Absolute Pitch

Chapter 302: First out of the circle, then purify

After Su Yue left the Harmony Symphony Orchestra, Chen Qiu took everyone to find a place around the orchestra for a meal.

While eating, everyone tacitly agreed not to mention Su Yue.

Everyone was talking about band, school, or something interesting that happened that evening.

We ate until after ten o'clock in the evening, and then everyone left reluctantly.

Some people who have not graduated or passed the postgraduate entrance examination go back to school to sleep first.

Those students who have already graduated went back to their rental houses in Haicheng.

Although the band has not given them any money yet, judging from tonight's performance, they feel that the band's future is bright.

After seeing off everyone in the orchestra, Chen Qiu returned to the concert hall on his own.

After moving the Yamaha SK-II, which had been moved to the middle of the concert hall, back to the corner of the performance hall, he walked towards his room.

After passing through a corner and walking down a long corridor, we arrived at the room behind the orchestra.

The lights are on.

The house is still very tidy.

Chen Qiu stood in the middle of the room, looking around at the quietness of everything around him. He couldn't help but let out a light breath, then stood up and walked towards the study.

Su Yue's arrival made him feel very upset.

Plus the lively scene of having dinner outside with the band members.

When he was left alone at home, he felt an indescribable loneliness for some reason.

But fortunately, he had long been accustomed to this kind of loneliness.

Whether it was when I was in the orchestra alone, or when I was studying alone in Germany.

This loneliness has always surrounded him.

Chen Qiu rubbed his shoulders gently, sat on the sofa in the corner of the study, turned on the small desk lamp, and then reached out and casually turned on the disc player on the side to continue playing the work he had not finished listening to before.

This is Mahler's Second Symphony, Resurrection.

This is a record Albedo recorded with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

He chose this version not because he particularly liked it, but simply because he happened to come across a complete set of works recorded by Albedo.

Because of his love for Albedo, he started listening to them one by one.

I am now listening to the third movement of the Second Symphony.

Listening to the rhythmic music around my ears, flipping through the works in my hands.

Chen Qiu's heart gradually calmed down from the previous turmoil.

He put down the work in his hands and let his body immerse itself deeply in the music, a smile appearing on the corners of his mouth.

Whether it is for the symphony orchestra or for myself.

Today’s performance can definitely be considered a success, right?
Chen Qiu thought so.

The music was flowing in his ears, and Albedo's Mahler's Second Symphony, which was full of personal characteristics, was interpreting to Chen Qiu everything that belonged to them.

The body sunk into the sofa also released an unspeakable tiredness under the dim light above.

Waves of fatigue came over Chen Qiu one after another.

In the end, Chen Qiu couldn't resist the temptation of sleepiness and slowly fell asleep on the sofa.

Even in his sleep, he couldn't hide the smile on his lips.

After working so hard for so long, the band finally got off to a successful start.

Such a smooth performance made Chen Qiu full of hope for the future of the orchestra.

In his sleep, he even dreamed that the orchestra defeated the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and won the first place in the world.

The RSO, as well as the BPO in Berlin, the VPO in Vienna, the LSO in London and other symphony orchestras, all trembled at his feet.

He brought a harmony symphony orchestra with two hundred people, two groups, and two deputy conductors to the top of the world...

……

The next day.

The dazzling sunlight shone straight into Chen Qiu's eyelids through the window.

The stimulation of light to the pupils gradually woke Chen Qiu from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes blankly and looked at the big sun outside the study window.

The sun unreservedly poured its sunlight into Chen Qiu's study, waking Chen Qiu up inside.

Chen Qiu glanced blankly at the music score covering him, struggled to take out his mobile phone from under his body, turned on the screen, and looked at the densely packed messages and the time 10:23 on the screen. Chen Qiu suddenly woke up.

Without any hesitation, he threw the music score in his hand aside and ran out of the concert hall.

He and everyone in the orchestra agreed to start work at around nine in the morning, and everyone would come over to rehearse and practice.

It's almost half past ten now.

This means that I left the band outside for an hour?
As Chen Qiu ran out of the concert hall, he was almost sweating profusely.

However, before he ran to the door of the concert hall, he found that the door of the concert hall had been opened.

Everyone in the orchestra has arrived at the concert hall and is chatting and laughing while moving their instruments.

Ai Gu stood beside the crowd, with two drumsticks on his waist and an omelet in his hand, eating while chatting with everyone.

When Ai Gu saw Chen Qiu hurriedly running out from the backstage in dishevel, he couldn't help but burst out laughing and said to Chen Qiu.

"No way, Conductor Chen Qiu, you didn't just get up now, did you? We've almost finished decorating the concert hall."

"No, where did you come from?"

Chen Qiu scratched his head in confusion and asked Ai Gu.

"I remember I closed the shop last night?"

Seeing Chen Qiu's confused look, Ai Gu instantly became proud, took a big bite of the egg pancake in his hand, and laughed.

"You can't believe it, right? It was Principal Qin Xian. Principal Qin Xian came very early, around eight o'clock, and then helped open the door for the orchestra."

"Oh yes, Qin Xian..."

Chen Qiu suddenly understood.

When I woke up, I felt a little dizzy and had completely forgotten that I had given Qin Xian a copy of the key to the concert hall in advance.

This is in case a situation arises where I am not in the orchestra due to unexpected circumstances and the orchestra members need to come to the concert hall.

The reason why it was given to Qin Xian was naturally because Qin Xian was the most reliable in the orchestra, and he was also the concertmaster of the orchestra.

If I don’t give it to Qin Xian, then who else can I give it to?
Seeing that everyone in the orchestra was busy tidying up the stage, Chen Qiu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He scratched his messy hair and said helplessly to Ai Gu.

"Sorry, I was too tired last night. After dinner, I wanted to read a book and rest on the sofa, but I didn't expect to fall asleep directly."

"Haha, I guessed it."

Ai Gu burst into laughter, then smiled at Chen Qiu.

"So Chen Qiu instructed you to pack your clothes first. After all, we have already started preparing and have all come in, so there is no need to rush."

"Yeah, that's right."

Chen Qiu nodded, glanced at the time, and asked Ai Gu.

"By the way, where is Li Miaomiao who came for the interview last time? Is she here?"

"I'm here. She's waiting in the lounge. Huang Xin and Qin Xian are accompanying her there, waiting for you to come over." Ai Gu swallowed the egg pancake in his hand in one gulp and said to Chen Qiu, "But don't worry, Commander Chen Qiu. Huang Xin said that Li Miaomiao did a good job and there's basically no problem."

"Well, I'll go check it out first."

After Chen Qiu greeted Ai Gu, he ran towards the lounge.

On the way there, Chen Qiu hesitated for a moment, then went to the bathroom to tidy himself up before coming to the lounge.

In the lounge, Huang Xin, Qin Xian and Li Miaomiao were already sitting there.

Everyone seemed to be chatting about something. Huang Xin was laughing very happily, and Qin Xian, who was usually very serious, also had a smile on his face.

When they saw Chen Qiu coming, they stood up without any hesitation and nodded to Chen Qiu. "Chen Qiu, command!"

"Well, sorry, I'm late. Please take a seat."

After Chen Qiu greeted everyone, he quickly came over and sat down next to Qin Xian. He reached out and took the document from Li Miaomiao, but did not open it directly. Instead, he looked at Huang Xin and Qin Xian and asked them.

"I just ran into Ai Gu at the door. He said that you two had seen Li Miaomiao's plan. What do you think? What do you think?"

"Our feelings..."

Huang Xin glanced at the silent Qin Xian, then at the timid Li Miaomiao, and couldn't help but chuckle and said to Chen Qiu.

"I think there is no problem. The content is very professional. Chief Qin Xian feels the same way. But after all, we are not professionals, so let Li Miaomiao explain it to you personally?"

After saying that, Huang Xin pushed Li Miaomiao and signaled to her with her eyes.

Li Miaomiao stepped forward timidly and whispered to Chen Qiu.

"Well, Chen Qiu is in command. Should I start now?"

"Well, yes."

Chen Qiu nodded and looked at Li Miaomiao in front of him curiously.

Chen Qiu is very familiar with Huang Xin and Qin Xian. Although they have different personalities, they are both serious people.

Being able to convince these two people proves that there is nothing particularly wrong with Li Miaomiao's strategy.

In that case, Chen Qiu nodded slightly, looked at Li Miaomiao, and waited for Li Miaomiao's explanation.

Under Chen Qiu's gaze, Li Miaomiao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice.

"Conductor Chen Qiu, the current operation of the orchestra can be described as... hard to describe in a few words. Or it would be better to say it's a complete mess."

Silence fell in the room.

Huang Xin and Qin Xian seemed to have heard Li Miaomiao's speech a long time ago, so there was no special expression on their faces. They just couldn't help but look at Chen Qiu, wanting to see what his expression was.

Chen Qiu looked at Li Miaomiao with a little curiosity, without showing much emotion. He just chuckled and nodded.

"Well, keep talking."

"Okay, okay."

Li Miaomiao took a deep breath, opened the document in her hand, and said to Chen Qiu.

"Conductor Chen Qiu, I don't know much about conducting an orchestra, but judging from the concert last night, you guys still have a chance to compete for the top three in Haicheng. Being able to be in the top three in Haicheng means that there is no problem with the orchestra's hard power, and the problem lies in the management of the orchestra."

Li Miaomiao took out a few sheets of paper from the file in her hand, handed them to Chen Qiu, and whispered to Chen Qiu.

"During the intermission yesterday, I took a quick look at the area around the orchestra and the water bar. The water bar was actually OK. After all, according to the descriptions of other members of the orchestra, it was mainly for the use of the orchestra members. It was a self-service form and was only open to the public during performances, so it was acceptable. However, the surrounding area was not so good."

Li Miaomiao pointed at the data in his hand and said to Chen Qiu.

"Obviously, the sales of band peripherals are not good. The low profit is secondary. The most important thing is that it has occupied the attention of a band member. Therefore, the first thing that needs to be changed is the sales of band peripherals. Put the band peripherals in the water bar to sell together, and cancel the sale of cocktails and other drinks. Only sell normal drinks. If possible, it is best to hire a temporary worker to come and work on the night of the performance. Unless there are performances every night, otherwise..."

Li Miaomiao looked at Chen Qiu, waiting for Chen Qiu's advice.

In response to this, Chen Qiu did not comment and nodded slightly.

"Okay, that's no problem, are there any others?"

"Well, this is just a small problem, it can be adjusted a little bit, but the core problem of the orchestra right now is not this, but..."

Li Miaomiao looked at Chen Qiu and spoke very seriously.

"The band has no reputation at all!"

After Li Miaomiao said this, Chen Qiu couldn't help but be stunned.

Huang Xin and Qin Xian standing by showed an expression of "as expected".

When Li Miaomiao just said this, they were also shocked.

After all, their Harmony Symphony Orchestra is the strongest team representing China in the East Asian Student Exchange.

In any case, they cannot be said to be unknown.

They couldn't figure out how Li Miaomiao came to this conclusion.

But with the explanation and data Li Miaomiao gave them, they finally confirmed one thing.

Just as Li Miaomiao said, the popularity of their band is very low.

Li Miaomiao picked up the data in his hand, handed it to Chen Qiu, and spoke slowly.

"Conductor Chen Qiu, based on my survey last night and the data given to me by Senior Huang Xin, I found that 30% of the people who have a relationship with the orchestra are here, such as Professor Li Anguo from our school. 30% of the people came because they like to choose songs. Only the remaining 40% of the people came because of the name of the Harmony Symphony Orchestra. Among these 40%, more than half of them are old members who came because of their feelings for the Harmony Symphony Orchestra. This means..."

“Less than 20% of the audience came because of the band’s name!”

"I just took a look at our performance tonight, and then applied the formula to calculate it. The result is not much different from what I expected. Because the songs selected tonight are all popular works, they are more popular with the public. Therefore, the attendance rate tonight will increase because of the song selection, and the number of people who have feelings for the old band will decrease. My calculation is that, excluding the band's followers, the attendance rate tonight is about 60%, and very few core seats in the middle are sold."

"And the data that Senior Sister Huang Xin gave me shows that the occupancy rate tonight is 70%, so this means..."

"As calculated before, there are a little over 600 seats in the concert hall. So the band's core fans, the audience who are willing to follow the band and listen to every performance as much as possible, are only..."

“Less than a hundred people!”

Li Miaomiao was a little more restrained in what she said.

If she were to follow her way of thinking, she would probably be thankful to have 50 people.

But thinking that she was still in Chen Qiu's palm, it was not appropriate to directly lose Chen Qiu's face, so she exaggerated a little, letting the number of the band's core fans reach about a hundred people.

Listening to Li Miaomiao's speech.

Chen Qiu's expression gradually became serious.

Although he guessed that the band would have few fans as it had just been formed, he didn't expect it to be so few.

With a fan base of less than a hundred people, this means that the songs they choose for each subsequent performance must be popular.

Once there is a problem with the song selection and the number of audience members drops sharply, the orchestra's balance of income and expenditure will be instantly disrupted.

After all, no one wants to work hard for a week to put on a performance, only to earn a few dozen dollars after a busy night.

With this money, I might as well work in a music store.

Why do you want to work in this orchestra?
Even if their enthusiasm can sustain them for a few months, if they still can't make any money afterwards, their enthusiasm will gradually die out.

After all, passion cannot defeat reality.

Chen Qiu understood this very well.

Of course, you might say, isn't it enough to just choose songs that are as popular as possible every time?

Theoretically there is no problem, but there is a problem. If the orchestra's song selection is too conservative, it will easily lose audiences and even cause the musicians' level to gradually deteriorate.

For example, the current Haicheng Symphony.

Haicheng Symphony had the opportunity to compete with Yu Tu for the top spot in China, but because of the failure in the competition, Zhao Yi's music season had to turn conservative.

Even though the orchestra still maintains the first place in Haicheng and the third place in China.

However, Haicheng Symphony's world ranking has been declining, and it looks like it has lost its vitality.

The Harmony Symphony Orchestra has just been established, so they certainly cannot do such overly conservative operations.

Chen Qiu looked at Li Miaomiao in front of him, nodded slowly, and said softly.

"In that case, you must have a solution, right?"

"Well, of course!"

Li Miaomiao looked at Chen Qiu, a gleam in her eyes, and spoke to Chen Qiu seriously.

"Just as Conductor Chen Qiu said before, we need to have a plan for the music season! In addition, we also need to expand the popularity of our orchestra as much as possible! In addition to opening a public account as usual, we may also be able to take a different approach, for example..."

Li Miaomiao stood up, took the plan from Chen Qiu's hand, pulled out one of the pages, placed it in front of Chen Qiu, and spoke to Chen Qiu seriously.

"Flash mob show! And post it online!"

"First expand the band's popularity. Once the band is well-known enough, then think about gaining core fans!"

"In other words, it means... first get out of the circle, then purify it!"

(End of this chapter)