Music concerts for the under-privileged

The idea behind ‘pocket concerts’ comes from the world of publishing, where in French livre de poche means a low-priced paperback. As with the books, the aim is to enable under-privileged parts of the population to get access to concerts which they could not normally afford to attend. The price is no more than for a cinema ticket. Since the scheme was set up in 2006, many people with no previous interest in classical music have been able to attend concerts by the pianist Jean-Marc Luisada or the opera singer Caroline Casadesus. The performances are staged primarily in so-called ‘high priority’ – i.e. disadvantaged — urban areas, and in the countryside. The target audience is mainly young people, with little disposable income or living far from centres of population, for whom live music is generally unattainable. Concerts de poche ­organises around 50 concerts a year across the country. They are held in small-scale venues with between 100 and 400 seats, such as theatres, municipal halls, music conservatoires or schools. The association has also arranged partnerships with anti-poverty charities such as Emmaüs and Cultures du cœur.