Orchestras, concert venues and festivals have, over the past decades, undergone profound transformations in the way they engage with audiences and communities. No longer confined to the presentation of canonical works within the traditional concert format, they include music mediation, community engagement, and participatory practices. This shift is shaped by changing cultural policies and socio-political challenges, as well as by a growing awareness of the importance of an orientation towards audiences and communities for the sustainability of classical music institutions. This panel brings together three perspectives to highlight historical developments, current practices, and audience perspectives, and to critically interrogate the implications of audience and community engagement activities for the future if classical music institutions and their role in society.Community Engagement of Australian Symphony OrchestrasPresenter 1This presentation gives an overview of the current community engagement activities by Australia’s six State Symphony Orchestras and the key trends of development in this area across the past four decades. It tracks their progress from a largely passive educational concert model to a more participatory model that includes collaborative co-composition projects, side-by-side orchestral training models and cross arts and sustainability focused projects. The key aims of such projects are discussed, based upon a study of program goals and a series of interviews with twenty-eight interviewees leading the field of practice. This presentation also asks to what extent Australian orchestras are linking with school education systems, within the context of Australian Music Education Reviews and Policies that discuss international examples of partnership models connecting professional music organisations with schools.Orchestral Music Mediation in German-Speaking Europe: Historical Trajectories and Current TrendsPresenter 2Drawing on influences from the Anglo-American context and against the backdrop of a noticeable decline in audiences, orchestras in German-speaking Europe began in the 1970s to add their first concerts for children and school groups to their portfolios. From the 1990s onward, these offerings were consolidated, with the first education manager positions established, followed in the 2000s by entire departments. Today, orchestral programming in the field of music mediation is highly differentiated and situated at the intersection of educational, managerial (audience development), and socio-political aims. The socio-political dimension has gained particular prominence in the wake of refugee movements and broader societal transformations. This presentation provides an overview of the offerings of orchestras in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland and identifies current trends. In view of the growing community orientation, a critical, power-aware perspective is adopted, reflecting on the extent to which orchestras, as hegemonic institutions, risk perpetuating structural inclusions and exclusions as well as social inequalities rather than transforming them. The paper concludes with an outlook on possible future developments.Engaging with your audience: an exploration of visitor expectations, experiences and benefitsPresenter 3Music venues and organisations aim to ‘thrill’, ‘challenge’, and ‘intrigue’ their audiences. Indeed, the aims of these organisations are akin to those found in community music education. To ‘engage’ requires understanding your audience, and, we presently have little information about the expectations and experiences of those who attend live music performances, or the benefits they gain. This project measured participants’ expectations of the concerts, and the extent to which they experienced different dimensions of the experience (appreciation of music, appreciation of beauty, engagement, awe, joy, gratitude, reflection, relaxation, sociability, and disengagement), and the perceived benefits and impacts of engagement in the live music experience. Online surveys were delivered prior to, immediately after, and four weeks following the concerts. Comparisons between different concerts and environments provide new information as to how audiences experience concerts and the lasting effects of concerts on their everyday lives. Analysis of the results enables suggestions about how to better meet audience perceptions of concerts, and how to provide sustained connection and engagement with audiences.Balancing artistic depth, community reach, and student voice in the evolution of the LA Phil’s learning programsPresenter 4We will explore how the LA Phil, an orchestra globally recognized for artistic innovation, chose to invest deeply in YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), a program where artistic excellence intersects with social impact, and how that decision has shaped the LA Phil’s identity and the evolution of its Learning Programs. It examines the organization’s unique balance between programs that engage the community from the stage and programs that build on artistry from within the community, through positive youth development and music education. We will also address how centering young people’s perspectives can reshape decision-making, leadership, and artistic programming, leading to new models of collaboration, creativity, and community impact. Taken together, the four contributions offer complementary perspectives on audience and community engagement. The panel connects institutional strategies, socio-political considerations, and audience perspectives, contributing to current international debates about the role of classical music institutions in society, the concert experiences of audiences and the possibilities and limitations of audience and community engagement strategies.