The barrier between stage and auditorium is broken when a conductor addresses an audience. Musicians dress like Victorian morticians, so the public needs to see that we're real people, longing to share a passion for great music. Many orchestras have a special series of concerts designed to attract new patrons, where the conductor introduces and explains each piece.

When I speak to an audience, I start with a musical point they already know to establish common ground. I can then move to the unfamiliar without making them feel lectured or patronized. Many people are afraid to go to a concert because they lack academic or theoretical knowledge, but knowing about music isn't as important as loving it and responding to it. A little knowledge helps: learning about the background or message of a piece, its structure and shape, how a composer's personality affects his music, or some interesting features of the orchestration. A few words from a conductor can give an audience an appetite for what's coming, preparing them for a rich musical experience.

Some traditional audience members don't like a conductor to say anything during a concert; they think it dumbs down the occasion and turns it into a lecture. A “preconcert talk” is better, beginning one hour before the concert and lasting about half an hour. If a conductor is willing to do the talk himself, he'll enhance an audience's experience.