Millonaire music
That’s what he called it – the classical vocal quartet I recently
presented at my community outreach Music Kitchen concert series, founded
to bring top artists in concert for New York City’s economically
disenfranchised. Armand, the bright, friendly interactive young man who
was all of maybe 24 and, from what he told me and the journalist from
ABC News, had no prior intimate experiences with classical music. He
definitely carried a perception, however, as was obvious from his
description- “millionaire music.”
And yet during the performance when I asked if the listeners had questions, he eagerly offered one: “Can I sing too?” Even though the program consisted of Renaissance and early Baroque motets in German he stood with the ensemble for one piece and did his best to sing along. This and myriad other experiences tells me that classical music in general and many orchestras in particular are often missing the boat somehow in reaching the uninitiated listeners among us. Or rather, stated in a glass half full manner, orchestras still have enormous opportunities in the community for listeners yet untapped! In order to become more relevant in American Society, and as I continue to watch primarily only the older generations cling to the experience of orchestra concerts, orchestras cannot afford to leave any eager young listener on the outside. How can we better reach new listeners like Armand? These are some of the questions that I would like us to consider in this blog...
And yet during the performance when I asked if the listeners had questions, he eagerly offered one: “Can I sing too?” Even though the program consisted of Renaissance and early Baroque motets in German he stood with the ensemble for one piece and did his best to sing along. This and myriad other experiences tells me that classical music in general and many orchestras in particular are often missing the boat somehow in reaching the uninitiated listeners among us. Or rather, stated in a glass half full manner, orchestras still have enormous opportunities in the community for listeners yet untapped! In order to become more relevant in American Society, and as I continue to watch primarily only the older generations cling to the experience of orchestra concerts, orchestras cannot afford to leave any eager young listener on the outside. How can we better reach new listeners like Armand? These are some of the questions that I would like us to consider in this blog...
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