To resume this thread, which I started a while ago… A month or so ago I was asked to speak to members of the board of a major orchestra, about how to attract a new audience. I was especially interested in talking about how to attract younger people, because I think it's a subject we talk about a lot in the classical music world, but not always with much thought about what younger people actually are like. Unless, of course, we trot out those old bromides about their alleged short attention span and alleged need for visual stimulation. As … [Read more...]

Here's the view from my front door in Warwick, NY, after the snowstorm today: It's peaceful here; silent; hardly any cars on our road. (Which you can't see from our front door; our house faces away from the road, toward woods and a field.) This is a rare moment of peace for me. I've been buried in work and travel for the past few weeks. Each Thursday I've been flying from New York to Rochester, to teach a course on the future of classical music at the Eastman School of Music. On Wednesdays I teach the same course at Juilliard. I flew to … [Read more...]

I've finished another episode of my ongoing book on the future of classical music, and it's online at the usual place. It wraps up the discussion that started two episodes ago, about form and structure in classical music. And in two weeks, on February 20, the next episode comes out. It's going to mark a new departure. Quite honestly, I'm not happy with the way the book has been going, and I think I've learned how I should have proceeded. So, beginning on February 20, I'm going to start the book all over again. It'll be more orthodox, more … [Read more...]