Much has been made here and elsewhere about the elitism of classical music and how it is crippling the genre’s ability to grow. However, a recent article posted in the Seattle Weekly suggests that the issue is more nuanced than that.
Informality, accessibility, openness, a sense of welcoming–these are virtues when it comes to the public presentation of art, and this is the front classical music has been battling on for decades. But one thing classical music has lost sight of is that these also are virtues: insideriness, exclusivity, a sense of discernment, of being in on something the masses can’t appreciate. Though musicians love to high-mindedly cast themselves as the enemies of elitism, these too are part of music’s appeal. For example, Seattle, you may recall, about 20 years ago built an entire musical genre and a world reputation by overtly catering to a niche audience. It was music born in garages and divey small clubs, and repudiation of the mainstream–we get it and they don’t–was its whole raison d’être.
Classical music used to do this–better than anyone, in fact. Where it screwed up was to mix in issues of wealth and class, for decades billing itself as a path to social status and gracious living. The snob factor eventually drove away more fans than it drew, and the fight to counteract that image is just what led to innovative events like Friday night’s Seattle Symphony concerts.
The author, Gavin Borchert, goes on to praise the Seattle Symphony’s musical initiatives, claiming that they are “attacking the problem of attracting new audiences from both these angles.” These Friday night performances include such programs as their just-started “Untuxed” series consisting of short after-work concerts with musicians dressed down. The one-hour length of these performances remind me a little of the Music in the Park series that can be found in Chicago’s Grant and Millennium Parks. These types of performances appeal to a wide range of age groups, and they fit nicely into the modern working professional’s busy schedule.
In addition, Seattle Symphony is drawing upon not only new music but local artists and composers, a key element in showcasing the talent of the area its audience resides. This can help foster solidarity in the community, and pride in one’s own town.
The informality, Borchert claims, helps people to not only better access music, but also attain deeper and more focused listening. But Bochert also says that exclusivity or “insideriness” is critical to classical music. The idea of being part of a group, of being set as part of the “in-crowd,” has strong appeal to many people.
The challenge, then, isn’t simply to make classical music more accessible, but to make it accessible while also exclusive… bringing listeners in so that they feel they are a part of something important. Borchert says that the Seattle Symphony was able to achieve that in their Friday night concert without making it seem pretentious. Perhaps it’s a model other organizations can look to.
Along with making concerts seem less stuffy and all the rest of it, the classical-music world needs to find a way to make them seem like something you have to be a part of–and that’s just the atmosphere the SSO was able to create on Friday night (even with half-century-old music). There was a buzz in the air even beyond the fun of the turntables and the visuals and Morlot’s charming spoken intros (who doesn’t love he way he refers to the building as b’NAHroialle?)–a sense that anyone not there was missing out. Let’s call it “the wristbanding of classical music,” and let’s see if the Seattle Symphony can spread this feeling to everything they do.
Read the original article – The Wristbanding of Classical Music
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