Out in the real world, we fear always justifying our choice of music to people we meet. They may be polite, snicker, or give us sidelong looks. Be if we would embrace our freakiness, we could be answering the burning-but-unspoken question WHY CLASSICAL? and perhaps flip the coin of understanding to open hearts and minds with our passion and knowledge. If we are preachers devoted to this almost sacred music, then we can share some wisdom that helps people feel comforted and trust that music. Our answers would serve broader slices of humanity its own legacy of beauty, energy, and strength. These are the promises of the public domain, the democratization of fine arts, and another classical idea called agape.
Since 2010 CutTime has been extending classical and esp. symphonic music via the Classical Revolution Detroit series (CRD), into noisy bars, coffeehouses, homes, rough art spaces, and street festivals; resetting the context for instrumental music as a “universal” and adaptable tool. We are building a new classical tradition that also validates and demystifies the old one. We began as volunteers until winning a Knight Foundation grant to expand with 34 events in 2015. People are very surprised we will play classical and symphonic music both for, and with them.
We are cultural entrepreneurs, spreading the peace of music with true accessibility, when we choose to sacrifice controls and ego, to make our sacred music easy, open, meaningful, and fun to learn and use. We add value, creating emotional connections using famous masterpieces and new works that blend masterpieces with urban dances. CutTime relies on lively hosting, participation, interviews and effective analogies to answer burning-but-unspoken questions. Audiences see an ethnic mix of musicians owning this music as a tool for self-reflection and cathartic expression. Success is when people return, bring friends, speak in favor of it, attend local concerts, or invite us to play in their other communities. Our work is not very popular; but it is very necessary.