Classical music began in the church. (Don’t forget: there was usually also an undocumented, secular, popular music tradition in taverns.) This Western music was an immigrant to America, before American composers such as Chadwick began Americanizing classical. This effort is still somewhat lagging in its adaptability, relative to commercial music. Our concerts may resemble a worship of music (holy mass), star-power musicians (bishops) and composers (future saints), for the simple reason that they maximize the potential impact of music for our audiences (congregation of true believers).
And yet the classical arts exist in part to show humanity its potential to work together, like a symphony.
How do our performances alone achieve that? How can we amplify the effects for newcomers?
CutTime learned that lively music performed before a well-humored audience, such as in a small venue, speaks louder than a dry hall. By using analogies, personal insights, humility and excitement, and connecting with what the audience already loves, we can open minds to show what this music is for us.
Is that not serving our art in a different way? If we can reframe classical as a powerful alternative of entertainment in popular culture, then what is old can become new again.
With the recent smoking laws around the country, this is our time to set academia aside, reset the context for classical within and around other culture, to relate it to common people. See what happens when we let new audiences ride the bus. It feels like a mission because we must take faith that nothing bad will happen when we make ourselves more vulnerable. Something unexpected-but-pleasant certainly will happen when we move toward our audience: openness begets openness. This is how the bridge is opened for a time. For the love that is music, we can adopt a humble and patient attitude of love for humanity (agape) to facilitate magical moments for most people, who may only ever have this one close encounter with live classical.