{"id":225,"date":"2007-02-27T13:23:57","date_gmt":"2007-02-27T21:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/27\/the-future-of-classical-music\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T18:02:31","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T02:02:31","slug":"the-future-of-classical-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/27\/the-future-of-classical-music\/","title":{"rendered":"the future of classical music?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was surfing various blogs and came across this site<\/a>. It is a project of the American Youth Symphony<\/a>‘s Plight of American Music Initiative<\/a>. While it seems largely to be aimed at the efforts of youth orchestras and other youth ensembles, some of the points made could be applicable to major symphonic ensembles. Here is the opening of their mission statement:<\/p>\n

As you may know, from jazz to rock and roll to hip hop, mainstream America has always greeted the expressive music of young generations with disdain. In spite of this, history has proven these musics to be a
\nvalid part of American Art.<\/p>\n

However, for the first time in our history, a generation– from kids to college graduates– is being brought up on a diet of electronic, non-melodious music. Criticism is no longer about the moral or philosophical content of a young generation’s music, but rather the way in which music comes to life — which up until now was by performers playing musical instruments.<\/p>\n

This new paradigm could render traditional forms of American music, such as the symphony, opera or even jazz extinct as the current generation reaches maturity and the current supporters have passed on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here are the opening paragraphs of their report<\/a> on the “MTV\/hip-hop generation” and symphony orchestras:<\/p>\n

The American Youth Symphony issues this report as part of its Plight of American Music Initiative. This Initiative, in part, is an ongoing discussion program\u00e2\u201d\u20actaking place in middle and high schools across the country\u00e2\u201d\u20acaddressing the state of instrumental music performance and its appreciation by the MTV \/ Hip Hop Generation.<\/p>\n

We view this report as significant because unlike major studies and data cited herein, it recognizes the new paradigm that exists in our society regarding electronic sound (see definition below), MTV and Hip Hop culture and a reconfiguring of traditional demographic segments.<\/p>\n

The effects of this new paradigm are challenging. Previously, the research of musical tastes and behaviors went forward on the premise that people agreed generally with what defined music, i.e. melodies, harmonies and rhythms performed by people on musical and vocal instruments. However, the traditional parameters of what constitutes music and a musical performance have been dramatically expanded by the MTV \/ Hip Hop culture. Today, the young generation no longer differentiates between the artistry involved in playing a musical instrument, such as a violin, versus the artistry involved in choosing a violin sample and then programming a computer to play it.<\/p>\n

It is in this context that this report concludes that the culture, financial position and presentation of the major
\nsymphony orchestras in the United States, with regard to classical music, are detrimental to the task of impacting the MTV \/ Hip Hop Generation. We do conclude however, that the role of the youth and community orchestras is vital but needs retooling in order to increase the MTV \/ Hip Hop generation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s familiarity with instrumental music performance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The basic thrust of the report is that the age group of non-classical music lovers between 12 – 34 years old is being totally overlooked by all traditional music institutions, and that there are specific strategies which might help to woo this important and under-served generation. Here are some of their recommendations:<\/p>\n

Proponants of traditional music forms must:<\/p>\n

1) . . . be willing to abandon the failed marketing strategies of large symphony orchestras who may have different social and musical priorites and who possess complex financial stuctures.<\/p>\n

2) Recognize that youth orchestras do not have to change their mission of providing an enlightening experience to youth by teaching them classical music. However, they must also institute an equal mission of making the experience for young listeners interesting and comfortable.<\/p>\n

3) Understand that commercial marketing is the new world order in garnering widespread musical allegiances among youth and that fostering a long-term welfare culture of survival by grants, donations and tuition makes you less creative, savvy and resourceful in the commercial marketplace.<\/p>\n

4) Recognize that your greatest financial comodity is the orchestra itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was surfing various blogs and came across this site. It is a project of the American Youth Symphony‘s Plight of American Music Initiative. While it seems largely to be aimed at the efforts of youth orchestras and other youth ensembles, some of the points made could be applicable to major symphonic ensembles. Here is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,117,55,62,3656,3659],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-classical","tag-critic","tag-orchestra","tag-symphony","tag-the-orchestra-world","tag-violin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-3D","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2308,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/08\/some-awesome-oso-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":0},"title":"some awesome OSO news","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oregon Symphony has been one of seven US ensembles chosen to participate in the first Festival of American Orchestras at Carnegie Hall in May 2011.\u00c2\u00a0 I have the feeling that there is a lot that has to happen before the orchestra actually goes, but this will be a watershed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":904,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/01\/portland-youth-philharmonic-appoints-new-music-director\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":1},"title":"Portland Youth Philharmonic appoints new music director","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Conductor David Hattner has been appointed as the fifth conductor and music director of the Portland Youth Phiharmonic, known as America's first established youth orchestra, founded in 1924. Hattner's first musical career was as a professional clarinetist, and his positions have included the Princeton Symphony, Cascade Music Festival Orchestra, New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conducting"","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"David Hattner, music director designate of the Portland Youth Philharmonic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/david_hattner-226x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":623,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/29\/bizarre-music-news-of-2007\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":2},"title":"bizarre music news of 2007","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seattle Times' classical music critic Melinda Bargreen reports on the bizarre classical music news that occurred around the world in 2007. Unfortunately (and am I sensing a pattern here?) she neglected to mention a couple items from her own backyard: The Seattle Symphony is being sued by a member\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3849,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/01\/19\/tentative-settlement-reached-in-cleveland\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":3},"title":"tentative settlement reached in cleveland","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"From the New York Times: A one-day strike at the Cleveland Orchestra ended Tuesday morning with a tentative agreement but the issues that led to the dispute point to troubled times for the nation\u2019s elite classical musical ensembles amid the Great Recession. Orchestra members struck on Monday, the first such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4298,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/03\/31\/nw-horn-orchestra-this-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":4},"title":"nw horn orchestra this saturday","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's what came into my inbox today: French Horn Enthusiasts; Our Fourth annual show. Don\u2019t miss it! The Northwest Horn Orchestra rides again On Saturday, April 3rd at 8:00, The Northwest Horn Orchestra will perform at The Old Church, 1422\u00a0 SW 11th, in downtown Portland. Maestro Dave Bryan and eighteen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7838,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/09\/10\/nytimes-takes-note-of-oregon-symphonys-2013-carnegie-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":5},"title":"nytimes takes note of oregon symphony’s 2013 carnegie program","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"From the list of its most anticipated classical music events in today's New York Times: SPRING FOR MUSIC This annual festival of North American orchestras, conceived by top music professionals to encourage and reward adventurous programming, has in its first two seasons effectively filled what it has shown to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}