# Why do you love classical music?



## HayleyS (Feb 16, 2009)

I'm doing a wee research project into classical music and would love to hear about your experience:

What’s your first memory of going to a concert?
What's your favorite memory of a concert experience?
How do you keep informed about new concert dates?
How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert?
What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after?
Who do you normally go with?
Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why?
Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers?
What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers?
What do you think will get kids could get into classical music?

hayley x


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

HayleyS said:


> What do you think will get kids into classical music?
> 
> hayley x


Show an interest in the music that they already like. If an older person talks to them as a know it all who acts as though everything they are listening to is rubbish they are likely to rebel against that. But if you don't automatically dismiss everything they like maybe some will be willing to listen to what you have to say about classical music also.


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## Yagan Kiely (Feb 6, 2008)

Is the question in the title of this thread at all related to the questions??



> Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why?


Ambiguous, but I assume you mean a website related (somehow) to the event.



> What do you think will get kids could get into classical music?


Gramor plz.
Don't go to school; be home schooled. This will enable you to get an education.


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## Music lover (Jan 27, 2009)

I went to the opera Orpheous and the Underworld with my Mum. Not impressed, I was 13, if I'd gone earlier I wouldn't have been influenced by the "uncoolness" of the event! The first time individual bits of classical music made an impact was 'The Carnival of the Animals' by Saint Saenz, sorry, wrong spelling. I've now had too many favourite concerts, but my most recent was sitting in the front row being able to intimately watch the soloist celloist playing Hayden's cello concerto. JUST MAGIC. I read the paper, pick up pamplets, generally keep my eyes open. Usually I don't know much at all about the performers / story of an opera etc. If I like it I do some research, and thank god for Google and this website! Concerts vary. We lined up to go to a concert at Notre Dame when in Paris recently. It was so boring, acoustics bad and quite mundane music, we actually walked out at half time! What a disappointment. But usually its the opposite, I go out estatic! A friend or my partner. yes I visit websites, as above. This is the only music group I belong to. If I could find a more consistently serious one, I'd belong. Money, in this country anyway is a problem. Our National Orchestra and Opera Company costs so much to support in a small country and other top-quality artists have to be brought in . But there's never a shortage of choice. We get wonderful concerts, but cost is the real issue. I think kids need to be exposed to it. I'm a support teacher of primary age kids and I sometimes give the teachers a cd of beautiful background music. I go in days later and the teachers usually feel obliged to have it playing. And I get great delight in seeing them listening, really listening. They don't need explanation, just exposure. Lots of it. Good luck with your research, I hope to see your results.


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## Mark Harwood (Mar 5, 2007)

Hi Hayley.

What’s your first memory of going to a concert?
Richard Strauss, Don Juan (?), Swansea, 1981. Thought it was ugly. The music, not Swansea.

What's your favorite memory of a concert experience?
The best ones have all been jazz.

How do you keep informed about new concert dates?
Local newspaper.

How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert?
Google it to see if it looks worthwhile.

What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after?
Sorry Hayley, not a great question.

Who do you normally go with?
My wife. If it's jazz, friends.

Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why?
Yes, see above.

Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers?
Not specifically for concert goers.

What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers?
The travelling, the (necessary) drink-driving laws, prices, but mostly, people's desire to be entertained without great engagement.

What do you think will get kids could get into classical music?
A better school curriculum and schools that take it seriously.

Good luck with the project.
Hope the "gramor" wasn't too bad.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

HayleyS said:


> I'm doing a wee research project into classical music and would love to hear about your experience:
> 
> What's your first memory of going to a concert?


Long Beach (CA) Phil. Parents played in that orchestra for years, dragged us kids along to rehearsals and the eventual concert. It was a wonderful experience hearing the "finished" performances.



HayleyS said:


> What's your favorite memory of a concert experience?


The experience of hearing it "live" instead of from a hi-fi system playing LP's.



HayleyS said:


> How do you keep informed about new concert dates?


Via the internet mostly and the local paper.



HayleyS said:


> How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert?


I try to obtain as much information as I can before attending a concert - the pieces, the composers, the soloists and the conductor.



HayleyS said:


> What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after?


Before: great anticipation - During: enjoying the music - After: analyzing what I heard.



HayleyS said:


> Who do you normally go with?


Being the only musical devotee in my family, I usually go alone.



HayleyS said:


> Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why?


Yes - See answer for "how much do you know about ... " above.



HayleyS said:


> Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers?


Besides the music forums I moderate, no.



HayleyS said:


> What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers?


Word of mouth - advertising, etc. If we advertised classical music in the same manner that the acid rock and rap crap gets advertised, we might garner a larger audience. We should have equal time, too.



HayleyS said:


> What do you think will get kids could get into classical music?


Big question with a even bigger problem. When I was growing up, we didn't have the internet, cell phones, iPods and such. We had TV, but only watched the Ed Sullivan show and rarely anything else. I guess, the kids today have too many other "distractions" that are far more entertaining than getting interested in classical music. There are more teens though, in growing numbers, who are taking a liking to classical music - I think they are tired of the monotonous I,IV,V,I chord progressions of the over-amplified noise some people call music, or the constant minor keys being used in the newer contemporary music these days. Whatever happened to happy music - why is all the rap crap about doom, gloom and destruction? Classical, even when in the minor key, can be so much more uplifting. Some kids are beginning to see the light.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

What's your first memory of going to a concert? Longer ago than I care to admit, I steered a donation to a Chicago Symphony Orchestra "Radiothon" and, as a premium, was part of an audience for a taping by the old Unitel people. I remember that they had a last-minute program change, and I was NOT happy. There's probably a tape out there where you can see a sullen, adolescent Chi_town/Philly sitting in the crowd, all disappointed-looking.
What's your favorite memory of a concert experience? I'd have to pick the "Solti 80th birthday" concert. I've told the story before how Pierre Boulez wrote a piece for the occasion- and Georg Solti said that, even though it had been a very long time since he'd put anything to staff paper, he was going to write something for _Boulez'_ 80th birthday. (The Grim Reaper kept him from following through on that sentiment.) [Last year's closing night of _Tristan und Isolde_ at the MET gets an honorable mention here, though.]
How do you keep informed about new concert dates? On-line resources are the obvious first resort. However, since I have the reputation as a little bit of a "touch" when it comes to Arts Support, I get some mailings, too.
How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert? If there's a story involved (as in an opera), I will know it VERY well before I see it. What I know of the performers is, of course, quite dependent upon who the performers _are_.
What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after? That depends on the concert! Obviously, the 'vibe' is very different between, say, Verizon Hall and the Ravinia Festival.
Who do you normally go with? For me, there's only Hot_town/Philly, my belovèd wife. I guess I'm a 'monogamous' concert-goer.
Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why? I take it you mean visit a web-site that has some connection to the event in question. If so, then, yes- I'll look at what another reviewer or two said about a performance. I'll also go to a site like this one to relay my impressions of a performance, if I'm particularly moved.
Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers? Specifically _for_ concert-goers... no.
What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers? 
What do you think will get kids could get into classical music? :Struggling against the urge to recycle one of Dorothy Parker's most famous quotes, here: I think I'd better stop now.


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## ecg_fa (Nov 10, 2008)

I'm doing a wee research project into classical music and would love to hear about your experience:

What’s your first memory of going to a concert?

**1st was Johann Strauss's Die Fladermaus at the old Met in NYC-- about age 8. I loved it! Ist concert was I think a solo piano recital by Vladimir Horowitz also in NYC about
age 12.

What's your favorite memory of a concert experience?

**Tough one-- very many & not just classical. But for classical another Horowitz concert
late '70's in San Francisco; & hearing Andrew Rooney & Academy of Ancient Music w. Emma Kirkby & others singing Monteverdi madrigals in Rome-- '80's. Opera-- several, but Kiri Te Kanawa singing in Marriage of Figaro & Don Giovanni in early-mid '70's at
Covent Garden, London really stand out. Also Beverly Sills in Roberto Devereux with
NY City Opera c'70.

How do you keep informed about new concert dates?

**Newspaper/internet a bit.

How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert?

**Depends really-- sometimes I just go; other times to see specific works/artists.

What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after?

**Unclear.


Who do you normally go with?

**My wife, friends sometimes, occasionally solo too.

Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why?

**Sometimes-- esp. if performer/group impresses me that I didn't know previously.

Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers?

**Well, this one & a couple other non-classical music groups, but not specifically concert
goers.

What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers?

**Price & willingness to invite/accompany folks to concerts who may not be connoiseurs.
Trying to communicate your enthusiasm for classical music

What do you think will get kids could get into classical music?

**Willingness to organize (& yes, pay for) them to go-- with maybe a little backround
if required, but leaving it open and upbeat/enthusiastic-- not a horrible duty of giving them 'cultah' like it was medicine, & willingness to let them experience it the way they do, even
if they hate it!! Also I think it nice to play classical music at home (records or 'live' if
you can). I also don't think classical music should be watered down (if not endless hours of say Bruckner symphonies to begin with either) muzaky substitutions for real pieces.
If you're enthusiastic and think classical music is fun too (as well as 'educational'), they may learn to respect it even if they don't love it.

Good luck with project .

Ed


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## ozradio (Oct 23, 2008)

ecg_fa said:


> What do you think will get kids could get into classical music?


This one always gets me no matter the context in which it's asked. Why worry so much about how many kids are or aren't into classical music (or stamp collecting, or amateur radio, or this or that hobby)? How many of us listen to music or are into hobbies we were into as kids? My music/hobby tastes have certainly changed as I've gotten older. I suspect classical has never been overly popular with kids. I listen to my radio shows from the 30s and 40s and the young characters always express a preference for the big band or pop tunes of the day. Nothing new under the sun. Sure, expose them to it if you can, but don't sweat it.


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## Yagan Kiely (Feb 6, 2008)

I wonder if the title poster has forgotten about this.


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