# Meeting Classical Artists vs. Pop Artists



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

The technical abilities of Classical and Jazz artists is far superior, yet I feel far more comfortable meeting them than past pop acts I have and still enjoy from time to time.

Anyone have similar feelings and have insight into why this is a phenomena? Why don't I get as star struck by Classical and Jazz Artists?

(once Miles went electric, he became a pop artist I would've been intimidated by, but when he was doing modal jazz and be-bop I would've been fine with it).


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Maybe, for me, it has something to do with their lack of willingness to be questioned as much? Or engage in critical discussion about their performance if it was after a show?

Something along those lines, I think!


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Classical and Jazz musicians generally have less smugness and are more approachable than Pop artists. 

Maybe the average size and hysteria of the audience and the presence of Security Gorillas has to do with it? Plus I don't think Jazz and Classical musicians are subject to psychotic fans that are ready to eat their object of admiration alive. A major popstar can't walk on the streets anymore. A major jazz or classical soloist or conductor won't even be recognized. But of course it is all speculation.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

NLAdriaan said:


> Classical and Jazz musicians generally have less smugness and are more approachable than Pop artists.
> 
> Maybe the average size and hysteria of the audience and the presence of Security Gorillas has to do with it? Plus I don't think Jazz and Classical musicians are subject to psychotic fans that are ready to eat their object of admiration alive. A major popstar can't walk on the streets anymore. A major jazz or classical soloist or conductor won't even be recognized. But of course it is all speculation.


Good points.

- Classical and Jazz Artists are less smug generally.
- Classical and Jazz Artists still play to large audiences though (see Carnigie Hall and other major halls around the world).
- Fans are more civilized, certainly in general in Jazz and Classical which helps not feed the Artists ego.

I think also, Classical and Jazz Artists care more about their Art in general compared to their peers.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The closest I came to meeting either was walking in a park near Chicago when James Levine crossed my road. I had absolutely no desire to talk to him (I was going to a recital of him accompanying the lovely Dawn Upshaw that evening by the way).

I did meet Zhao Wou Ki in Paris, at the time one of the most famous living painters (he passed away a few years ago). However, understandably, my wife did the talking (being Chinese and a professional artist herself).

Would I be starstruck to meet a famous classical musician or pop/rock artist? I doubt it. But I also doubt whether there would be interest from either side in a conversation.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Art Rock said:


> The closest I came to meeting either was walking in a park near Chicago when James Levine crossed my road. I had absolutely no desire to talk to him (I was going to a recital of him accompanying the lovely Dawn Upshaw that evening by the way).
> 
> I did meet Zhao Wou Ki in Paris, at the time one of the most famous living painters (he passed away a few years ago). However, understandably, my wife did the talking (being Chinese and a professional artist herself).
> 
> Would I be starstruck to meet a famous classical musician or pop/rock artist? I doubt it. But I also doubt whether there would be interest from either side in a conversation.


I just googled his work, fantastic!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I've met many classical artists and have found them all nice people (well, one conductor wasn't so friendly). That's because they started out like most musicians and know the road ahead. And maybe they realize how small the classical world is and it's important to treat the customers right. Klaus Tennstedt invited me into his dressing room for a Heineken! I spent hours having lunches, drinks and walks with Michael Ponti. Countless classical musicians - so many great memories. But I've been around a lot of pop musicians, too. For a lot of them, I think the extreme wealth and adulation goes to their heads and they somehow think they're better than the peons. Johnny Cash was sure that way. On the other hand, Billy Joel, Donny Osmond, and Glen Campbell were just terrific. I'm not one to being starstruck - they're just people, albeit very talented. The one time I did find myself speechless was when I was standing next to Carlo Maria Giulini.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

mbhaub said:


> I've met many classical artists and have found them all nice people (well, one conductor wasn't so friendly). That's because they started out like most musicians and know the road ahead. And maybe they realize how small the classical world is and it's important to treat the customers right. Klaus Tennstedt invited me into his dressing room for a Heineken! I spent hours having lunches, drinks and walks with Michael Ponti. Countless classical musicians - so many great memories. But I've been around a lot of pop musicians, too. For a lot of them, I think the extreme wealth and adulation goes to their heads and they somehow think they're better than the peons. Johnny Cash was sure that way. On the other hand, Billy Joel, Donny Osmond, and Glen Campbell were just terrific. I'm not one to being starstruck - they're just people, albeit very talented. The one time I did find myself speechless was when I was standing next to Carlo Maria Giulini.


Good post showing the grey area in the discussion!


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Captainnumber36 said:


> (once Miles went electric, he became a pop artist I would've been intimidated by, but when he was doing modal jazz and be-bop I would've been fine with it).


this is one of the weirdest things I've ever read.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

norman bates said:


> this is one of the weirdest things I've ever read.


I don't think it's that strange, his personality and especially look changed quite dramatically, not to mention his celebrity sky-rocketed.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I don't think it's that strange, his personality and especially look changed quite dramatically, not to mention his celebrity sky-rocketed.


I don't know if his personality changed onestly (and notoriously he's never been the nicest man in the world to put it mildly), but besides that I feel strange even the fact that you said that after he went electric he become a pop artist, since especially the albums he did in the early seventies were anything but pop, but actually probably the least accessible music he ever did in all his career. Stuff that was extremely dense, layered, often ominous and dark. I know that "pop" can be intended in different ways and in a sense I can understand how someone could see the fact that he was incorporating rock and funk elemenents in his music as a fact that he was going "pop", but still the idea that someone could think to something like Pharoah's dance as "pop" is almost surreal for me.


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## haydnguy (Oct 13, 2008)

I think that pop musicians don't grow musically once they've hit the big time. They continue to churn out the same stuff time after time. Most performers in classical music will vary their playing and will release new things once they've gone through the standard repertoire. (At least on recordings.)

As far as friendliness goes, I read in an article about 10 years ago that Lang Lang was very snobbish to his fans where Evgeny Kissin signed autographs and was very friendly. I would go see Kissin before Lang Lang, plus I like his performing better.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I have no interest at all in meeting any famous artist. Why should I? Their art talks to me and that is enough. Of course, knowing an artist - whether famous or not - quite well might be a very different experience.



Captainnumber36 said:


> (once Miles went electric, he became a pop artist I would've been intimidated by, but when he was doing modal jazz and be-bop I would've been fine with it).


I don't think Miles became a pop musician when he went electric. He continued his ground breaking path and produced a number of seminal jazz albums (just as he had done before he went electric).


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

haydnguy said:


> I think that pop musicians don't grow musically once they've hit the big time. They continue to churn out the same stuff time after time. Most performers in classical music will vary their playing and will release new things once they've gone through the standard repertoire. (At least on recordings.)


Well, Pop musicians generally play their own music, where classical musicians mainly reproduce 100+ year old music time after time.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

norman bates said:


> I don't know if his personality changed onestly (and notoriously he's never been the nicest man in the world to put it mildly), but besides that I feel strange even the fact that you said that after he went electric he become a pop artist, since especially the albums he did in the early seventies were anything but pop, but actually probably the least accessible music he ever did in all his career. Stuff that was extremely dense, layered, often ominous and dark. I know that "pop" can be intended in different ways and in a sense I can understand how someone could see the fact that he was incorporating rock and funk elemenents in his music as a fact that he was going "pop", but still the idea that someone could think to something like Pharoah's dance as "pop" is almost surreal for me.


You already understand where I am coming from. It is the fact he incorporated those rock and funk elements that made him "poppier" for the time being. And certainly, he became much more _popular_.


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## Tinaj0669 (Sep 20, 2020)

NLAdriaan said:


> Well, Pop musicians generally play their own music, where classical musicians mainly reproduce 100+ year old music time after time.


I wonder if this contributes to classical musicians being a bit more humble. When pop musicians are putting themselves out their in their lyrics there could be more of an ego-connection. With humility comes openness.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


>


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## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Anyone have similar feelings and have insight into why this is a phenomena? Why don't I get as star struck by Classical and Jazz Artists?


Because by-and-large classical artists are merely conduits for the music they are performing, their personality is not that important per-se, they're just people. Whereas for pop artists, "image" is absolutely paramount to what they are selling, as important or even more so than the music itself: Elvis is a sex symbol; Morrissey is a sensitive poet; Nicki Minaj is a badass bitch. Billie Elish isn't an exceptionally talented singer, songwriter, musician, but what she presents to the consumer is a cachet of cool.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

This thread seems to be echoing some things I've heard before, namely, many people seem to have been able to talk with classical musicians vs few who can say they have talked to a famous pop singer and also that many classical musicians are surprisingly down-to-earth people. So this is true? I've heard this mostly with regards to opera singers, but it happens with other performers too? I'm just having trouble wrapping my mind around this.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

As a musician, I'd be more comfortable showing my work to a Classical/Jazz Artist who is worlds better than I, who could help me take it to the next level.

That was the original intent with this thread.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Also, a jazz/classical musician is much more likely to be able to hear you.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

MarkW said:


> Also, a jazz/classical musician is much more likely to be able to hear you.


Ha, this is true!


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

How do you know an artist ?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> How do you know an artist ?


I know a successful prog musician pretty well. We don't talk about music. I guess to him, that's more like work.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> How do you know an artist ?


Is this a joke leading to a punchline?


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

I've only seen famous musicians in concert; but I never met one, shook hands with them, and sat down and talked to them. I admit that I'm a bit star-struck by famous people and would like to meet one of my favorite classical musicians in person, and if I ever had my picture taken with, say, Yo-Yo Ma or James Galway, I'd probably frame it and place it somewhere where people could see it. I don't know how classical musicians and pop musicians are different from one another, apart from the music. I imagine it's like everyone else, and just because they are really, really good at what they do, doesn't mean that they have to be a nice person, or an especially bad person (the "tortured genius"). Yo-Yo Ma seems like a genuinely nice guy, at least that's the impression I got from seeing him in concert, watching him in TV interviews, and from the episode of _Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood_ where Ma was a guest. I watched it with one of one of my sons when he was little, back in the 1990s.

Yo-Yo Ma with Mr. Rogers:


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## Andrew Kenneth (Feb 17, 2018)

I remember meeting Gen; lead singer of Tampa metal band "Genitorturers" way back in sept. 1994.

After their concert the bandmembers entered the bar area of the club in order to have a drink or two and meet up with their fans.
(also to sell posters/merchandise and to autograph these items)

So, I and about three other guys were chatting with Gen when the topic of body modification/piercing is brought up. Gen then proceeded to pull down her bustier and show and tell us some more about her pierced nipples.

Approachability : 10/10

pic of a Genitorturers concert =>


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Coach G said:


> I admit that I'm a bit star-struck by famous people and would like to meet one of my favorite classical musicians in person, and if I ever had my picture taken with, say, Yo-Yo Ma or James Galway, I'd probably frame it and place it somewhere where people could see it........Yo-Yo Ma seems like a genuinely nice guy, at least that's the impression I got from seeing him in concert, watching him in TV interviews, and from the episode of _Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood_ where Ma was a guest.


I've met many, many stars, both classical and popular music types....some are nice, down to earth, others aloof, standoffish, shy, a few are just jerks.
Yo-Yo Ma is one of the friendliest, most outgoing of all..he is really a neat guy...he'd love to meet you I'm sure...he played with us some years back....his arrival was presaged by all sorts of dire warnings from his agent: <<Mr. Ma will not engage in conversation with musicians during rehearsal break; Mr Ma will not sign autographs during break; Mr Ma will not remain on stage post rehearsal; Mr. Ma will attend post-concert reception for maximum of 20 minutes, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah...>>
Of course, once he as arrived, all that bs was completely jettisoned..."Mr Ma" was totally outgoing, friendly, extroverted...immediately had all the cellists trying out his instrument!! Autographed programs, chatted up everyone...a total delight, he loves people...at the post-concert reception, he stayed for over 2 hours..they had to drag him out!!
I understand all the agent crap...Yo-Yo is such nice friendly guy, I'm sure some people have taken advantage and put him in uncomfortable situations, hence the draconian conditions imposed by his agent...but Yo-Yo dances to his own rhythm, I'm glad to say!!


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

I've had a fair amount of serendipitous encounters with celebrities, from Moses Malone to Cindy Crawford and Ritchie Blackmore. The nicest ones I've ever met in the classical world were Simon Rattle, Cecilia Bartoli and Frederica von Stade.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> The technical abilities of Classical and Jazz artists is far superior, yet I feel far more comfortable meeting them than past pop acts I have and still enjoy from time to time.
> 
> Anyone have similar feelings and have insight into why this is a phenomena? Why don't I get as star struck by Classical and Jazz Artists?
> 
> (once Miles went electric, he became a pop artist I would've been intimidated by, but when he was doing modal jazz and be-bop I would've been fine with it).


With a pop artist today, it's all about the looks and cool factor, no substance. That might be why.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I've met a few members of The Dave Matthews Band including the frontman, they were nice, but I was very intimidated. This thread is more about how you feel in approaching a pop artist vs a classical one.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

NLAdriaan said:


> Classical and Jazz musicians generally have less smugness and are more approachable than Pop artists.
> 
> .


NOT, IMO true for opera divas. Have you ever met Angela Gheorghiu? In fact, pianists also have a star system which breeds unbearable smugness - think Christian Zimerman and indeed Rosalyn Tureck. Though I never met him people who did tell me that Sviatoslav Richter was difficult.

And James Levine's smug arrogance has become very public recently.

My own feeling is that people who do music are inclined to be a bit funny, whatever the genre.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

ArtMusic said:


> With a pop artist today, it's all about the looks and cool factor, no substance. That might be why.


Bit of a blanket statement that, Art. Why, I might almost say you were being prompted by Zhdanov !

BTW I think I might know where Zhdanov gets his manifesto from - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhdanov_Doctrine


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

When I was younger, met a few pop artists and found they were just "full of themselves" and not really nice.

Years later, went off pop music, became passionate about classical music, met a few classical musicians and every one of them have been lovely. What a difference!!!


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## Mark Dee (Feb 16, 2021)

I've only met a jazz musician face to face (saxophonist Michael Hashim), who was very pleasant in our brief chat. The closest I have got to a legend was six rows away from Van Morrison at a concert in 1994. I've only been able to watch local orchestras live so can't comment on the persona of a classical musician. In every walk of life there are the humble and proud. Not sure musical genre may have a whole lot to do with it... but that's just my thoughts.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

SearsPoncho said:


> I've had a fair amount of serendipitous encounters with celebrities, from Moses Malone to Cindy Crawford and Ritchie Blackmore. The nicest ones I've ever met in the classical world were Simon Rattle, Cecilia Bartoli and Frederica von Stade.


I forgot about Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who was very personable and funny.


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