You've probably heard it before, "classical music is dying".
I respectfully disagree.
Classical music has thrived in the past decade and continues to thrive thanks to the perks of living in the 21st century. Having access to music is no longer an issue. Knowing about performances in your community is not problem. It's never been easier for artists to share to perform.
The question people need to continue to ask is, why do we need to keep its relevance?
A couple things come to mind:
Music Education
If you look at research around the world in the past decade, kids who have access to music programs in their community have higher success in the classroom. This is of course a BIG positive because a higher success rate in the classroom leads to better grades, better test scores helps a student get into a good university, and eventually lead to a good job as an adult. Music activates all parts of the brain. Click here to see NPR's video on how a musician's brain works. It only proves my point that music education in every culture, in every community, is a necessity for growing our communities.
Easy access
Music has become so accessible with the rise of Spotify and Apple Music. It's so easy to consume music digitally and sure enough classical music has adapted to the 21st century listener. Major orchestras are teaming up with record labels to bring classical music to the masses through streaming services and it's working. It's easier to listen to classical music outside the concert hall when people don't live in the same country as some major orchestras do. But when we have the luxury of attending a performance, I sit down with a sigh of relief. Which leads me to my next point...
It takes us to a place where we forget
In an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show , Malcolm Gladwell mentioned that when he was creating his podcast Revisionist History, he was inspired by the idea of providing knowledge to people using the sound of his voice instead of reading words on a page. I'll never forget what he said, "We think with our eyes, and we feel with our ears". I feel classical music does just that. It can take us places where we never expect. Whenever I have time out of my performance schedule I go to a performance , I close my eyes and absorb the sound of the music. When we close our eyes and listen, then we can forget about our problems. You can listen to something, have it take your breath away, and completely forget the thing you were mad about before that performance. It's amazing.
I can go on all day to tell you why classical music continues to be important. If there isn't a big classical music community in your town, I encourage you to start one. Start making it a priority to put music in schools, make it easier for kids to get access to that kind of education. Easy access to performances and education grows a community. With a strong community, you can do anything.
I encourage you to take a moment out of your day and listen to Jean Sibelius' 5th symphony. To me, it's a masterpiece and a significantly underrated piece of music. Close your eyes. Listen. You'll thank yourself for it, I promise you. Click here for the link.
Interested in getting yourself into the music business? Check out my blog at Moderno Music which is set out to be a resource for the entrepreneur musician.
I respectfully disagree.
Classical music has thrived in the past decade and continues to thrive thanks to the perks of living in the 21st century. Having access to music is no longer an issue. Knowing about performances in your community is not problem. It's never been easier for artists to share to perform.
The question people need to continue to ask is, why do we need to keep its relevance?
A couple things come to mind:
Music Education
If you look at research around the world in the past decade, kids who have access to music programs in their community have higher success in the classroom. This is of course a BIG positive because a higher success rate in the classroom leads to better grades, better test scores helps a student get into a good university, and eventually lead to a good job as an adult. Music activates all parts of the brain. Click here to see NPR's video on how a musician's brain works. It only proves my point that music education in every culture, in every community, is a necessity for growing our communities.
Easy access
Music has become so accessible with the rise of Spotify and Apple Music. It's so easy to consume music digitally and sure enough classical music has adapted to the 21st century listener. Major orchestras are teaming up with record labels to bring classical music to the masses through streaming services and it's working. It's easier to listen to classical music outside the concert hall when people don't live in the same country as some major orchestras do. But when we have the luxury of attending a performance, I sit down with a sigh of relief. Which leads me to my next point...
It takes us to a place where we forget
In an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show , Malcolm Gladwell mentioned that when he was creating his podcast Revisionist History, he was inspired by the idea of providing knowledge to people using the sound of his voice instead of reading words on a page. I'll never forget what he said, "We think with our eyes, and we feel with our ears". I feel classical music does just that. It can take us places where we never expect. Whenever I have time out of my performance schedule I go to a performance , I close my eyes and absorb the sound of the music. When we close our eyes and listen, then we can forget about our problems. You can listen to something, have it take your breath away, and completely forget the thing you were mad about before that performance. It's amazing.
I can go on all day to tell you why classical music continues to be important. If there isn't a big classical music community in your town, I encourage you to start one. Start making it a priority to put music in schools, make it easier for kids to get access to that kind of education. Easy access to performances and education grows a community. With a strong community, you can do anything.
I encourage you to take a moment out of your day and listen to Jean Sibelius' 5th symphony. To me, it's a masterpiece and a significantly underrated piece of music. Close your eyes. Listen. You'll thank yourself for it, I promise you. Click here for the link.
Interested in getting yourself into the music business? Check out my blog at Moderno Music which is set out to be a resource for the entrepreneur musician.