Why Classical Music Won't Die

The arts are having a hard time in this economy. Everyone is having a hard time in this economy, but the arts have been fighting for their right to party for even longer than this economy has been. I don't know when it started and I don't particularly care, but schools have for a very long time been faced with a choice between arts programs or sports programs and most of them have chosen sports over arts. This means an upcoming generation less exposed to the beauty of the arts. And all over the States, professional orchestras are folding and declaring bankruptcy under the financial strain of operating in this country. Others are cutting paychecks or rehearsals or seasons or benefits or players to save money and stay afloat. My own ensemble is many thousands of dollars in debt. And it sometimes seems that the classical arts are fighting a losing battle and we should probably go ahead and give up the ghost. But I don't think that time has yet come, and here are some reasons why.

1. The arts have been around, really since the beginning of civilization; that an economic meltdown could shut that down seems a little short-sighted.

2. Hearts, when exposed, are still moved -- across ages, across cultures, across socio-economic classes.

3. A creative generation, my generation, is rising up to start new groups, to restart old groups, and to take and redefine classical traditions.

4. Orchestras are starting to come around and see that this is a new time and they must operate with new tools ... they are Tweeting, touring, facebooking, making ticket deals, changing attendance rules (i.e. the Indianapolis Symphony allows you to bring your drinks into the conference hall; many orchestras now feature rush-hour concerts, designed and timed to be attended directly after work ... no special attire, just your presence), flash mobbing

In my mind's eye, and probably because I'm partial, the Indianapolis Symphony seems to be one of the few 52-week orchestras doing everything it can think of to catch up to the rest of the world, and I'm proud of them. And when I saw this video, that's when I knew that Classical Music won't die ... not in my lifetime at least. It will probably have to continue to change and adapt a bit, but it always has and I think it always will, I hope so anyway.

I Snow it!

I write this from the midst of Snopocalypse/Icepocalypse 2011. Cleveland doesn't seem to be getting nearly what others are getting, but our due is certainly on its way.

There's something about snow that always makes me think of Calvin and Hobbes. Anybody else?

I shoveled our driveway today for about an hour and a half or so, I guess.

For the record, the following bands make excellent company for business like snow shoveling:

Arcade Fire

The Avett Brothers

The Black Keys

Miike Snow

Mumford & Sons

The National

The Temper Trap

One last thought: Do yourself a favor, pay $7.99 on iTunes and buy The Civil Wars LP "Barton Hollow." It's truthfully one of the most beautiful albums I have he

ard in a long long time. Best $7.99 I've spent in a long time, too. Definitely better than the Sam Adams I bought for the same price ... too hoppy. :(

This is my finished result today:

Truth beats Self-Pity

I have a tendency toward self-pity; I don't know if you've noticed that. I really seemed to notice it tonight, when I was sitting in the auditorium that is my new church, waiting for the service to start, when the lights go down and no one passing by will notice that I've come to church alone. So God opened my eyes to this self-pity and I prayed that He would move my mind away from that, away from myself and move it to the bigness of Him, of His love, of His purpose. And then we started singing. And we sang songs about the wonder of God, about the sovereignty of God, about His strength and His presence as our fortress, our refuge. And the worship was uplifting, even if I was standing by myself singing, I wasn't singing alone (although that didn't occur to me until right now) ... the point was, I was singing. And what it was that I was singing was True. When the singing ended and the lights came up, we greeted those around us, and two of the four people I know at the church now (two of the four people I met at women's group on Thursday) were standing within greeting distance from me. And I was comforted. And the sermon was good, there were things in it for me to chew on ... like "God is more present in the goodbyes than the hellos" speaking of Joseph in the Old Testament ... And then we sang again, more Truth.

Rob Bell at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has given a couple of sermons about why we sing, and he always makes the point that sometimes we sing not because we feel like it, but because we want to feel like it; and sometimes we sing because we just need to have Truth come across our lips. And sometimes that's just enough, because that's where we are. And that's a little bit where I was tonight. And I can say now, from experience, that having Truth on your lips, really does make a difference in the things that are on your mind. I don't know which comes first, but I do know that they're related.