This past season I have worked on a recital for piano called, 'Joy and Imagination'. I love to greet folks after the concerts and thank them for coming. Here is the comment that I hear the most: 'Thank you for sharing stories about the music.'
The classical music industry has been seen as pretentious and unapproachable for many years now and it's in trouble. If we don't begin to work at bringing the music in a meaningful way to folks from a variety of walks of life, this art form will not survive.
The good news is that this music is interesting and touches people in deep ways. Lately, I have been thinking back to those moments when my own soul was awakened to the emotional power of music. This gives me hope that we can move this music forward and reach new audiences.
There is much to say here but for now, let's realize that there are significant challenges for classical music going forward and rise to the occasion in this time to begin to solve these problems together.
