A new generation of classical music enthusiasts is helping to pull classical music by its G-strings from the trenches. Subscription-based satellite radio stations such as Sirius and XM are on the rise and independently funded classical music programs are using the Internet to make some noise.

Roberto Diaz, president of the tuition-free conservatory the Curtis Institute of Music said the trick to classical music’s comeback lies in the ability of classical musicians to bend with the multidimensional platforms of technology. “Musicians now depend less and less on someone else, a major recording company or a PR firm,” he said. “They are starting to self-produce CDs, they are on the Internet, they’re on YouTube.”

Speaking of YouTube, the mega video sharing website launched a contest in 2009 that ended with the creation of its own Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra played in Carnegie Hall that same year, an event that was streamed live to rave reviews. Of course, the wall of videos playing behind the orchestra and lifelike digital projections didn’t hurt. The Houston Grand Opera upped the ante by offering video streams of behind-the-scenes dress rehearsals and in-theatre Opera Vision courtesy of a giant plasma screen that functions like good ole’ fashioned opera glasses.

The Year of the Hybrid

For a genre that officially began as an offshoot to Gregorian chant, classical music appears to be handling its multimedia metamorphosis well. In fact, these days there seems to be a bit of favoritism for classical productions that incorporate other musical genres or artistic mediums. Classically trained alternative singer/musician Tori Amos has gotten a lot of attention recently over a new Deutsche Grammophon song-cycle, “Night of Hunters.” Violist Nadia Sirota is also sparking attention from younger classical enthusiasts on NYC’s WXQR radio station with a classical/pop hybrid, a genre that she calls, “21st century classical music.”

The Future of Classical Music

Whether for or against a merger between classical music and multimedia or the more universally embraced pop music genre, most experts agree that the future of classical music lies in public education. Many public schools are faced with the task of choosing between providing for the arts and other vital subjects such as computer instruction. How to pull this realization from the shadows of limited public funding and national economic uncertainty remains the real challenge.

According to Seattle Opera’s education director Perry Lorenzo, the future of classical music really is a matter of choice, or lack thereof, of music exploration for kids and the general public. “As long as music education can be brought back to thrive in our schools, kids will have the right to choose what they love to hear and play.” Experts believe it is this fear for lack of choice that will likely lift classical music back onto its high-horse in the years to come.

-Li St. Michael

Do you listen to classical music?

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