by James Hogan
Classical music is not dying–if you believe Fred Child, that is.
Fred, who hosts American Public Media’s “Performance Today,” gave a talk Monday entitled “The Death of the Death of Classical Music,” part of WDAV’s 30th Anniversary Celebration this week. He listed many successful orchestras, stunning classical CD sales figures, and the like, all the while encouraging his audience that classical music was very much alive.
But, he added–and no one in the room disagreed–the way we see and hear and perform classical music has changed dramatically, and it must continue to change if classical music is to remain viable. Fred went on to point out several new ventures in classical music and played a YouTube video of The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela playing Bernstein in London. Here’s the clip: