Monday, October 15, 2007

The Future of Live Performance

"The Future of Classical Music". This is such a broad topic that my brain overloads and shuts down every time I contemplate us organizing a wikipedia page. It is obvious from the blog that our class has many ideas, opinions, and knowledge bases. Our next step, in my opinion, is to figure out how to break this enormous category into easily digestible sub-categories (and don't rule out sub-sub categories, etc.). One of these sub-categories that we brush up against frequently but never directly address is the future of live performance.
In my opinion, the future of classical music is not in jeopardy. We have talked about the 'invisible museum', and this I think will preserve most of what are considered the classical 'gems'. With the storage capacity of digital audio, space is no longer an issue, and even the loss of sound quality is being addressed. However, my confidence wavers when faced with the issue of live classical performances.
The purpose of this post is not to bring up a new topic, nor is it to re-hash an old one. We have discussed multiple solutions to bolster audiences, reach new listeners, and bridge the divide between 'highbrow' and 'lowbrow'. We have found great examples of ensembles putting many of these ideas into practice. I simply wish to point out the need to organize. I therefore put forth "The Future of Live Performance" as a viable branch that needs the most attention both in our wikipedia page and in the future of our art.

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