If you grew up in the '60s you'd have been treated to people like Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern getting their share of shots in on jazz and rock music. Or later on, when it became clear it wasn't just a passing phenomenon (in their own minds), you'd get the occasional condescending faint praise such as: "You know...
some of these guitarists are
actual musicians - who can read music!"
It took people like Arthur Fiedler, Yo-Yo Ma, and Andre Rieu (and maybe Leonard Bernstein) to bring classical music to the masses and attempt to strip away some of the clubby elitism that's plagued that genre since the late 1800's when it was co-opted as the music of the self-proclaimed educated, privileged and monied. So if people are not inclined to listen to classical music, a part of that was brought on by the classical music establishment (and it
is an establishment, which you probably already know if you've ever performed any) itself. It was virtually a
private club in many places. It's only been fairly recently that the classical world has made a much more serious and genuine effort (as opposed to the previous
noblesse oblige) to reach out and become a more inclusive and welcoming music genre.
I happen to really like classical music and was in a few classical ensembles in the past. But I don't generally like most of the self-nominated "classical music" crowd. Or many of the organizations that promote it.
But that's me, eternally a
Child of the Counterculture.
I'm sure there are others who see it differently.
.
