The cultural relevance of classical music

"How is classical music culturally relevant to the audience being served?"

TL;DR: Thank you for understanding the intrinsic value of my work and supporting me as I look to break down the barriers surrounding classical music in today's world. You make me feel seen.

The story: Late last year, I had a proposal for a state-funded grant under review. The reviewers were all seasoned readers and well-versed in reviewing funding proposals; none were artists. When it came time for my proposal review, the panel was pleased with the content, quality, and value of the proposed activities. The event was funded at its full requested amount.

A few days after the session, I received the panel's written comments about my proposal. One question from a panelist jumped off the page as though written in neon: "How is classical music culturally relevant to the audience being served?" I was dumbstruck.

In my field, we talk ad nauseam about the negative stigma surrounding classical music: that it is considered elitist, that audiences feel daunted or intimidated by classical concerts and would prefer to stay home than subject themselves to the rules dominating classical concert etiquette. Orchestras volley ideas back and forth for ways to make the experience of attending symphony concerts more approachable: Bring your drinks to your seats! More pops programs!! Mash-ups of classical hits with popular music performed live!!!

In the end, I'm not sure our efforts to change the appearance of classical music ("lipstick on a pig") are actually benefiting either the audiences experiencing it or the art itself. Because, and here's the part where I step onto my soapbox, classical music is just music. It's music that is intricately created, carefully and intentionally performed, and requires a longer attention span than today's traditional pop songs, sure. But in the end, it's just music, plain and simple. The fact that review panels are now evaluating whether certain communities and audiences deserve or are able to appreciate specific types of music is actually the most alarming part of that reviewer's question.

The proposal under review was for a performance of music by American composers in celebration of the American Semiquincentennial. The concert is part of an arts festival celebrating German arts and heritage in a small town in southern Indiana. It will take place at an historic opera house on a storied Steinway that once belonged to a promising female concert pianist who died in the late 1960s. The music I'll play will represent the perspectives of Americans across countless identities: women; composers of color (Black, Navajo, Indian-American); LGBTQ+ composers; composers of today; composers of yesterday… all stemming from the classical tradition that has its roots in, you guessed it, Germany. Maybe I'm blind, but I struggle to see how any festival-attendee with a demonstrated interest in exploring culture in the first place could fail to see the cultural relevance of such a program.

It is a topic that keeps me up at night, but I'm tired of losing sleep (says the pianist with the one-year-old…). Maybe the issue isn't with classical music. Maybe the problem is that, like a bad rumor, this stereotype has taken on a life of its own, independent of the realities of the classical music experience, which is actually evolving—particularly in the last half-decade, in my experience—to be increasingly inclusive, imaginative, and embracing of audience members of all experience levels. Maybe the better question isn't whether classical music is culturally relevant to a community, but whether we trust communities enough to decide that for themselves.