For
their 2014-2015 concert season, the New York Philharmonic has announced their
Philharmonic Free Fridays; anyone between the ages of 13 to 26 can attend for
free to their Friday’s concerts on a first-come first served basis. There will
be 100 tickets and people can reserve theirs online and pick them up at will
call. After the amazing first ever NY Phil Biennial that took place in May of
this year, this orchestra continues to strive to involve and engage younger
audiences with classical music.
Although
the New York Philharmonic has long been a staple of culture in the United
States and around the world for the amazing quality of the music that they
play, the soloist and conductors that they invite and their always dynamic and
entertaining programs, they are also aware of the very fragile and delicate
state that classical music is in right now.
Recently
Peter Gelb, executive director of the Metropolitan Opera, said that the Met could be broke in two years time. Classical orchestras and Opera Houses around the
world are declaring bankruptcy and going out of business. So the NY Phil’s
efforts to attract younger audiences is really important in this context; not
only through their educational efforts, but even down to the programs they are
putting together, the idea of drawing in young people is floating around all of
their work. It was clear during the Biennial with the inclusion of several
programs played by young musicians, including the Julliard AXIOM Ensemble, the Kaufman
Music Center's Special Music School High School and the Very young composers of the Philharmonic program, to the Philharmonic Free Fridays that
are starting this week for young people to attend for free to their concerts.
I do
not think classical music will ever cease to exist. It has been around for
centuries and it’s still happening. However, classical music as we know it may
very well change if we don’t make it more approachable for the general
audiences. The only option for classical music to continue existing is to try
to reach larger audiences, and younger audiences. After all, young people are
the future, as cliché as that may sound, and it is them that will help move
culture ahead after the current generation goes out of business. Programs and
efforts like the ones the NY Phil is putting in motion are a first step towards
this goal. It is now for the younger generation involved in classical music, to
start putting our heads together and craft the new future of it. Because music
is passion, and life without passion would be extremely boring.
P.S.As a little token of the kind of "out of the box" programs that the NY Phil plays, here is a video of the fantastic Idina Menzel singing Lady Gaga's Pokerface!
