the biting point is a living, evolving online manifesto advocating a far-sighted, optimistic, politicized, popular revolution in classical music culture.
Towards a New Classical Music Culture: A Manifesto (18.01.2011)
The premise of this manifesto is to address a much-discussed issue in a new and uncompromising way. This idea that classical music, or art music, has reached ‘crisis point’ is a fairly familiar one to anyone with interest invested in the art-form. The various ‘problems’ (often involving shrinking audience size and demographic) can be listed and debated, and are likely big talking points amongst the major institutions (concert halls, opera houses, orchestras, academies, universities, festivals, etc.), while they will occasionally surface in arts columns in specialist magazines and culture supplements of broadsheet newspapers. The debates are, of course, invariably waged by those who are already part of classical music culture as it presently exists. I’m sure the columns which touch on subjects like discount opera tickets for young people or repertoire choice for the Last Night of the Proms are, likewise, glanced at only by people who already have some idea of the status quo.
Can Music (Still) Be Critical? (September 2014)
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