by Greg Blitzen

Created on: January 18, 2011

Classical music is not dead yet but it is most certainly on life support, as the genre is being forced on to the rough shoulder of the information superhighway.  Who could have imagined that the evolution of the Internet and cell phones, once the exclusive domain of universities, government and business travelers, would in twenty years push aside live performances, radio broadcasts and school music programs through their instant access to pop culture and media?

Technology and the instant access to multiple media forms have accelerated the decline of classical music in ways that have yet to be fully understood or studied.  American orchestras who are struggling with managing rising operational costs against the grim backdrop of sagging subscription sales and a decrease in donations and sustaining funds are engaged in a final battle for survival as they try to defend their territory from a multiple-front assault.

The key ingredient that makes any cultural offering exciting and viable is exposure.  In order to build an audience for classical music there must be exposure at several levels.  The largest threat comes from school districts, many that are broke and forced to fund only those courses and offerings that are considered "essential" or "critical" to a student's academic success.  Ending music and art programs for the sake of math and science may fulfill a state's narrow definition of basic skills but when has the government ever been a bellwether in the arena of educational excellence and success?  The reality of this trend has already begun to reap disastrous effects on classical music.  Young children are no longer exposed to songs and scales and string classes, orchestra and band practices and children's concerts.  It is an unfortunate fact that the bow and rosin have been replaced by a smart phone and a data plan.

Seismic cultural shifts in America have also broken the foundations of classical music and in the U.S. particularly there seems to have developed an ignorance-fueled disdain for anything pertaining to dead, western European white males.  While it is a historical fact that the majority of classical music was dominated (composed, performed and paid for) by white males it should be pointed out here in this article that today's planners and artistic movers and shakers have taken the baton handed off by their western European predecessors, pushing

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