Concert Attendance

What if there's really no "decline" in Classical Music Audiences?


I'll never forget the time my sisters declined my offer to take them to the symphony as: "oh, it would be cool for like... a half hour, but then we would just get bored." I had extra tickets to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the worlds top three symphony orchestras, downtown in the city. My sisters had never attended a classical concert with me, so how would they know they would get bored? This shows part of the lack of interest society is getting from ideas about classical music. Take a closer look on why this might happen.

Source 

QUESTION: Is there really a decline in classical music audiences? If so, what can we do about it?

Why is it important to maintain?

SUMMARY:

This article shows that classical concert attendance often fluctuates with the city's population and demographics. Most of classical music listeners are whites. The issue is that the "median age of the U.S. is younger than the median age of the white population, and the proportion of the white population is shrinking in comparison to the proportion of ethnic and racial minorities." With this information, it is not surprising that audience memebers are shrinking with the overall population. 

The article gives the example that the "Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the LA Philharmonic benefit from having a larger absolute population pool with the right preferences (i.e. whites) to help keep these organizations doing relatively well in comparison to Detroit and Philadelphia." Ensembles are often influenced by European orchestra, which is the root of all classical music, but it doe not appeal to the changing ethnic and racial demographic of the US.

ANALYSIS:

I think it is best to get all demographics involved in classical music. It is a shame when Hollywood glamorizes orchestra and opera scenes in the movies as extremly wealthy, middle aged families in fur coats and pearls. The reality: attending the symphony is quite ordinary. You will find many attendees with grey hair, but you will also find students, families and kids.  

It is best for people to get educated about classical music, so they are not ignorant to this art form. Unfortunatly, it is not necessiarly easy to teach everyone about fine arts in music. I remember in elementary school, we had music class, but were never taught about the great composers. As I have come to learn about it now, I wonder why such a thing wasn't taught in school considering we had the class and oppertunity to do so. 

FURTHER RESEARCH: Expanding accesiblity to classical music and education.