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I recently attended a conference in Berlin called “ClassicalNEXT” which tackled the issue of the future of classical music. It was very stimulating and filled with people from all over the globe. A real collective “think”.

I collaborated with a colleague from Finland hosting a roundtable discussion about innovation in music education including virtual tools and AI. Finland assesses music education and performance through peers more often than teachers.

As the world turns faster with the advancement of AI and its impact on everything, traditionalists have mixed reactions to this new tool and its implications. Some embrace it and see its potential for adding value to music and music education and others feel threatened by it and fear it will destroy traditions and steal ideas. One conclusion I heard from a presenter was that AI won’t take your job. People who know how to use AI will take your job. That was powerful and speaks to the task at hand: learn about it and how it might help you to be more efficient and get more ideas or….fall behind!

So what is the future of classical music in this new arena? One could ask about the relevance of all traditions in Arts and Humanities as AI dominates the conversation. I believe its future is strong and may be even stronger in the context of this new chapter in human development. The guidepost for these changes is always going to be about a moral compass. People can use technology for good and bad. We need to work hard to make sure that it is used for good. UNESCO has done a great job spelling out the ethical development of AI and I highly recommend visiting this resource. Here is a URL to that resource:

https://www.unesco.org/en/artificial-intelligence/recommendation-ethics

I ran a concert hall for over 20 years and have witnessed a lot concerning all of the music genres. From my perspective, there are a number of challenges to the future of classical music:

  1. Music Education: start young and establish the normality and appreciation for it. If a child picks up a violin now, they will likely support an orchestra later. They also did “that” and it becomes normalized and not privileged.
  2. Live music: get young people out to venues and establish a habit for going to them. Let them experience not only the music, but foster a sense of community and connectivity throughout the time they are there.
  3. Elitism: provide opportunities for classical music to be performed throughout communities and make it affordable or free.
  4. Musicians: don’t just show up and play and then disappear. Go out into the audiences whenever possible (before the concert, intermission and afterwards) and cultivate ongoing relationships with them. Talk about life, meaning and the music itself. Take the focus away from the performance outcome and focus on the emotions and intent, reactions and questions.
  5. Technology and AI: Technology has been with classical music for quite some time now. With the introduction of every new possibility, there have been those that are in fear and look to the past, and those who get excited and look to the future. Cultivate curiosity and engage with innovation. Become masters of it and see what is useful. Lead the innovation and don’t let the industry around classical music be led by the industry of technology. Even offer to co-develop it.
  6. Embrace fusion and innovation in music composition: Try to keep an open mind. Everything was new at some point and listeners either resisted or embraced the novelty.
  7. Interpretation: as Chick Corea once said to me: “Classical Musicians take themselves too seriously”. Is it a bad performance if the ornament comes before the beat or on it? Was the tempo unorthodox? Was the articulation out of “style”. Does any of this really matter? Is someone going to die from this? Is quality going to suffer if someone doesn’t get it right? We get so wound up with the “truth” that we forget the creativity and experiential part of music making. Cut some slack and listen to different perspectives; highly schooled or not. Foster music making and perspectives. It will make the art former richer!
  8. Attention spans: as we know, they are limited for many these days. Talk about the pieces you are playing and guide the listener. Don’t make it a “lecture” recital, but an open dialogue for preface and reaction. Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with your audience.
  9. Formality: let them clap where they like. Get used to it. Jazz musicians did and do. Lots can happen in a theatre. Young people can make noises at inappropriate times, someone could cough or sneeze, someone might need to get up at an inappropriate time and leave. Don’t glare and make them feel unwelcome. Try to find ways to foster a collaborative audience experience that includes real humans together and not the unrealistic expectations of silence. I’m sure everyone has their disruptive moment during a performance!
  10. The Genre: Classical Music is just music. It’s not until society tells the uninitiated that it is something else that it gets its elitist reputation. I ran a free afterschool music program “El Sistema Aeolian” for 14 years. We once took the kids to perform and interact with a budding group of Elementary Teachers at Teachers College, Western University. One of the teachers in training asked: what do you do with the prejudice against classical music. I responded: “Thanks a lot; they haven’t learned that yet!”
  11. Recordings versus Live: one isn’t better than the other. If a listener enjoys listening to recordings, it isn’t wrong. You shouldn’t tell them they are missing something. Invite them to a live concert and let them make up their own minds about the ways they want to enjoy music.
  12. Advocacy: there is growing research to show that the study of music and especially classical music helps with cognition and develops many skills that benefit people throughout their lives.. It’s not the authentic reason to study music, but a side benefit. Learning and playing classical music is about the joy factor!

These are a few ideas I have about the future of classical music. I would love to hear your perspective; traditionalist or not!

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Throughout history, the relevance of Arts and Culture has been debated. If our current education system in Ontario is a beacon for the current views, then it is considered a superfluous commodity.

I’m in the process of reading Mark Carney’s book “Value(s): Building a Better World for All”. This was published in 2021, long before a conceived run for Canadian politics.

Firstly, the book is really erudite. It covers the history of economies in various cultures from the beginnings of recorded history. Even though it is a heavy read, I highly recommend it as a deep dive into where we’ve come from and where we are now concerning economic and social values. It also speaks to the changes we need to make to have an economy that serves everyone and not just the few greedy men.

How does this economist view art and culture?

Firstly, he believes that societal values extend beyond economic metrics. He believe that art and culture contribute to our collective well-being, identity and sense of community. Carney also believes that art and culture build social capital, empathy, shared experiences and foster trust and cooperation.

Concerning the value of art and culture during economic crises, Prime Minister Carney recognizes their roles in keeping mental health and social unity. Carney believes that we need to redefine value beyond monetary considerations that include human dignity and creativity alongside economic stability.

This is a leader who believes in a morally grounded economy with shared identity and non-material wealth. What a refreshing contrast to those who just want to lower taxes, cut services and have a “me first” society.

Canadians have a real choice to make. I hope we choose values that get to the core of who we are. Those values are rooted deeply in arts and culture. Values that have us build strong community, identity and social wealth.

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I was speaking with a Finnish colleague recently about the relevance of what we both do for music and music education in the context of the current political and social turmoil. After some reflection, I thought I would write some thoughts on this subject: I’ve spent so much of my life journey as a musician and educator.

For fourteen years, I ran El Sistema Aeolian: a free, intensive afterschool music program I founded in 2011. The program is still running after my retirement and serves a community of youth and their families from diverse backgrounds. The majority of participants are either newcomers to our country or first generation. This group has two prevalent barriers to participation in regular paid programs: economic scarcity and lack of social fluency/social mobility. To be clear: they didn’t have money and they didn’t know many (or and in some cases any) people who could help them gain social wealth. This social wealth is the contacts they have that could help them succeed in the new Canadian Culture.

Recognizing the barriers to participation, I began to construct a social curriculum for this program. This curriculum included leadership, peer mentorship, social/emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-actualization, well-being and much more. I ran a weekly leadership class that included regular visits from politicians, activists, clergy, non-profit leaders, business owners, artists, musicians and others. The goal of the leadership class was to increase the ability of participants to see the world more broadly and help them find their place in it. All this through the inspiration of music.

We took the participants on expeditions to perform in places like the University, Homless Shelters, Police Stations, City Hall and others. Through these experiences, the participants were exposed to people who treated them with appreciation and respect. The participants not only knew where the University was, but they had met people who were kind and respectful towards them. This gave many kids the idea that they might see themselves there someday. In some cases, family histories had no relatives that had ever attended a post-secondary institution. Over the years, I witnessed and assisted many participants into their post-secondary journeys into Universities and Colleges.

This is just one example of how the arts can transform people’s lives. We need to embrace the value of an arts education during these turbulent times as a steadying factor of optimism and self-development. Not only are the arts important, they are crucial to finding ways to help us all thrive in society. Let all artists and art educators remember this! Let the general public be aware and learn to see the arts as vital and life changing.

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It’s so difficult to speak to audiences about the value of music education and music making. In Canadian culture and many others around the world, we start out with the added value of music outside of the value of music itself. We have to justify music making because research shows that it has the following benefits:

Improved physical health including eye-hand/body coordination
Improved emotional health
Improved cognitive health
Improved literacy
Increased social inclusion and cohesion
Calming the mind-body
Improved focus
Improved learning and retention

Of course, clinical trial studies are finding all of this to be true. Governments, educators and citizens will nod at this information, but still not put the resources in place to facilitate good music education. We think we’re making headway by spouting these facts, but they continue to fall on deaf ears. Music education is eroding in our country. It’s not considered by the powers-that-be as valuable as STEM subjects even though scientists are saying it’s at least equally important and some say more important!

We’re in a conundrum. Until everyone has the experience to learn and play music, it will be undervalued. If a child picks up a violin today, they will likely support an orchestra later in life. “I did that” is the most important element for engagement, understanding and equity of the value of a great music education. We can’t afford an “us and them” situation for any aspect of education. Just look south of our border and see what that leads to. We need equity in our education system with a rich, arts infused education including music! Our future depends on the creative entrepreneur who can help solve problems, create beauty and help us all experience the joy of living. The arts give that joy, but they also help us to create things like solutions to homelessness, solutions to our climate and ecological crisis, solutions to help us work together in peace on this planet.

I encourage everyone in our country to protest the inequities in our schools. Inequities that include the lack of strong music and arts education. Some schools have everything (orchestras, choirs, dance, drama, art classes), some schools have little to nothing. This is not the Canadian way.

If we do for one, we should do for all. When we do for all, our entire society will thrive!