Music is part of our lives. I lost count of how many of my students I see using their AirPods or headphones. Although vinyl albums are making a comeback, we can take our music with us everywhere we go. We can thank Spotify or any other music streaming service for that. I like almost every genre of music. I want to keep it positive here so I won’t list the genres I dislike. However, as a musician myself, I can appreciate the hard work that goes into creating an album.
Years ago a co-worker of mine asked if I would help out a friend of hers who was looking for a saxophone player for an album he was recording. He only needed help with one song so I agreed to help him out. It was a long night, but an experience I’ll never forget. Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of that recording, nor do I remember the name of the gentleman or the title of his album. Today he’s probably famous, but I still don’t know who he is. Maybe it was John Legend. I digress.
I want to focus on classical music in this post. What do you think of classical music? Relaxing? Boring? Do you think it’s just for older people? Anyone who was in the band in junior high or high school remembers we played classical pieces during the second semester. You either loved it or hated it. I loved it. My love for music stems from learning how to play the clarinet in second grade. I’m still playing it today in my church orchestra. I love it.
I was inspired to write about classical music because of the recent announcement from the Los Angeles Philharmonic regarding conductor, music, and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel. Director Dudamel is leaving Los Angeles to do the exact same position for the New York Philharmonic in 2026. I was saddened to hear this news. Mr. Dudamel, in my humble opinion, has brought awareness of classical music to young people who may never have had access to it before. He led a youth orchestra in his native country Venezuela. He started YOLA which is the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. He will, I’m sure, do the same for the youth of New York, but he will be missed. LA’s loss is certainly New York’s gain.
I won’t prolong this post with Mr. Dudamel’s biography, but he is one of a kind. Not many men in their 30s are asked to become musical directors of a major philharmonic orchestra. If you can impress the likes of John Williams (Star Wars, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc.), then you know you have a gift. If you are interested in learning more about Mr. Dudamel, look him up on your favorite search engine, then watch the movie “Viva Maestro” on HBO Max. He truly is a fine man, in my humble opinion.
I hope you do go to a classical music concert. Give it a try. You’ll either love it or hate it. Either way, at least you’ve been exposed to an amazing art form that started many years ago.
I’ll end this post by asking again, do you think classical music is just for the elderly? Tell me what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading. Feel free to share my site with family and friends. Then they can ask the question, are we having fun yet?
I grew up listening to the classical music my parents played and the classical music in cartoons. In fact, the first concert I attended was one of the Boston Pops (when I lived in Massachusetts). I thought it a bit boring then, but now I have more appreciation for the classics. Our children and grandchildren enjoy classical music - they started enjoying it at a much younger age than I did!