Charlie Albright, a gifted young pianist and recipient of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant, is known as a youthful voice in classical music. His article published on CNN asks the common question, “why aren’t more young people showing an interest in classical music?”
Albright’s thoughts? Etiquette.
“Coughing? Forbidden,” he writes. “Performers speaking from the stage? Discouraged. Improvisation in a concert? Rarely done and almost never taught.”
With a stuffy concert culture, he says, “it is no wonder that people (especially youth) are apprehensive and often uninterested in the whole idea of classical music.”
“Thankfully,” Albright says, “this ‘classical’ classical music of the 20th century is dying.”
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you feel a “stifling” atmosphere at the classical performances you attend? Is this the answer to drawing in younger listeners?
Here’s a fascinating news story from Seattle’s KIRO about Charlie Albright from 1993: