Happy Monday!
As a media professional, lately I’ve been asked — no solicited, begged, beseeched — by several classical music organizations for help with their media needs. It’s getting harder and harder for groups to promote their music in the traditional media.
Ok, well, maybe extraterrestrial isn’t the term you’d use, but this post is about classical music radio outside of the terrestrial stations — two sources in particular: 1) the new, combined Sirius XM classical channel which they call Symphony Hall, currently on channel 80 on Sirius and 78 on XM, and 2) Naxos Web Radio, which has 80 (!!!!!!!!!) classical channels, divided by genre. Both are subscription services.
Educator, researcher, and violist Dr. Richard Greene responded to my post on diversity (Diversity is Everywhere, Except Classical Music) by sending me an article he published last year in the Philadelphia Inquirer. With his permission, I quote some passages from it.
I was in Grant Park Tuesday night for the big event, and it was the most thrilling experience you can imagine. Besides the electricity and unbridled joy of the occasion, it was about 90% young people. All races, all nationalities, all income levels. They were powered by hope, and their energy was infectious. I couldn’t help but think that this was an entire generation of computer-savvy kids, who are looking for answers and who want something our generation hasn’t given them.