CLASSICAL MUSIC IN AN AGE OF
POP
Spring 2013
Greg Sandow
phone: 646 484-8163
email
me
my blog on the future of
classical music
Course outline:
Here are the main topics we’ll discuss in this course:
The crisis in
classical music: How bad is it? Will
the audience disappear? Will classical music institutions go out of business?
What
classical music is: Why is classical
music valuable? What does it express? How does it relate – or not relate
– to the rest of our culture?
Classical
music in the past: Was classical
music always as formal as it is now? Was the audience always old? Were
performances in the past different from what they are now?
Pop music: What’s its
relationship to classical music? Is it only entertainment, or can it be another
kind of art?
Fixing the
crisis:
Changes: The classical music world is exploding with change.
What are these changes? What have people done to make classical music new
again, and to find a new audience?
Entrepreneurship: Each of us can take steps to renew classical music,
and to find and build our own audience. What can you do, as Juilliard students,
or in your professional careers? Can you find an audience of people your own
age? We’ll end the course with a look at ways for all of you to create your own
brand. You all have your own unique and deeply personal approach to making
music. If you can tell the world what that is, you can make people care about
the music you make.
Assignments (full details online, at the course website):
You’ll have reading and listening assignments related
to the topics we discuss. You’ll also have two informal short papers to write,
and a take-home final exam. But this is a course in questions, not answers, so
the most important part of our work will be done in class.
How you’re graded:
The most important part
of this course is class discussion—an opportunity for all of us
(including me) to work out our thoughts on the issues we’ll confront. So a
large part of your grade will be based on class participation, though the
papers and exam also count. Because class discussion is so important, there’s
no point taking this course if you can’t come to class regularly. If you miss
more than three classes, you may well lower your grade, and might lose credit
for the course.