Summary
There is a stigma attached to contemporary classical music -- at least in the mind of the average concertgoer. A myth circulates among audiences that music written after 1900 is, by definition, unlistenable. Any recent work by a living composer needs to be swept under the rug and forgotten.
There are scores of reasons why people react so negatively to new music, but Lisa Kaplan believes that part of the problem lies in substandard performances. "The bad reputation of new music is partly because orchestras program it. At least half of the orchestra hates it, and you can tell in the performance that they're not interested in playing it. And often these pieces are very underrehearsed."See the full content of this document
Extract
Shattering Musical Myths
Kaplan is the pianist for the contemporary music ensemble eighth blackbird. She and her colleagues in the sextet don't see themselves on a mission to change people's perceptions of new music. They just want audiences to be exposed to something different, to g...
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