This author is quite often described by respected critics and musical peers as one of the finest artists in the world--making the young pianist's mark on music both undeniable and admirable. In this speech he shares his thoughts on improvisation. The ability to improvise is integral to the future of classical music. Classical pianists are still…

Education and learning occur in various settings, some of which are more formally institutionalized than others. Even if it seems to have failed as a definition of art, awareness of art-world institutions has increased in the wake of George Dickie's proposal that art enmeshes an artifact in a set of interlocking yet informally structured art-world…

A few articles have appeared recently regarding the subject of the health of classical music (or more broadly, the fine arts) in America. These include "Classical Music's New Golden Age," by Heather Mac Donald, in the "City Journal" and "The Decline of the Audience," by Terry Teachout, in "Commentary." These articles appeared around the time of…

In this article, the author talks about Venezuela's national youth orchestra program called El Sistema whose attributes offer a direct challenge to traditional Western music practices. As U.S. classical music--and all "high arts"--struggle to find relevance to more than the small "arts club" percentage of the U.S. populace, El…

How is the tradition of Western classical music faring on university campuses? Before answering this question, it is necessary to understand what has transpired with classical music in the wider culture, as the relationship between the two is so strong. In this article, the author discusses how classical music has taken a big cultural hit in…

In her recent work, Green (2001; 2008) builds on the idea that there is a gulf between "real-world music" and classroom music (Ibid., p. 2). One of her main goals seems to be to pave the way for the former in the latter: to make the music in schools more in touch with reality. The learning practices of popular music are taken to bring the needed…

In this article, the author shares the views of John Williams, Hollywood's premier composer, who has written more than 300 scores, about the future of classical and film music. A gregarious person in a field requiring monklike isolation, Williams values the "association with the soloists, and the wonderful inspiration from players." His…

This article considers some ways in which the school classroom enters into, changes and complicates musical meanings, focusing particularly on the role of popular music and how it relates to classical music. I suggest that in bringing popular music into the curriculum, educators have largely ignored the informal learning practices of popular…

Throughout the author's teaching career of the last thirty years, he has thought a great deal about how to prepare children for meaningful encounters with Western art music, a type of music that is not normally a part of their listening environments. (Many young people consider it music of the grey-haired generation.) The Western art music he was…

This article builds an interdisciplinary perspective on the nature of western classical music performance by combining concepts from literary theory, music philosophy and music education philosophy. The article concludes with practical proposals for the education of music performers. (Contains 2 notes.)

Discometrics, a field of study technically related to bibliometrics, employs statistical analysis of discographies to ascertain public demand for classical music. In addition to providing a tool for collection development, discometric surveys may have a variety of uses for educators, record company executives, music dealers, and scholars. (4…

Throughout the history of Eastern and Western thought, the spiritual quality of musical experience has been associated with religion or religious experience. The author writes auto biographically and shares the evolution of her own musical spirituality. An inquiry is launched into the relationship between musical spirituality, and her struggle…

This paper analyzes Paul Gregory's 1951 production of "Don Juan in Hell," now considered to be a seminal work in the development of professional and educational readers theatre. The paper contends that the production, which presented a nondramatic work without the usual emphasis on design and spectacle, forced a reexamination of the role…

The children's song cycle is a group of related songs composed for children, to be sung by adults. Although children's song cycles as a genre have never commanded such attention, these cycles are valuable educational tools that can serve as an introduction to classical music and art songs. (Author)

The author proposes that the entire history of Western, serious, classical music can be seen as a coherent, single development with a single evolving characteristic--that of aurally perceptible clarity and order. (Author/SJL)