I want my MTV...or iPad?

Classical music is  in tradition and as new media and TV and movies have taken over our entertainment sphere, classical groups have spent the many years now trying to find new ways to engage and ever aging audience...think school tours, live stream, HD broadcasts...the list goes on!


The NYTimes published a review this morning called "Classical Conducting?  There's an app for that!"  A headline to grab our attention for sure!  But what they reported was:

Jeffrey Kahane offered glimpses of both the past and a possible future in his performance with theNew York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall on Tuesday evening.....He played the Beethoven from memory, but for the Mozart, he used an iPad instead of a conventional score.

And on Monday, The Globe and Mail reported "Classical Music without the tuxes and pricey tickets?  Its a revolution!"

...there’s live music at Dave’s, a local bar, and the place is packed.  There’s nothing strange about this picture – until you step in the door and hear what kind of music has drawn a crowd on an off night. In the centre of the room, a young clarinetist and an ad hoc string quartet are working their way through Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet.....Welcome to the revolution – the Classical Revolution, that is. Across North America, classical players are returning chamber music to its origins: informal performances among friends in intimate settings.

It would seem that the more we try to change, the more we stay the same.