Beware the Culture War

Soundcheck | May 3, 2010

In a recent New Yorker essay music critic Alex Ross argues that terms like "classical" and "popular" music are too confining. He writes: "I hate 'classical music': not the thing but the name. It traps a tenaciously living art in a theme park of the past." Ross joins us today to shed some light on this topic, as well as on the future of classical music. Also, David Amram is a composer, pianist and French horn player without boundaries. The 71-year-old artist has collaborated over the years with such notables as Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Willie Nelson and Jack Kerouac, the latter of which inspired by his book Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac. His music is being featured in an upcoming concert by the Omni Ensemble, the resident chamber music group at the Brooklyn Conservatory, and he joins us today for a conversation.
Additional Resources:
» Alex Ross's article on the future of classical music
» Omni Ensemble Web site

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