Free The Late Starters Orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

sometimes have the sense that I am recapturing something intrinsic to me rather than learning something alien and new. This was especially true in the lessons taught by Mr. J. When he reminded me that the music is in you, I wondered if Gabriel also gave me music lessons in the womb alongside the lessons of Torah. Perhaps learning cello as a late starter was not about learning it anew but about recapturing what was already part of me.
    AS WITH TORAH, I believed that there was a right way and wrong way to do music. I had certain orthodoxies about classical music, ideas influenced in no small measure by Mr. J.
    First, there is no higher art form . Paintings are nice, architecture can be inspiring, mathematics has its moments, engineering is a marvel, but classical music is the pinnacle of creation. Jazz, rock, and folk have their place, but classical music is the God music and the God of all art forms.
    Second, classical music was written for one purpose: to be listened to. All other music can be interrupted. You can talk at a jazz club; go ahead, bob your head and tap your foot. You can sing along with the folksingers at the hootenanny; Pete Seeger will even prompt the next verse. You’ve got to get on your feet, dance, jump into a mosh pit, or wave a match (or your lighted cell phone) at a rock concert. But you must sit still at the symphony. And listen. There is no such thing as incidental music. Music is the main course.
    With obvious joy, Mr. J would quote G. K. Chesterton, the English literary and social critic, who said: “Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.”
    Third, classical music is telling us something important. It demands active listening and, if you indeed listen, you will experience powerful feelings that stimulate the imagination and touch the soul. It speaks to us, not just in some metaphorical sense, but in real, actual language. It is, simply put, more powerful than words.
    Fourth, recordings are okay, but nothing equals the experience of hearing music live, in a concert hall, where you can connect with the musicians and the mind and soul can focus.
    Fifth, this is the music you never tire of. You learn something from every encounter with classical music. I cannot listen to the same rock song over and over again. Being stuck in a car with a “classic rock” or “Top 40” radio station is my worst nightmare. I do not want music of the seventies or eighties or nineties, as some popular radio stations advertise. I want the music of the seventeen hundreds and eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. Over and over and over again.
    All these orthodoxies have been debunked again and again. Some say that adherence to them has led to a serious decline in the classical music audience. A recent survey by the League of American Orchestras indicated that the number of people who attend classical music concerts has been declining for almost three decades, from 13 percent to just over 9 percent. That means that fewer than one in ten American adults has attended a classical music concert in the last year.
    On the other hand, the declines are across the board, in all age ranges, and represent a drop in all experiences that demand that a person venture out and travel to a venue, take a seat, and watch or listen. This is true of movies, plays, and jazz and rock concerts. Sporting events have suffered the most, with a 36 percent drop in the last thirty years.
    At the same time, the American League of Orchestras’ survey notes, more people are listening to classical music than ever before. The growth is all digital; that is, online or on the radio. People are downloading classical music they love or exploring it on websites like Pandora or Spot­ify. Meanwhile, the sale of classical music, either on CDs or online, continues to tumble.
    To deal with the crisis in classical music, orchestras are coming up with new marketing techniques and reviving old ones. They