Transfer of culture

Martin, who came to the NZ Symphony Orchestra concert with me commented that Savannah, Georgia, where he lives, a city about the size of Wellington could not sustain a symphony orchestra, yet here we had an almost full house, and audience of over 2000. He also remarked on the fact that neither his son, not mine would ever go to a symphony concert. Young people don't care about classical music, he said. Yet though the audience still had quite a few elderly people, the old European brigade, there were also enough young people. The audience didn't look like a bunch of geriatrics. My brother, Janos also remarked on the fact that classical music still thrives in Wellington. Are we witnessing a gradual shift of European culture to such a remote place as Wellington? In the early days of the orchestra the audience was dominated by European immigrants, for whom going to classical music concerts was a mark of belonging to an educated, cultured, middle class. Over the years this changed. Going to concerts no longer denotes a class status, perhaps not even a cultural status. People go to concerts because they like the music and like the occasion. I don't say that classical music is any way equivalent to popular music. It presumes a greater depth, both intellectually and emotionally, it requires a greater commitment, listening, concentration. But if it is not your poison you are not excluded from the club of thinking people. With all that, it is great to know that the old European tradition of classical music is alive and well here, something you could not have predicted a generation ago.