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No, I don't know how to get young people to start listening to jazz again. But I do know this: Any symphony orchestra that thinks it can appeal to under-30 listeners by suggesting that they 'should' like Schubert and Stravinsky has already lost the battle.
Terry Teachout
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the challenge of attracting young audiences to classical music by imposing expectations.

Terry Teachout highlights the importance of engaging younger listeners with authentic experiences rather than merely telling them what they should appreciate. The quote suggests that art forms like jazz and classical music need to evolve and connect with the interests of younger generations to remain relevant, rather than relying on authoritative claims about what is 'worthy' of appreciation.

Themes

JazzMusicYouthEngagementCultureSymphony

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech at a music festival, addressing how to attract younger audiences.

More from Terry Teachout

Unlike film and TV, theater is a luxury object, but one that ordinary middle-class people can still afford. Above all, it isn't a mass medium: Live theater is a small-scale, handmade art form. Intimacy is what makes it special.
Terry TeachoutRead
No translation can possibly be perfect. Every production and every performance is a different path up the mountain, and nobody ever makes it all the way to the summit.
Terry TeachoutRead
Century-old records are the closest thing we have to a time machine. To listen to the voice of Theodore Roosevelt or the piano playing of Claude Debussy is to feel the years falling away like autumn leaves from a maple tree.
Terry TeachoutRead
Just as most of us prefer to watch a trapeze artist work without a net, we like to be absolutely sure that a virtuoso is giving us our money's worth, and a seemingly effortless performance, no matter how spectacular it may be, deprives us of that slightly sadistic thrill.
Terry TeachoutRead

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