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LISTENERS' BOX
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A Response to a Long-Ago Issue
Public Practice
A long time ago, your question of the week was something about how to keep classical music alive, keep young people exposed to it, and so on. By the time I saw the question and thought about it, it was too late to write anything. All the replies I read were about "music in the schools," which seems to me a futile lament in these days of cutting arts budgets. The idea I had was that classical musicians should hold informal sessions, practice sessions, rehearsals, in public places like coffee houses, bank lobbies, shopping malls, etc.
These would be real practice sessions, stopping to go over rough spots, etc., reading through a new piece, whatever. The point is to expose people to what used to happen at home: practicing, getting together to make music when there was no record player. A handy sign could advertise the upcoming performance, but the main thing is to get the playing of music out there.
Would that be so hard to arrange? Would any bank absolutely refuse to put an old upright piano in the lobby? Would all musicians be so shy and precious about practicing and rehearsing in a public place?
— Dorothy Bryant
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