W'S College Strength (Approval at 61% Among College Students)

RealClearPolitics.com ^ | 10/23/03 | Tom Bevan

[RightWhale]

OTOH, there aren't many old bass players unless they have groupies to lug their gear around, but some stay with music by moving to the viola. I don't know why bass players move to viola, but they do, and some do very well. I am giving it serious thought and went so far already as to buy a viola and some of that very odd c clef sheet music.

[jmaroneps37]

Another angle of the "perfect storm" that will crush the rats next year. These kids were in high school on 9/11/01. Ordinarily that wouldn't mean much but what is different now is that these kids have computers. The kids that became interested in the world,( apparently many of them), have learned not to rely on their lying rat professors for the truth. Losing the youngest generation of voters plus some Black plus some Hispanic plus some Jewish voters will be the ingredients of disaster for the rats next year. Hee hee hee hee.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I just co-chaired our annual Lincoln Day Dinner, and we had a good showing of enthusiastic college students, despite a rather steep ticket price. They were terrific, and we need to sign them up as full time Republicans.

[CatoRenasci]

No, don't go over to the Dark Side! The only good viola player I know is clawing her way back to sanity by playing euphonium in our community band....

[RightWhale]

But see, with viola you will always have a job. There is a critical shortage of violas everywhere. If you have a need to feel wanted, just walk in with a viola. This is important to older folks.

Of course there is English horn or oboe if one is desperate for attention, but the advantage of the viola is you don't need to breathe, besides not being expected to sing.

[royalcello]

The most obvious reason for the fact that most musicians lean to the left is arts funding. I will admit that this is probably the issue on which my own conservatism (which many FReepers would probably consider incomplete) is weakest. The NEA has made some stupid and offensive decisions, but when Republicans, in opposing this, appear totally indifferent to the fate of mainstream cultural institutions and opposed to the very idea of any kind of arts funding, this is not likely to attract musicians.

Most musicians are union members, and thus have a generally pro-union mentality.

Last but certainly not least, many young musicians lead personal lives that are not exactly compatible with social conservatism...

[CatoRenasci]

Actually, musicians tended left long before state financing in the US was a glimmer in an arts management type's eye. Classical music in this country grew without government funding, and would probably be healthier if there weren't so much as there is. I think government subsidies are a major reason why musicians (and, to be fair, orchestra managers) do not feel the need to be responsive to what their audiences want. I know playing the same old standards gets boring, but people really don't want to hear Penderecki symphonies or a lot of Bruckner. Even though as a tuba player, I like to play the modern repetoire because there are tuba parts, and sometimes even interesting ones, I can't say I listen to much of it for pleasure.

[royalcello]

I don't enjoy most modern music either, and I agree that orchestras need to be more responsive to what audiences want. But in the era when classical music grew in the US without government support, the general level of American culture was more sophisticated, and there wasn't this huge pop industry. I'm not sure how we'd manage today without government funding, when most Americans simply aren't interested in classical music, regardless of what repertoire we play.