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I've always loved classical music, even as a teenager. Part of the reason for this is that I was exposed to it from an early age: I lived in a town that had its own small but good symphony orchestra, the Lake Forest Symphony, and kids were routinely taken to hear accessible music from the classical repetoire. I remember as a young girl going to hear the magnificent Chicago Symphony led by Carlo Maria Giulini in Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5, "Emperor." He seemed so sexy!

But today I can't dream of affording a ticket to the symphony. Our community recently celebrated the opening of a new symphony hall, and though I wanted to go to a concert, I was horrified at the cost--$100 per ticket for any seat from which one could actually see the performers. My own children aren't going to have the same exposure to the great minds of music that I had because there's no way I can take an entire family to the symphony. And playing CDs for them just doesn't cut it.

If classical music is going to survive as more than the pursuit of three or four eccentrics, it is going to have to bring up a new generation of classical fans. The only way to do this is to expose kids to classical music. They great concert halls and orchestras are shooting themselves in the head. If I were a rich lady, instead of donating millions to improve the city's concert hall I'd fork over to bring children from local schools to hear concerts, or send small chamber ensembles to the schools.