Regarding the issue of programming modern music. A small, but less remarked upon, challenge could be that much of this music demands repeated hearings to be appreciated. One is unlikely to respond on the first exposure. But an audience is not likely to have the opportunity to prepare their ears for the piece before it is scheduled. Thus they hear it for the first time at the concert, dismiss it, and the cycle continues. James Levine, who has a reputation for challenging audiences made an interesting comment in a recent Boston Globe interview. Basically, he proposed a different standard: rather than judging the piece completely on one hearing, determine if there is ANYTHING in it that interests you or that you respond to. If there is nothing, leave the piece alone. But if you find one thing of interest, listen again and see if you find another. Admittedly, this doesn't solve the problem of infrequent opportunities to hear new music. However, it does seem that technology (if not CD manufacturers) could help with this. Perhaps someday there will be a way for symphony orchestras to post excerpts of rehearsals online, for example. Incidentally, my understanding is that, while many subscribers have left the BSO, they have been replaced by an almost equal number of single ticket buyers-many of whom are younger, which addresses another problem symphonies face, that of the graying audience. Zeke *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html