Bob Kasenchak writes:

>Interesting to see more & more posts by younger people wanting to discuss
>CM, particularly a couple this weekend of high school age (welcome,
>friends...).  I ain't THAT young, but I rarely come across people around
>my age (in their mid-late 20s) who have any interest in CM at all.

Welcome to the party, comrade.  I can't seem to find any people of ANY age
interested.  It's a common problem - why intelligent people just are not
the least bit interested.  "Exposure" may be one reason - I can see that
the sheer volume of music would be overwhelming to the absolute tyro.  But
I also believe that, at least in the US, there is a very strong cultural
bias *against* any activity that might imply intelligence being involved.
Classical music listeners (dare I say "lovers"?) are invariably portrayed
as snobs at best (vis "Frasier") or as anal-retentive psychopaths (vis "Die
Hard", "Apocalypse Now", or any number of other popular movies).  I, for
one, never saw the "Kill the Wabbit" Warner Bros cartoon as being something
that would encourage youngsters to pursue any interest in classical music
- others may disagree.  By the time people are in their mid-20s, my
experience has been that if they aren't already listening, it's too late.
Forget trying to make conversions - you'll be about as welcome as a
proselytizing evangelist in a saloon.  (Unless someone comes to you first,
that is.)

Mark
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