Music Elitism - Why I am 5000% Done With It

I made this in MS Paint.

I was recently subjected to a conversation with another musician who drank the elitism kool-aid that so many universities and music conservatories shill in absence of a quality, well-rounded education. By the end of our chat, I had gone temporarily blind from rolling my eyes so hard.

1."Ugh, I don't listen to *THAT*." 

Why don't you listen to *that*? More often than not, *that* is rap, hip hop, or pop music aimed at younger (often female) listeners. Can you really say that this kind of attitude isn't couched in racism and misogyny? What makes these genres "less-than?"

 If you tell me that you don't like rap or hip-hop because of the misogynist lyrics, I will eagerly direct you to early artists in these genres, because before rap and hip-hop was picked up by major record labels to appeal to us lily-white folk, it was about fighting the system. The only reason that misogyny exists in these genres is to fulfill a dangerous, racist stereotype of what many think people of color are. This isn't to say that there are no misogynist or abusive rap and hip-hop artists, but if you happily listen to Carlo Gesualdo (adultering renaissance composer who murdered his wife and her lover in cold blood) while denigrating these genres, then you are a hypocrite.

If I see one more tweet about how teenage girls are ruining society, my head is going to explode. What a coincidence that teenage boys are never criticized for their 3 dozen skateboard vines, their angry music about getting revenge on an ex-girlfriend, or their habit of crossing boundaries with girls and then hiding under the cloak of "boys will be boys," no, it's teenage girls liking bands like One Direction that are causing the fall of humanity. Okay then. Teenage girls can make or break a music career, and musicians are loathe to forget that. In a recent interview with rising soprano starlet Jennifer Rowley, she explained that young women's interest in Jonas Kaufmann (operatic tenor) is a huge reason for his international successes, and that is no surprise to anyone with half a brain cell.

2. "OH MY GOD, do you live under a rock? How could you NOT know who (obscure musician) is?" 

Calm it down, hipster. Contrary to your belief, everyone doesn't listen to the exact same music that you do. Even if they do, some of us *cough cough* don't always remember WHO composed or performed a piece of music. We remember the melody and the emotion better than who designed the album art. If you are someone who remembers everything in minute detail - great! You can help us out at quiz night when we remember all the words to an obscure 80's pop ballad but not who performed it.

There is almost an infinity of music to be heard. You can never hear all of the music that has and will be written - more music is being composed at this very moment than you could possibly listen to once in an entire year, much less become familiar enough with it to shame peers and colleagues. Furthermore, your goal as a listener should never be "know more music than anyone I know to seem more cultured and intelligent" and yet I see many fall prey to this kind of mindset. True, as a classical musician it is part of our jobs to be familiar with past and current compositions, but not everyone is a musician. I know - it can be hard to remember that when your whole life is music, 24/7. When you aren't rehearsing, you're teaching, or memorizing, or listening, or composing - but when your only reaction to someone not knowing that Cliff Burton changed Metallica's sound or that Handel's Messiah was not originally composed for Christmas is absolute incredulity, astonishment, and condescension, you make yourself out to be kind of a jerk.

3."I hate when people don't research an opera before they go to see it." 

Well....no. I can't even begin to form complete sentences as a rebuttal to this - with opera companies cutting salaries, laying off musicians, and closing their doors, shouldn't we be trying to make opera culturally relevant again? Opera is already seen as high art, something out of reach for most people, and now you want to give people a homework assignment before they spend 1/3 of this week's paycheck on a ticket? In this day and age, where most major opera houses have super titles translating the singers, research isn't and shouldn't be necessary.

Some of us enjoy as a major hobby in our lives. We spend hours on Youtube listening to old performances by Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, drowning in the sound of great singers past and making note of whose voice has what quirk or timbre. Some of us just love the grandness of the opera and love to hear big voices singing big roles. Why are (some of us) trying to undo the progress that opera has made to become successful and popular again?

This kind of behavior is gate-keeping - setting up arbitrary blockades to keep people out of a hobby or field so that the inducted members can feel like special snowflakes. How can we suggest that music is an inclusive, creative field, when so many people at the top have no interest in new talent or audiences?

These are all things said to elevate themselves over someone else, and it's not acceptable. Congratulations, you went to school! Many people go to school, and for many reasons and study endless disciplines, and yet the fine arts is where 90% of this classist elitism grows like an abundant weed. About a year ago, I was discussing the possibility of guest posting on this blog with a peer. I enthusiastically explained that this is an elitism free blog that embraces all genres of music, and the reply I got was, "Oh, but I really like telling people off for not knowing about a certain group, because, come on, who DOESN'T know who they are?" (The guest posting did not work out, as you can well imagine.)

When you go to have your car repaired, because the check engine light went on and now it's making a weird sound and oh crap is that SMOKE coming from under my hood, I would wager a guess that your mechanic doesn't say, "Are you serious? How could you NOT know that a tensioner on your timing belt is faulty?"

No, she would not say that.