Classical music and loneliness. Oh yes, in Asia.

Between July and August I will be working with hundreds -- literally hundreds -- of young musicians in 3 cities in Indonesia : Jakarta, Makassar and Jogjakarta. It would be quite normal if it were in Europe, but in Indonesia? Oh I forgot to tell you, I am talking about CLASSICAL music. What's happening in Asian countries? Why is classical music suddenly a hot property among young people? Oh, you still don't know this situation? Well, the superstar violinist Sarah Chang said a few years ago in an interview : “Music is a huge part of life for most Asian families. Most Asian children I know start taking violin, piano, or cello lessons from an early age.” And another superstar violinist, the irresistably handsome Joshua Bell said “There was a time when practically every major soloist was Jewish. Every Jewish kid grew up wanting to play the violin. Now it’s true among Asians.” In fact, as I am writing these lines, an email notification arrived saying that the new concertmaster of the New York Phil is the Chinese born Frank Huang. See, most of the young superstars now are Asians. But one thing I noticed. Asian performers gravitate almost exclusively to strings (excluding viola!), voice and piano: Those instruments which, within a genre that symbolizes class mobility in Asia, are at the top of the heap. Rarely does one encounter an Asian conservatory student playing the clarinet or french horn, or any instrument that does not afford the possibility of soloist superstardom. .............................................................................................................................................. In Europe, we have this joke now: What do symphony orchestras (or classical music biz in general) and cigarette companies have in common? Answer: It’s the age problem. How do you stay in business when your customers keep dying? .............................................................................................................................................. Well, to start with, Asia is one place where classical artists can be genuine pop stars in ways long forgotten in Europe. Long gone is the period of Liszt being the subject for sexual fantasies of all women in Europe. And why this shift to Asia? My theory is .... is ....that in general, Asians are more hardworking (or at least willing to) in achieving our goals in classical music. Perhaps because classical music is by nature not in our blood, so we gotta work harder in "understanding" it. And classical music is not easy to master, as you know. But mostly, I think, is that Asian are more sociable people than the "Westerns". And the word "social" nowadays is automatically translated to "social media". We know that Jakarta is the no. 1 city for twitter, and Indonesia is the number ... what, 4 or 5? in the world of Facebook users. And social media is an embodiment of, among others, classical music. .............................................................................................................................................. Social media—from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram you name it —have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, we have never been lonelier (and ... ehm ... more narcissistic), and that this loneliness is making us mentally sick. And we need a cure for that. Within this world of instant and absolute communication we suffer from unprecedented alienation. We have never been more detached from one another, or lonelier. In a world consumed by ever more sophisticated modes of socializing, we have less and less actual society. We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are. And that's when classical music clicks with this loneliness. Classical music is, in my theory, a product of loneliness. Just look at history : Gustav Mahler needed to go to his hiding place in the forest to write his symphonies, Franz Schubert was a total nerd that he gotta turn to (male?) prostitutes for his sexual needs, Maurice Ravel died a virgin (or at least that's what he confessed). And who could be lonelier by the poor, deaf Beethoven? But not only that. When we are lonely, we listen to Chopin piano works and other brooding classical pieces. Barber's Violin Concerto, Tschaikovsky that bloody tearjerker, you name them. Now, which is first, lonely people listens to classical music, or classical music gives the brooding, lonely feelings? It makes us smarter, more sensitive, yeah, but it also touches parts of our brains and hearts that normally couldn't be touched. And those parts are where we see ourselves, and therefore we know more, we FEEL more. People who play in bands aren't lonely. They have fun, they write (write? No, pop music is usually not written) music together, they hang out together. Do you know how many chamber music groups where 2 or more members have irreconcilable differences? When that happens in a pop group, the group fall apart. Not in classical music. Members of a string quartet can disagree with each other, yet the quartet goes on around the world. The existence of the music score makes it easier, but also makes less communication between the members of the classical group. The communication is on a higher level, which is musical. And music communicates the truth. And the truth sometimes hurts. And therefore, we become lonely. .............................................................................................................................................. And yet, it is also social media who helps the popularizing of classical music. Now that the "traditional media" don't give enough attention to classical music, it is the social media that do the job. And we, Asians, could get around better with social media. And since we are not bound by traditions, we can present classical music concerts in more innovative ways without feeling "guilty" of being a traitor of tradition. Yeah, classical music is cool! We rock, guys! ............................................................................................... --------------------------------------- My activities in Indonesia in July & August are: .............................................................................................................................................. 1. "Inspired by the Maestro". A series of seminar & Masterclasses in Jakarta in weekends throughout the whole month, finalized by a concert of the participants. Organized by ID Camp (instagram @id_camp ), you can tweet @id_camp for more info. .............................................................................................................................................. 2. Musical Experience with Ananda Sukarlan : in the beautiful city of Jogja, July 29-31. It is not limited to pianists, all instrumentalists are welcome. Contact Nirai Nathalia Kristiana (find her in Facebook) for more info. .............................................................................................................................................. 3. Ananda Sukarlan Junior Award : in Makassar (Sulawesi), August 21-23. It is the Junior category of the now highly popular piano competition, and the aim is preparing the participants to join the bigger, much more difficult piano competitions for professionals in the future, such as the Ananda Sukarlan Award International Piano Competition, held every 2 years (next one will be next year, 2016 in Jakarta). Tweet @eveline_philips or @ASApianocomp for more info.