New Audiences For New Music

You may have seen the Apple iPad commercial that features conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. In just over a week, it’s been viewed more than 300,000 times on YouTube.

The ad shows Salonen using software to write and score his violin concerto (reviewed here in the New Yorker magazine), demonstrating his process from the initial ideas to performances with an orchestra.

Beyond the fact that this is an advertisement, there’s something else interesting happening here. Because of this ad, hundreds of thousands of people have encountered a piece of contemporary concert music. Many have also gone to Apple’s website for a free download of the entire concerto.

It’s similar to choral composer Eric Whitacre’s crowd-sourced Virtual Choir performances, one of which has over 4 million views on YouTube.

At a time when many people worry about the future of classical music, and fret about the struggle to attract audiences to concerts, and when composers search for ways to connect with enthusiatic audiences, it’s inspiring to see how classical music can often blossom in unexpected ways.