Slipshod, Not Stupid

[Note: This post has been updated (2) as of 9:46 PM Eastern on 26 Apr. See below.]

Music journalist Marc Geelhoed of Marc Geelhoed: Deceptively Simple seems to have gotten himself into a bit of a snit over what he calls my snit, and challenges anyone to, "Call me stupid, I dare you." Writes Mr. Geelhoed in the post so titled:

Maybe I've missed something in A.C. Douglas' ongoing snit about Take a Friend to the Orchestra and the iPod generation(s), but I haven't found anywhere on Drew McManus' blog anything about building the "core audience," as A.C. calls it. The idea of TAFTO was to bring in new people who haven't gone to an orchestral concert before and see if they like it and maybe give them some tools to help. I wrote one of those essays myself.

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to call Mr. Geelhoed stupid. Merely, um, slipshod in his search — or too literal; something for which Mr. Geelhoed seems to have a penchant. Perhaps Mr. Geelhoed would find helpful the following extract from this post titled, "All About TAFTO 2006", which post took me all of thirty seconds to find on Mr. McManus's blog.

Throughout the month of April, Adaptistration will feature more than a dozen critics, bloggers, musicians, classical music enthusiasts, and administrators as they write about how average patrons throughout the country can invite friends who don't regularly participate in live music events to a performance in your area.

[...]

If this business [i.e., TAFTO classical music and the classical music concert] ever hopes to reverse the trend in declining ticket sales and lack of participation throughout their communities, they are going to need the help of the people who already care about classical music.

[...]

The more patrons who participate across the country throughout the month, the more likely the program [i.e., TAFTO] will develop and evolve into something uniquely capable of contributing a constructive influence in the development of tomorrow's classical music culture.

It's quite true that the term "core audience" is nowhere to be found in the above. But if not a core audience for classical music and the classical music concert, just what, exactly, does Mr. Geelhoed imagine is being described in this TAFTO statement of purpose as desirous of being built? A feel-good evening for the inviters, and a new experience for their invitees?

I would suggest to Mr. Geelhoed that in future he focus more on the concept, and less on the terms used to describe it.

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Update (2:35 PM Eastern on 26 Apr): Marc Geelhoed responds. As to my suggestion that Mr. Geelhoed seems to have a penchant for literalness, I didn't "back up [my] claim," as Mr. Geelhoed puts it, as my evidence, as Mr. Geelhoed correctly surmises, is indeed contained in an eMail sent to me by Mr. Geelhoed. Mr. Geelhoed's claim that he intended what he wrote therein merely as a joke, however, would be dispelled instantly the wording of his eMail be read. When I first received it, I looked long and hard for any indication he intended what he wrote as a joke, but, alas, with no success, and with Mr. Geelhoed's permission I'll post publicly his verbatim words so that readers may decide for themselves whether what he wrote was written in jest or not. As to the rest of Mr. Geelhoed's response, I defer absolutely to Mr. Geelhoed's cute kitties against whom one is powerless to argue.

Update 2 (9:46 PM Eastern on 26 Apr): Mr. Geelhoed eMails his permission to reprint his eMail to me referenced above. That eMail was in response to my writing in this post concerning the singing by a boy soprano of the second-act Queen of The Night aria from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte:

Just caught up with this. And jaw-dropping amazing it is, too. Puts to shame 90% of coloraturas who have the balls to even attempt this impossible aria,

to which Mr. Geelhoed responded by eMail (which eMail I here quote verbatim and in toto and without further comment):

I'm sure someone's already emailed you abt. this, but the percentage of coloratura sopranos who have the balls to sing the Queen of the Night aria is actually zero, rather than 90. Just a thought. The little guy's pretty impressive, ain't he?