Classical Music For Cheap

Perhaps the single most persuasive argument bolstering the fiction that classical music is an artform strictly for the upper classes is the high cost of tickets for classical music events from chamber music to symphony to opera. Well, it ain't necessarily so says Alex Ross in The New Yorker:

The image of the classical concert hall as a playground for the rich is planted deep in the cultural psyche. When Hollywood filmmakers set a scene at the symphony, twits in evening wear fill the frame, their jaws tight and their noses held high. The monocle returns to fashion for the first time since the death of Erich von Stroheim. One day, an intrepid art director will come to a concert and discover that the classical audience is well populated by schoolteachers, proofreaders, students, retirees, and others with no entry in the Social Register. They can afford to attend because classical events aren’t nearly as expensive as most people assume, especially in comparison with the extravagant pricing schemes for élite pop acts.

Alex then goes on to chronicle an experiment he made earlier this month in which he set out to see how many classical music events one could attend in New York City, one of the most expensive towns in the country, for a mere $100. We think the results will surprise you. It did us.

We see here fodder for a new classical music blog with weekly entries listing with knowledgeable and informed descriptions what's available in the coming week in classical music events in New York City the total cost of attending which is $100 or less ("Classical Music For Cheap"?). We'd do the honors ourself were we positioned to do so. Maybe similar blogs covering other areas of the country might present themselves as well.

Sounds like something ripe for the doing.