A brief excerpt:

… I feel lucky to know the big secret: there’s no trick. It’s just music. It shreds, yearns, mourns, trills, rages, and smiles. The music is spine-tingling, angry, delicate, vulgar, snobby, bumptious, and transcendental. Anyone who loves music should feel comfortable pulling Messiaen into their mixes.

That’s right, people. Classical music is for everyone!

They say the show will be back in 2012, and I can’t wait to see it.

Here are a few highlights from the flip cam series, along with a couple videos from the Alan Gilbert + Death set.

Alan Gilbert and Death play Guitar Hero. Hilarious!

Maybe they’ll create another riot?

Set and prop building — very entertaining!

So…what is this show about?

Music Director Alan Gilbert speaks on what it’s like to rehearse “Le Grand Macabre.”

Venus on stilts:

…and where does all that great choreography come from?

Being a percussionist is serious fun.

Here’s a segment of her post:

At the weekend, I attended an hour or so of a lively Salon97 music-appreciation salon. I wish I could have stayed longer at the gathering, organized by a local music lover, Cariwyl Hebert, but I had to be at a concert rehearsal. At any rate, from the short time I spent at Cariwyl’s home in the Upper Haight, I could tell that she and her friends are on to something. The event provides a wonderful high-engagement yet low-key format for listening and discussing music.

And here is a link to the full post. Thank you, Chloe!

And without further ado, my top 10 list of why classical music is totally awesome:

1. So many pieces, so little time! Since the genre has been around for hundreds of years the possibilities are nearly endless.

2. Undemanding. All you have to do is close your eyes and listen. There’s no opportunity for anyone to laugh at your bad dance moves.

3. Being able to say you know something about classical music is sexy. Saying you know something about The Beatles is like saying, “I know something about breathing oxygen!”

4. No words to memorize, most of the time.

5. Always makes for a romantic date night.

6. Classical music is used to commemorate major historical events, such as wars, the falling of empires, and the Olympic Games. Nothing quite says, “Big! Important! Earth-shattering!” like classical music does.

7. If it’s good enough for Bugs Bunny, it’s good enough for you.

8. Versatility. You can sing to it (opera), dance to it (ballet), and make a movie with it!

9. A heavy metal concert or indie rock show is generally not a good excuse to bust out your new tie or cute dress.

10. Viola jokes.

Salon97′s default response is that it is generally most acceptable to wait until the end of the piece. If you’re confused, just follow the crowd.

But now, this may be starting to change. Alex Ross, classical music guru, gave a lecture in London earlier this week that has the classical music world talking. A lot. News articles and blogs posts are popping up everywhere. Why? Because the debate over when one should clap at a classical concert was the subject of his discussion.

Back in the 1700s people went crazy every time they heard something exciting. They’d cheer and ask for more. Applause, yelling, chanting, it was all fair game. Over the years it has become less and less fashionable to show excitement and appreciation for classical music in the concert setting. This started in the 1800s and has been the way things are done ever since.

Ross asserts that it may be time to become more old-fashioned–that classical concerts should become more communal. You know, the way it was back in the 1700s.

There is so much wonderful innovation happening in the classical music world these days, but perhaps this is one area where we need to regress. Wouldn’t it be great to show up at a concert and not have to worry about when it’s appropriate to clap? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to cheer at the end of an exuberant movement of a piece?

It will be interesting to see how this evolves. How long will it take us to get back to the 18th century?