Research on classical music consumption

[ChrisD]

My name is Chris Dingstad. I am a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, now doing a degree in Arts Administration at Columbia University.

I am currently working on a research project in Consumer Behavior entitled "Developing a Preference for Classical Music during Early Adulthood or Later."

As part of the project, I am attempting to find individuals who were not extensively exposed to classical music in their childhood, but developed a strong taste for it during early adulthood (around 20) or later. Through a series of short interviews, the goal is to find out how they developed this taste, what factors were important in this process etc..

The managerial relevance of this project is that it could help music institutions develop successful strategies to grow their core audiences. There is a lot of focus on the importance of children's programs, but at a time when fewer and fewer children actually experience classical music as a natural part of their upbringing and education, I think it is important to find out how one can successfully reach audiences later in their lives as well.

The reason why I am posting here: Does anyknow of anyone who discovered classical music relatively late in their lives (20 or older), and became an ardent fan? All I need is 10-20 minutes of their time at some point during the next month, to ask them some questions over the phone. You can reach me at cd2283@columbia.edu

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

[ryanjanus]

I sure do - me! I was raised on a steady diet of Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Harry Chapin and Kenny Rogers. Not that there's anything wrong with them, but I'm definitely a late bloomer for loving classical music. I played sax in band all through high school, and mine was a pretty good band, including composers like Maslanka, Holsinger, and Persichetti as well as transcriptions of Festive Overture, Shostakovich 5, and Sorcerer's Apprentice. Still, until I got into college it never occurred to me to spend my own money buying classical discs or seeking it out live or on the radio. After my freshman year, I changed my major from physics to music, and I got hooked (in reverse order). What especially hooked me, believe it or not, was the more recent stuff. Something about guys like Stravinsky, Bartok, Ives, and Berg just resonated with me and still does. To this day I still love modern classical music - I write some myself and commission new works whenever I can. Most recently, I got Pulitzer Laureate Lewis Spratlan to write me a saxophone concerto which I played and recorded with the Long Beach symphony back in February. If you want to talk further, give me an email at ryan@ryanjanus.com.