Agreed! Despite the fact that I am a snob who also enjoys classical music, lol. Correlation is not causation 😆

I read an interesting book chapter by Chowrimootoo on the porous hierarchy of culture. One of their main points is that people who are enthusiasts of elitist practices are aspirational individuals (middlebrows) whereas practitioners of elitist practices either uphold industry standards or dismantle them from within. The levels of inclusion are varied, and will differ from place to place. He analyses Britten’s operas through this lens 😝 https://www.ucpress.edu/books/middlebrow-modernism/paper

Agree! It's ridiculous

I grew up in a very poor family in East London, yet my state school was able to offer me the loan of a cello and all the weekly lessons that went with it. I also studied music theory and I became good enough to join the local youth orchestra. I didn’t keep my music up when I left school, yet I carry with me a love and deep understanding of classical, modern, and world music to this day. Classical music is only snobbery to those groups that use that term to their advantage.

what would accomplish that is more people with open minds. When I go see a new composer, or an opera reinterpreted, it is no fun to hear people rail against it just because it is not traditional. I love to hear discussions based on the merits of what was done and how it worked or did not. Classical can’t continue to survive without moving forward also.

I am a composer that writes chamber music that has 2 music degrees, but comes from the DIY music scene and a lower class background. There are many wonderful, welcoming, open minded people that I have met, however I have also found the classical music community to be fairly classist, eliitist, and insular. Some great strides have been made recently in terms of inclusivity, but it remains a fairly upperclass cultural space. I think it's getting better, though

Well, there’s a pretty serious reason for that. And as long as people are allowed and encouraged to be elitist and gatekeep classical music it’ll stay that way. We have to work on our image as an industry.

My humble opinion is that it depends on what part of the classical community you go to. It can for shure be very snobbish even though the musicians and such are not, but in certain areas such as smaller settings of chamber music often it is not. Again, depending on context. Some concerts are by nature less snobbish, like outdoors or in an abandoned industry or such. We can also do much to make it better!

Thank you! Some of the snobbiest musicians I know are involved in genres other than Classical!!

We listen to a lot of classical music in our house, although not exclusively. I have never met someone who was snobbish about classical music whether they listen or perform. Not that I haven’t met snobs on other subjects, I didn’t stay long enough to find out if that reached into classical music. If someone is snobbish about anything it’s because - in my experience - they need to reassert their self identity and can’t accept change because it could make them feel weak