From Sky news this is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made after the year 2000.

That's when members of generation Z, Gen Z were born and Gen Z takes a whole new approach to everything by default.

But how does this contrast against the long established canon of music history?

There has been this ongoing theme in music literature that, well, classical is in trouble.

Or, you know, the next generation.

They won't appreciate it.

They won't love it.

And as it turns out, it's always wrong.

The key question of the new WXXI digital first series in the key of Z classical.

How does that contrast against that long established canon of music history?

What does Gen Z say about music today?

What are their passions?

I've really enjoyed this series and it's a great idea.

It celebrates the emerging classical talent of our region.

And we're talking to some of those students this hour, along with the creators of the series.

And I get to call him Doctor Steve Johnson.

Doctor Johnson, I presume.

Hello.

Steve Johnson, this range being in this studio.

Right.

You're on my turf now.

Johnson.

He's a midday host, an announcer for classical 91 five.

He's the host of in the key of Z classical.

We're going to have some fun this hour, aren't we?

Absolutely.

You've had some fun with this series.

I know, and for sure.

Katie Abner, our colleague, is with us.

Creative content producer for Sky and producer, videographer and editor of in the key of Z classical, including the brains behind the name, I think in the key of Z. Oh, yeah.

Well done.

Inspiration struck.

It doesn't always happen, but it did on us.

You know, artists come up with a good name for it.

Oh I do.

Yeah, I'm sure you do this very, very good.

I appreciate that.

And welcome in studio to Helena Dixon who is a Fairport junior.

Hello, Helena.

Thanks for being with us.

Hello.

Thanks for having me.

Ashley Park is a freshman at Ithaca High School making the trip.

Hello.

Hello.

Thanks for being here.

So I want to start by saying I want you to really appreciate and enjoy the series, which you can do.

Now.

Where do you want people to find it?

Steve?

Katie.

it's at I Dawgs Ki of Z has the whole playlist, all of the videos and a lot of extra information there as well.

And, Katie, this is, you know, for all the projects you get to work on talking to.

They're not.

I mean, they're technically they're kids, but, boy, they're just very, very wise.

Does this put a little bounce in your step here in their perspectives?

Oh, it totally does.

And, you know, this was a new concept for us here.

And, Steve and I worked really closely together, and it was kind of a shot in the dark.

We didn't really, you know, we prepared as much as we could.

And I know Steve and I spent, like, painstaking hours writing the questions and just really trying to picture ourselves in the moment when we have the students, you know, with us, sitting down with us.

What we're going to want to know and ask.

And I'm really, really happy with how it came out, especially the, the first episode we've been calling it.

I don't know, the compilation episode.

each student has their own episode, but there's there's one episode that's, got a mix of it all and very, very fun.

We've got clips to share in just a second here, Steve.

for you, when it comes to sitting down with students like this, what are you hoping to.

I mean, this is your work.

This is the profession.

and it is important to all of us at every level of broadcasting, no matter what we're working on, that we have a diverse and wide ranging audience of age, including younger listeners.

This is important.

What did you want to learn from the series?

well, I actually come from a teaching background.

I studied music education in undergrad, and I was going to be a high school band director, and that didn't quite work out.

So I've always felt this connection with, education and sort of cultivating the next generation of musicians.

And the biggest sort of motivating factor for me was wanting to deal with these Gen Z students as people I think I see on social media a lot.

there's there's a sort of generational war going on, and I see a lot of people my age starting to look down on Gen Z, as, you know, making fun of the slang and trends and stuff like that.

That's our job.

The next generation always has the oh, yeah, a little, a little, a little gentle ribbing doesn't hurt.

But like, Gen Z is more than, you know, somebody's ribs or whatever.

Like there's very good, well done.

There's there's like they have real ideas.

And that's really what I wanted to get out of these interviews is like, they have real thoughts and they're very talented performers.

They are people, and we can learn just as much from them as they can learn from us.

We've got some clips.

Let's start with a look at the series featuring all five students who are featured in the key of Z.

So do you have any hot takes about classical music?

Beethoven is overrated.

That's not.

No, I can't say that though.

Viola is correct.

Violins the hardest.

Like, I think all the instruments are hard, but I'd say like it's easier to get notes from a violin.

String quartets are overrated.

String quartets are overrated.

That is spicy.

It's just like, so much written for them.

And I get it.

It's like a couple pieces.

But like Beethoven wrote 30 something.

Do I sense of jealousy?

Oh, yeah.

You don't see like, brass quintets until way later on.

If you could redesign the instrument, what is one thing that you would want to change about the violin?

It's a hard question.

What my teacher always says.

It's like designed for humans to play.

I don't want to the it.

So yeah, it's really hard to carry around like I'm five one and everybody, whenever I'm like carrying my cello around, somebody asking me, do I have a dead body in my instrument?

I'm like, no, like it's my cello universal spit valve.

I have to look through all of these slides to find where my spit is at.

I wish you just had a strip of, like, the just one button.

You push a button that I could push and it would all come out.

That's great.

One can dream.

They're going to give you honest answers.

The dead body in the cello case.

That's my favorite universal problem for cello players.

Everyone thinks you're hauling around a dead body.

that's a great little taste of it, Steve, is Beethoven overrated?

Honestly.

Oh, boy.

Thank you.

I, I have a whole rant I could give about the Ninth Symphony.

It's not my favorite.

but, the guy was, like, almost deaf, man.

He.

Oh, at that point, he was more than deaf.

Yeah, which was part of the problem.

The choral writing is horrendous.

Oh my goodness gracious.

We are starting off spicy, Steve.

We we're standing and led by, led by our guests across the table.

Was that you, Helena?

Saying Beethoven was overrated?

It was me.

But Nelson, Steve just said that makes me feel better because I watched it back.

And honestly, I was like, oh, I hope the people don't hate me for that.

But I feel like I have support now.

What's it take to get canceled in classical music?

I Tobin over, I might have been canceled.

I don't know why.

Do you think Beethoven was overrated?

I just think, like a lot of people are like, who's your favorite composer?

Beethoven was like, my brother loves Beethoven.

Like, so we growing up, we were always listening to Beethoven like, all the time.

So I'm with you.

And part of what I think you're saying is it gets tired.

There's so much other great stuff out there.

Yes.

And it's easy to default to Beethoven.

Yes.

Okay.

So now I'm to agree with that part of it.

Not be over it.

But I will step in because one of our other students who's not here in the studio with us to defend himself, Benji Watson, is a massive Beethoven fan.

And when we did composer March Madness, the first question was Beethoven versus Mozart.

Every single one after that was just Beethoven, Beethoven, Beethoven, Beethoven.

Yeah.

So we do have a variety of opinions among the students.

I'm going to try to sway Helena here, though, because I want you to think about this world that, you know, Mozart has made his mark.

Beethoven is struggling with all kinds of things.

In his personal life.

He struggled and with friendships and love, and he was cantankerous.

And he was going deaf at an age where he was still wanted to compose.

And yet in the ninth, that Steve unfairly maligned, unfairly.

We get this.

We get this portrait of a person who was viewed.

I mean, Rossini goes to see Beethoven and leaves his apartment in tears.

He's finding it to be squalid and sad and dirty and not representative of this great mind.

And yet this work of beauty and poignancy comes out, and I love the contrast of that.

Isn't that the move?

You don't find that moving?

I find it very moving.

You know, the first five times and then it's like, give me something else time.

It's funny.

I'm like, okay, that's enough.

There's somebody else literature out there.

Come on, there's somebody else besides Beethoven.

Yeah.

I was going to say, I mean, one of the parts of this process that impressed me the most was our composer, March Madness.

that I believe was Steve's idea.

And we had, like, 15 composers that we, you know, through it, every student.

And, like, they knew all of them.

It was really cool to me.

And like, you know, the for the most part, they knew which one they liked better.

and, you know, sometimes they had to toil about it.

But like, that was just so cool to me that they have such a knowledge of all these composers.

It's incredible.

It really, points out the difference to me.

You know, I played cello and my high school, elementary, middle and high school.

but I never, like, broke, breached that level of, understanding.

Yeah, I mean, I I'm and cello is beautiful, by the way.

Name I ever think you're hauling around a corpse?

No, I'm pretty big.

I'm tall, so I probably to scale.

It was a cello.

one of my favorite songs from when I was growing up was from a Jamestown band, Jamestown, New York, 10,000 maniacs.

And they had a song called Verdi Cries.

And the cello at the end of Verdi Cries is one of my favorite string moments in a pop song.

So that's a little esoteric reference for you.

Verdi cries, listen to the cello at the end.

10,000 maniacs.

There you go.

But this is the kind of stuff that we're pulling right out of in the key of Z classical.

It's a great new series, and I want to ask Ashley Park a little bit about what sort of fires you up, because you heard Helena saying, look, we love Beethoven, but this whole world of music is out there and let's really celebrate it.

What is the name or source of a composition that maybe most of us don't know that you love?

What do you love?

That's not maybe mainstream classical.

I usually listen to a lot of mainstream like composition, but I feel like Saint-Saens has to be my number one.

I think I mentioned that in the series, but there's just so much color to it.

And like, the more you study it, the more you can like find, which I love about Saint-Saens.

Tell me a little bit more about that idea.

You study it more and you fall more in love with it.

You find something different about it.

How do you do that?

So like whenever I first find a piece, you obviously have like your first impressions of the piece and then you practice and then you get lessons to get more insight about the piece.

But then like say, I like finish the piece, but then I come back to it a year later.

There's always like so much more stuff you can find and like so much stuff I missed.

That's why I love when I come back to like, pieces I already played because I think I learn a lot from, like coming back to them.

Oh yeah.

That's, that's the mark of great music, isn't it, Steve?

That you come back to something and you go, I knew I loved this, but how did I miss this aspect of it?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, I got a whole degree doing just that.

This is my bread and butter is coming back to music over and over and over again.

And, that's part of what makes this so exciting for me is that, whenever you get a fresh generation of musicians, you get, new takes and new life put into this music that you thought you understood.

There's always something new to hear.

and it's something new to bring to the table.

And this is what we're trying to do.

Well, let me ask Steve and Katie about this, because Steve is bringing kind of hinting at this earlier, but it is definitely part of the cycle of generations to start to look with either contempt or suspicion at the next generation.

You know, like their slang, you don't like their clothes, you don't like, you know, their the way that they support themselves.

And how come nobody wants to do an interview in person?

And why does nobody call anybody anymore?

And you?

A phone call constitutes an emergency.

Apparently.

It's an amazing set of cultural changes that happen.

And yet both of you have come into this project with a totally different idea.

It's this we have a lot to learn that this is exciting to, to hear the voice of teenagers who are going to take us through their passion for something, and you're not doing it with sort of a sneering view.

It's quite the opposite.

It's this really loving and excited viewpoint of how did you get there, Katie?

I think Steve, Steve summed it up really well in the top of the hour.

It was just that there's so much to learn there.

you know, Gen Z, I wrote the, little byline.

You also write at the top that, you know, Gen Z approaches everything differently and just, you know, we love intersectionality.

We love contrast.

Like, how does that compare to classical music?

That is gosh, I mean, I don't even know how to explain it.

Baroque like it's so beloved and and known.

What's the word I'm looking for?

You know, classical music is classical.

It has an established tradition.

That's I think you extend and also I think one of the things for me too, is that classical music itself is also changing really, really quickly.

The last 5 to 10 years, we've seen a seismic shift in the way the population in general is approaching the music.

People are not as, committed to worshiping old masters.

It's just not a thing.

People care so much more now about the people who are making the music and connecting with other people over music and that sense of community.

And so I think for me, being like, I'm my own product of a new generation, like I just ten years ago, I was in the middle of the millennials being, you know, me, me, me generation.

And what are they doing on the Facebooks?

And like that has changed my approach to the music as well.

And so I feel like kind of it's, it's the it's several sort of waves cresting at the same time almost.

And we're just writing it.

Yeah, I love that appreciation.

So let's listen to a little bit more from the series.

Again.

It's in the key of Z classical.

And this is Helena on playing the cello and how that helps her express herself.

Playing cello helps me express myself without using my voice, without using my actions.

I use running as an outlet to, like, get all my thoughts out of my head.

And I think cello like helps me think through them or.

Lena.

So there's the cello.

Sounds beautiful there.

Tell me a little bit more about when you first remember playing it.

How how old were you when you first remember playing the cello?

it was beginning of fourth grade.

I can't remember how old I was.

Maybe ten.

Yeah.

That's great.

Yeah.

And was it an instant for you, or were there other instruments that were sort of pulling at you?

I always knew I wanted to play a stringed instrument.

You know, Benjy talked about, you know, his split valve.

I'm not about that at all.

You know, you see band, you see, like the little puddles.

No, I will not.

I will not be taking part in that.

And I didn't want to play the violin.

I have a lot of respect for violin players, but I didn't want to play the violin.

You know, I going up so high on the instrument and, like, your fingers are like millimeters is a different.

No, that's crazy to me.

Now my hands are really small for the cello, so sometimes that makes them more difficult for me.

But I love my instruments.

So why do you think playing the violin is such a cop out and so much easier?

I'm kidding.

Poor actually sitting right next to you.

I was going to say I do not know.

Helene is like, don't you put words, Ashley?

Things to the opposite?

I know that we're going to get Ashley's take in just a second now, I, I'm with you, though, on just kind of the deep soulfulness of the cello.

And what do you want to do with it?

What's what's the future for you in music?

I definitely want to be part of an orchestra at college.

I don't think I'm going to major in music, but I absolutely want it in my life.

As I get older, no matter what happens, it'll be a part of your life.

Yes.

That's great actually for you.

When do you first remember picking up an instrument?

What's the first memory?

Well, my first memory of the violin is we went to a concert in new Jersey, and it was like a classical concert, and it was like a soloist with the orchestra, and I don't really remember much.

I just remember the violinist wearing a dress.

I was like, around five, just like this sparkly dress.

I think that's what really pulled me in.

So I like after that concert, like the whole week after, I would beg my mom to like, get me a violin so I could get dresses.

But I think, like after I started, like as I started and then like, even now, like as I learn, I get, like, more obsessed with the violin.

Like, I learn just so much more.

And there's so much intriguing stuff to the violin.

But what originally pulled me in was the sparkly dress.

It's amazing.

What what sparks are mine first and now and what stays in your memory and now the same.

I'm curious to know, same question for you.

What do you want to do with music?

I'm like 99.9% sure I want to major in music in like some shape or form.

But, you know, I don't know, like what happens in the future, but I really like playing the violin and I hope that I can major or like, continue at least having violin in my life forever.

And certainly both of you are young enough that you can chart many, many different courses.

There's no single path, and there's all kinds of different things that you could do when you think about that future, and you're 99.9% sure that you want to do that, what's the ultimate where do you want to play?

When you think about, oh my gosh, I would love to play.

Is there a place that you would love to play a stage, probably like Carnegie Hall?

Carnegie?

Like that's the basics.

Yeah.

I hope I can like one day play with like a big orchestra or be part of an orchestra.

what about you, Helena?

Is there a place that stands out?

I would love to play at Carnegie Hall.

I'll take care.

That would be amazing.

Are you kidding?

That's pretty good.

Yeah, that's pretty good.

Steve, I feel like they're going to go where they want to go.

Oh, absolutely.

One of the things that, really struck me was just the immense quality that all of them exhibit, and there's, so much fire there, like you, you hear them talking now, and the personality completely changes with the music.

It seems like everybody just got more comfortable, more free.

and, and that is absolutely going to take them wherever they want.

and let's, let's listen to some of how Ashley, talks about conceptualizing music in, in the series, in the key of Z. I heard that you actually conceptualize music in a kind of a unique way.

How do you think about it?

Well, I think about it as colors.

A lot of times when I first get a piece, I try to, like, think about the emotions as colors so I can change the emotions really quickly.

And.

The.

What a cool idea.

when did that start for you?

Conceptualizing music is colors.

I think it started like.

Like after like two years, I started playing.

I don't know how it exactly started, but I would like always on my music.

I would mark it with colors for like, emotions or like what I want to tell the audience.

Like like highlighters.

Yeah.

Or like color pencils.

And then now if I were to play a piece for you just in the studio, does your mind almost see it in colors?

It does it almost feel like a color?

What's, Tell me a little bit more about that.

I think what I like first listen to a, piece of music I don't like, see the color, but I think when I play it or, like, when I, I like when I first get a piece, I like, try to search the meaning of the piece or like, what the composer wants.

And then I think after I learned that, I listen to the clips again and then I try to like and then that's when I like, try to match the colors, that there's something really artistic and beautiful about that.

I think that is so cool.

And that's that's a great job of interviewing guys.

I mean, excellent job.

Okay.

Do you want to jump in?

I'm curious.

I mean, that what you just said?

I mean, I've watched your interview a thousand times, and what you just said, put that into a different context for me.

I mean, players have been doing that forever, right?

finding their own way to make sense of the piece.

whether it's colors or I imagine the, Oh, gosh, it's been a while.

The, the words in Italian that tell you what volume to play.

dynamics.

Yes.

It's been a while.

Yeah, they've been doing that forever.

That's that's so cool.

Yeah, I love that.

and that's just one of the clips from the show, by the way.

I keep saying the show, it's a show.

It's serious.

How do you describe it, guys?

Series.

It's a series.

I think the the specific language is a digital first.

It's a digital first series.

Nice.

In the key of Z classical.

We'll have it linked in our show notes of course.

But if you want to stop a tune right now and watch it, where do you go?

WXXI Morgan Key of Z or is on our, main WXXI Rochester YouTube page.

and all the videos are linked, on that website.

Probably easier to find it through there.

when Helena talked about playing the violin specifically and how challenging it is, you know, with your fingers and placement and getting used to that, it brought up in my mind one of my favorite pieces, because I've watched this video so many times wondering, is this real?

Is this like, did Tchaikovsky did some, did he have like a psychotic break when he wrote Violin Concerto in D major, opus number 35?

Scieszka shogi is playing in this in this video that I've watched many times, and it's an iconic performance to me.

This is remember, my knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Everybody so, this is just a little toes in the water here.

But in this final movement, the way her hands are moving, her fingers are moving, it is.

I can't imagine what Tchaikovsky was thinking when he put this thing on paper to begin with.

Here, do you just does the violin.

Does the instrument become just sort of part of you?

Do you not think about it?

Because as a guitar player, I'm thinking, where's the fret?

I still need to see the fret.

I can't imagine bass players who are playing without frets.

how do you you just tend to think about and conceptualize the instrument.

Is it just part of you?

Yeah.

Well, when I perform, obviously it's going to be part of me.

But like the practicing process is obviously a lot more of a struggle.

It's like a very long process to get all those notes right.

And it's very tiring to practice like a major long passage for so long just to get all those notes.

Do you have a favorite piece?

Favorite piece?

Oh, probably.

I really like Mozart or Mozart or Saint-Saens, but I recently played the Mozart concerto number for, my summer camp and I think I learned a lot like about Mozart from that.

And I think I really like when I first started playing Mozart, I was like, this is going to be so boring.

It's so like simple.

But then I, like started learning it and I was like, wait, there's so much to learn about this.

Amazing.

And Elena, is there a piece for you that when you just kind of want to get in the zone, there's there's one that you love to either listen to or play?

My favorite all time cello piece is definitely Haydn Concerto Movement three.

It's so fun.

I don't know if it necessarily gets me in the zone.

but it's super fun to play when I'm bored of practicing and I need to play something else to get my brain back in focus mode.

That's probably my number.

So you mentioned Haydn, who was your March Madness winner of the composer, maybe Haydn, or it was hiding her back.

Were you one of the foreshock winners?

It might have been Haydn.

Did I do the four?

I think we had two people say Dvorak, one, Beethoven, I don't remember, I think I was Saint-Saens, I think I ended up, yes.

Yeah.

I think I ended up with something that I wasn't necessarily satisfied with.

Correct.

Yeah.

She says correct.

Yeah.

You were.

You can confirm I could probably like, read back all of your interviews word for word.

I think for me it would have been a Cinderella run for Schumann.

I think that's what have been for me.

but then I probably wouldn't regret regretted it with Schumann on the list.

No, I didn't even make the tournament.

Yeah, I it was probably two minutes at the end of one of my shows.

This specific list was just like going back.

And I remember, like, Shostakovich was on the list twice, and we had to kind of edit around that and like, that whole, that whole it was still a good list.

There's so many names to choose.

Yeah, it's.

Yeah, I'm sure it's tough.

we are late for our only break.

What we're going to do is when we come back here, I want to talk to our guests about some of these perceived generational divides.

And I want to get the perspective of students, one from Ithaca, one from Fairport, both who are featured in the new series in the key of Z.

And we're going to talk about this.

There's this cliche that keeps coming up that, well, you know, the next generations are going to live classical or classical is in trouble.

And and then you get these thoughtful, brilliant people like our guests.

Ashley Park and Helena Dixon, who turn that on its head, thankfully so.

But I want to know what their peers think.

I want to talk about what's sort of popular and you know, how they got into it and what else they listen to.

So there's so much to explore, and I really hope listeners will check out the great work that Katie Heppner, Steve Johnson, Doctor Steve Johnson, who is with us, and the whole team have put together within the key of Z classical.

We're coming right back.

I'm Evan Dawson, host of connections.

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This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson Michael emails the program to thank the guests for helping to keep this wonderful music alive.

Now, first of all, that's a really lovely sentiment and kudos to all of you.

But I don't know, do we have to keep it alive?

It's song.

It's on life support.

Is it.

Come on.

Oh I mean it's been quote unquote dying for centuries.

Lots of articles about like Renaissance screeds.

People were writing about how the music world is dying.

So, yeah, that's kind of always been an idea that's around.

And I think, there is a little bit of truth to it, which is the same truth that's happening all around the world all the time, which is that things are changing, and things are always changing, and you have to learn to adapt to them and welcome some of that change to keep it going.

and I do think there's a lot of that going on right now in people in the classical music world can be very resistant to change, for sure.

And to me, if there's kind of the irony of this conversation, is that it ignores the fact that classical should do really well in a fragmented world.

You know, we're we're obviously very fragmented now, and that's a challenge for anybody in broadcasting and media, etc..

But, you know, classical, it doesn't need 60% of the market share.

It needs to have its place that is celebrated, respected.

sort of nurtured, cultivated it more.

And I think in a super fragmented media world, classical is going to be fine.

That's kind of where I am.

I don't know how you feel about that.

I, I would absolutely agree with that.

And also, I think part of the problem is people worrying about certain organizations having money problems and.

Sure.

Yeah.

And classical music has never made money.

That's part of the issue too, is that it's always relied on artistic patrons.

and, and so exactly as you said, like if it has a really solid niche, and it, it definitely always needs the support of the people in that niche.

But I don't think it's going anywhere.

I mean, even the overrated Beethoven needed patrons.

So you're right, everything old is new again.

You know?

I mean, it's just it's really interesting.

Producer Meegan Mack sends data from the UK about what young people are listening to.

And according to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, young adults were listening more to classical music during the pandemic compared to years prior.

In fact, those under the age of 25 were most likely to state that they discovered classical during the lockdown, which accounted for 15% of more than 2100 adults sampled.

So, yeah, I mean, I don't I don't know about lockdown.

you guys were probably listening to some classical at lockdown.

Yeah.

I mean, five years ago.

Starting to feel like it was a long time ago.

But, let's talk a little bit now with our guests about what they are experiencing with this whole notion of what classical is need saving or your generation isn't going to love.

I mean, I don't know, doesn't have to have all your friends love classical, but how do you feel like how what are your peers listening to?

Helena I think my peers sometimes listen to classical.

I think definitely with like the show, a bunch of more of my peers are listening to classical.

You know, I've had friends who come up to me in school like, hey, I listen to your video.

It's so cool.

Like, I didn't know you play the cello or I didn't know that you were good at playing the cello.

So different things like that.

I think my peers listen to classical, whether it's studying or whether they have those like studying playlist.

That's classical music.

But I also think that we definitely still have a community within my generation.

You know, we have our all counties and our senior high, like all states and everything.

And I think it also creates a community that people love.

So whether they like classical music or not, when we go to all county, they love the community.

You know, I have friends there who I only see like four times a year, but it's great.

So yes.

Ashley, what about you?

well, a lot of my friends listen to pop music, but they.

I think they also listen to classical music when they like, right before they sleep.

Like, we have, like a collaborative, like Spotify share.

But I have one with my friends and there's like some, like, sleep music there.

There's like class classical music or like some relaxing music.

I think for a moment I want to pretend that I'm three times your age, and I want to ask you what you mean by what you just said.

You have a you have a collaborative Spotify fireside playlist, but that just means you and your friends are creating that together.

Oh, I think I can do that.

Yeah.

So like Spotify takes like a bunch of people's music taste and then they like put it into a playlist for us to listen to.

So when I'm in school, like study hall or just like, like at lunch, we'll put it on and there's always like, oh, sorry, there's always like some classical music in there because of my Spotify.

And like I think they they really enjoy it.

They're like, I've never heard this piece, but it's like it's really nice.

I have to go listen to it.

Oh, it's like Gen Z's mixtapes.

Yeah, even.

Yeah, that I know.

There you go.

Mix CD sometimes.

Oh, even Gen X, even the crossover.

We had mixed CDs.

There you go.

That was very cool.

With a little help of I guess.

I'm sure if you like the song, you like the song.

That's really cool.

Ashley.

Wow, yeah, I agree, I mean, I think in some ways those suggested songs that that come up, it's interesting how it figures out some of what you like.

That also worries me a little bit.

You know, I was listening recently to, a much darker in tone conversation about AI and part of what was being talked about was the idea that Art, we're going to see a lot of AI in art of all kinds.

an AI is going to, I'm sort of anthropomorphizing, which I'm trying not to do, but the AI is going to get good at figuring out what adults like.

That's like at a mass societal level.

So the AI just take popular music, actually talk about popular music.

You and your friends and your friends have these playlists.

AI is already good at this, but it's going to get better.

It's the worst it will ever get.

I keep being told by people in AI, whatever you think of AI right now, this is the worst it'll ever get you.

So it's going to get really good at figuring out what is popular, what kind of hooks on three minute songs and things like that, and it will create more of that.

It's just a question of if we should welcome that and want that, or if we should want to kind of stay away from the homogenization.

Right?

Like the way everything gets distilled into the same kind of unrecognizable pulp.

And I, you know, I wonder how you feel about AI music.

Will you listen to AI songs?

no.

You know what I say.

I don't think I could ever recreate, like, classical music or just even pop songs that are good because, like, they really have, like, emotions in it, and I don't think I will ever be able to like, replace like every single person's, like, special voice or like special like type of like how they express their music.

Like, I don't think I hopefully it will never be able to replace that kind of stuff.

I say this like totally respecting the point, and I my instinct is to agree with the point that you're making.

My fear is it's getting really good and it's going to be confusing that if if we had if we go ten years into the future and you give us 100 pop songs and you tell me 50 are made by people in 50 year by AI, I don't know how well we're going to do, but I want to think that you're right, because part of what I think you're saying is that human component matters.

We should want, like, I, I love listening to a Shostakovich piece, not just because it's great, but because, you know, the circumstances of his life and what his country was facing and what the threats that were going on.

And then all of a sudden, there's a richness to the music that hits your ears differently.

And I want that.

I don't want just AI to go, well, I think you'll like this chord progression.

And, you know, you kind of do, but it doesn't mean anything.

So I just I appreciate what you're saying there.

Actually, I want to say I want to believe that.

You're right.

Katie, we're in trouble, aren't we, Steve?

Are we in trouble?

if I could just jump in.

I think what I hear you talking about is, the way that you have an internal world that you're looking for in music.

And this is kind of what I was talking about a while ago, that we're trying to connect to other people through music, and there's something that you even symbolically understand, like, even if the AI is really good at producing sounds that it think thinks you will like that I will not be a person that you feel that like symbolism, that internal world connection to.

And I think this is what Ashley was getting at to that.

Like that's the separate even even if the sounds are like exactly the same.

There's an important part of us as humans that wants to know about the humanity.

And I just like, doesn't have that.

I think that's profoundly said, because, Steven, actually, you're not saying, well, AI is not going to be good at this.

They're saying the sound may be really enjoyable, still not doesn't have that human component, and that will matter.

I want to think a little better.

I do think that before too long, you're going to see art with labels that say like, no, I was used in the creation of this art.

I think that that's part of where we're going.

Helena Dixon, what do you think about AI music?

I would you listen to AI pop songs?

Do you want to hear those?

I feel like, personally, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

You know, there's already AI pop songs out there, and they kind of sound like normal pop pop songs to me.

I think it's definitely going to become more prevalent, especially because AI does know how we like to listen to music.

They do know what our ears enjoy and what is repetitive, and what repetitive rhythms we like.

and I think that will I listen to AI?

Maybe not if I know that it's AI, but that's part of the key, right?

Right.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know how we would now, I know I think we're in trouble.

Katy, I think mean I'm feeling like I'm going in a very dark place mentally.

But actually, our guests are kind of giving me some hope here.

Here's the thing, though.

Like, every individual has the power to resist all of this, like, go.

Yes, even go.

Don't go that dark.

No, no, no.

you're actually king.

And unlike to me, when one of the hardest things to understand about where tech is taking music are all of us.

Which is that in theory, we do have the option of saying like, well, no, we're just not going to do that.

But tech is not democratic.

No, but art is, you know, you yeah, us as individuals, we have the power to choose what we listen to, what we support, what live music we go to see.

and I mean, I was I was just pitching on, 88.5 last week, but like, there are still authentic places where you can get music from and artists and all of that.

Again, it takes it.

I is for the lazy and I'm lazy.

A lot of times I'm like, all right, Spotify, what do you got for me this week?

Discover Weekly.

But then there are other times where I'm like, okay, like to me, I products like recommendations and stuff that gets stale real quick, real quick.

So then, you know, I have radios like all over my house because it's just such a different vibe when you're listening to music, like hand-picked by a human, and at least to me, like I can tell.

Well, and you have the power of this.

I am with you there.

We've got the power.

Thank you.

I mean, I think the extension to that point is that if we get stuck in playlists, it's a reminder that sometimes what we need is live music.

So for you, what is it like?

Do you get to play live sometimes with the cello?

I mean, I know you guys are in slightly different positions with how you view your musical futures, but Helena, for you playing live, what does that feel like?

I usually play live with my orchestra.

I'm in Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra and how does that feel?

Amazing.

It feels great.

I mean, all of these people around me playing the exact same thing.

Well, maybe not the exact same thing, but it feels so.

Community.

Community oriented.

It's crazy.

It's like, look at all these parts, all these components coming together to create one sound, one piece.

It's it's an amazing feeling.

I want to take you back to your favorite composer.

There's a Beethoven story.

that's a callback.

That's a Elena's like we're doing another Beethoven's.

Here we go.

No, it's not.

It's only because I don't know that much about classical music.

I'm very limited.

no, but like, when you think about classical music, forget Beethoven just before the time of, of modern tech.

Can you even conceive of the idea that an audience might beg for a movement again?

Because they're like, I don't know when the next time I can hear this is, and I just need you to play this again.

I mean, that's a powerful thing.

And that's the legacy of of what we what we have today.

I think we take for granted how beautiful live music can be.

I agree, we also take advantage of instant gratification.

I think that's a big thing with AI.

We want something right away, or we want the satisfaction of having something we want right now.

And I think even with music, you know, we practice our music.

We don't get it the first time.

And there's something beautiful about working towards a goal that you don't achieve automatically.

Yeah.

Very, very well said.

Actually.

Live music.

What is it like for you?

it's so much better than, like, listening to a recording.

I always try to when I have the opportunity, I always try to go to live music concerts because there's always something.

There's something about live music that's like, unexpected because you never well, as a performer and as a listener, there's always going to be something that it doesn't go the way you planned.

Like we practice, but we practice to control what we can control.

But there's always going to be variables that we can't control.

And I also think that's like a really special part of live music.

I just don't want to get yelled at if I clap between movement.

Steve.

I mean, I okay, this is where my musicology training comes in.

I am 100% in favor of clapping between me.

You are?

That's.

I want more clapping to happen at classical music concerts.

I want the freedom to express my emotions and my actual reaction in the moment, even in the middle of the movement.

If someone plays a really cool solo and absolutely nails it, I want to celebrate that.

And I feel like I am forced to hold my emotion again and like I, I want to have genuine emotional reactions to the music that that's one of my hottest takes.

I have to say.

I love that we're here for that.

Steve, would you say, is that like a relic from the past that like, it's, you know, it's not even 100 years old as a practice, really?

Really.

It's because of the recording industry, because people were buying LPs and there's silence between the movements.

And then people like Leopold Stokowski and Arturo Toscanini absolutely reveled in being able to laud that power over the audiences.

And so in the last 100 years, it's completely stopped when before it happened all the time because of that live element.

Right?

Yeah.

I mean, like this audience may not hear this again for a long time, but they're going to they're going to let it loose here.

I did not know that bit of history that it's a made up construct.

There's no absolutely.

Yeah.

Oh I love that.

Yeah.

So it's like we can abandon this and still feel like we are staying.

This is the new movement you guys have started.

And as you're saying, you feel uncomfortable going to the performances because you don't want to breach the protocol.

Why don't we do it myself as a philistine, right.

And and I like when we're talking about saving music and welcoming people into the fold.

Like one of the best ways to do that is to stop people from feeling shame about not understanding it.

what do both of you think here, Helena?

What do you think?

I absolutely agree, I didn't know that fact about clapping in between movements, but I think that we do need to open our doors.

I think we do our best, but there's a lot of people who feel like classical music is only for people who, you know, maybe are proper, who know all the rules.

It feels like there's so many rules that we subconsciously practice.

And I think that I agree with what Steve said, like, let's break it.

So those rules exclude people.

I think sometimes if you don't know them.

Yeah, actually, what do you think?

I also agree with Steve because I think as a performer and as a listener, you guys can connect more if we do that because like as a performer, at the end of my performance, if I hear a clap, I think it like gives me a lot of motivation and it gives me like, oh, worth of like doing all that practice, it doesn't take you out of the moment or cause trouble there.

Yeah.

And for, if you're in Rochester, I would definitely recommend going to the Gateways Music Festival, because that is a place where I feel that excitement and engagement and joy that I want, and it's coming up in April.

so just a couple weeks away, you can go to the Gateways Music Festival and feel exactly what I'm talking about.

let me grab a phone call from Keith in Pittsford.

Hello, Keith.

Go ahead.

Evan, I gotta give you a quick.

I think every adolescent kid in their music class should sit through the, the original Fantasia, because that puts visuality into, classical music.

And I think it's a it's a good start.

I also believe that, Beethoven, Mozart and all those classical, composers were alive.

I believe they would be doing music scores because I really enjoy a good, movie that has a good score behind it, James Horner.

and, Hans Zimmer.

Hans Zimmer is fantastic.

And there is a, CD called Ballad to Mud.

And I wonder if any of your guests have heard of it.

Balut or balut through mud or ballet?

Ballet?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sorry.

Yeah.

It's, French pronunciation always gets this ballet through mud.

And I heard of it.

I have not, I've not heard of it.

I just look it up in our library.

Okay?

You know, you have to check it out because it's, It was composed by one of the members of Wu-Tang with, RZA and, they were interviewing him on NPR, and I listened to the, the bits of it and there by.

And it's phenomenal when you think it's from Wu-Tang.

I mean, talented people are talented no matter what type of music they compose.

Well said.

Keith, thank you very much.

There's a little recommendation, Katy.

You know, this is this has me thinking, I would say Gen Z embodies a lot of things.

And, big one is like the reinvention of so many things.

You know, your rock in the 90s, early 2000 style, bringing all that back.

But like, that's what your generation is all about.

It's reinvention.

And like, classical is just totally primed for that to be reinvented by Gen Z, which is, you know why this series has been so great to explore that.

Well, let me get a little bit more feedback here.

David says, I think I will prove great at mimicking emotions and in manipulating people.

Thanks, David, who will hop in our step?

Yeah, just say it again, Katy.

as I asked, it's not as mellifluous as you hoped there.

Tom says, I am completely captivated by this hour of connections, tributes to these beautiful musicians and this discussion.

Thank you.

so you've got fans in, Tom, a couple of the people asking where they're going to see the episodes of in the key of Z classical.

So let's get that one more time here.

It's Cyborg's key of Z, has all the episodes.

And then, if you follow, WXXI Rochester and our new Instagram, WXXI Classical on Instagram, we're making a lot of fun little verticals with a little, extra content that isn't in any of the main episodes.

Very good.

and, area listening on, watching on YouTube and joining the YouTube chat says seeing music as color is a type of synesthesia called chroma stitcher.

It's very common amongst musicians.

yeah.

Yeah.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Scriabin.

I can't remember who else was rebellious, but you're you're not talking about, like, the music actually, like, playing like an E causes you to see the color yellow because that's what's in this.

Quite does quite that.

Okay.

So actually may or may not be in the full chromatic category, but it's just so cute.

It's a nice concept.

Oh it's a great.

Yeah.

Oh it's just a it's an awesome idea of thinking of the way music plays out in your mind and how artists are seeing it and hearing it and feeling it.

and also, a listener who didn't want their name used about clapping between movements says, I appreciate Steve's comments.

I just had the exact conversation with my child after their school concert last night.

so apparently even in school concerts, little controversy.

We can be the change we want to see in the world.

Yeah.

I, I want to thank not only all my guests, but especially Helena and Ashley, who've taken some time out of their day.

is this school day for you, Helena?

Yes.

Oh, boy.

Noise, did I know?

Did they know that you left?

They knew I left.

I'm just kidding.

I'm sure that they did.

And I'm sure they're very proud of you.

They told me good luck.

When are you performing?

Next.

What's next for you?

I have a school orchestra concert March 27th on my birthday.

And then I have my Hochstein concert.

I don't know what it is.

My mom probably knows.

Looking through the glass there.

Well, good luck to you.

Thank you.

Thank you for telling your story.

Yes, you're going to be outstanding here.

Actually.

Park, what's next for you?

What are you looking forward to this spring?

Especially?

Well, next.

Well, this Saturday I have a recital I'm going to be playing some Bach for, like at the Eastman Community School.

And then I have a couple orchestra concerts, and I'm also planning a community concert with my, like, local orchestra.

So I'm really excited to work with some of my peers to bring music to, like the younger community in Ithaca.

Yeah.

Wow.

Awesome.

When is that going to be?

Probably we were thinking like late May, great stuff.

Awesome stuff there.

Well, thank you for being here actually, Helena, congratulations on all your success already.

Thank you and thanks for being with us and thanks for being part of this.

And by the way, there are two but there's there's more.

We didn't get everybody in here.

So Payton Eric, Benji, there's a great group here that you're going to meet as part of in the key of Z, Katie Hepner, creative content producer, producer, videographer and editor of In the Key of Z.

This is fun, I love it.

Yeah.

Thanks everybody for being here.

Is there anything you can't do?

Oh, how about play the cello?

Can you do that?

I did play the cello of it.

I know, I mean like now.

Oh, I get it.

My challenges work.

She can, but I want to get there, I really do.

Yeah, you can probably do it.

So riding a bike again, that's what I said.

There you go.

And Doctor Steve Johnson nice having you in this studio.

Yeah.

It's it's good to be down at this end of the hall for, roomier, listeners.

If you're not regular listeners and you should be, you're going to listen to Steve Wynn.

When are you on classical?

Noon to four every weekday on the classical?

Every weekday.

Thank you sir.

Great work on this series from all of us at connections, whether you're watching or listening.

Thank you for being with us.

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