Not your grandma’s Shostakovich: How classical music is attracting younger audiences [Video]

It’s the headline violinists, bassoonists and bangers of big expensive drums look for each year: classical music is back, and young people like it again.

To be fair, the data mostly checks out: According to a 2022 study from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), people under 35 are actually more likely to listen to classical music than their parents. In a follow up report from early 2024, they reported interest in attending orchestral concerts peaked the previous year. They also found that orchestral music itself had a bigger increase in popularity than any other.

According to their report, more than half of classical audiences are newcomers to the space, with less than a third being longtime fans. 

But as an art form that goes back centuries instead of decades, it has more hurdles for attracting new fans than other resurgent trends. A perception by young people that it’s an overly formal, inaccessible and stagnant form of music has threatened orchestras around the world, which, combined …