Classical Music ME!

Welcome to the new blog--Classical Music ME--dedicated to bringing exposure to and casting spotlights on the variety of performances that occur throughout the state of Maine that feature contemporary classical compositions. I used to write classical columns for a local publication in Portland, Maine and one of my major focuses was always to find a way to cast "classical" music in the freshest and most modern of lights. Sure, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were absolutely great composers, timeless even. But that doesn't mean we have to live forever in the past and cast a blind eye to the interesting and entertaining sounds being produced today in the 21st century, by brilliant and thoughtful living composers.

Yes, I also enjoy pop--rock, folk, disco, blues, funk, adult contemporary, punk--you name it. However, these musical forms already consume the vast majority of the publicity dedicated to music and the arts in today's media. Everybody is already a-ga-ga for pop, you almost have to go "underground" to really dig in to what it means to be a part of the modern classical music movement. If you're a local or modern composer or performer who is doing new and unique, interesting things in a "classical" context, and you want to get in on that little slice of the media pie that's leftover from pop and rock, you're probably going to get run over by aforementioned giants of the past--Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and more...

So... hence comes the ClassicalMusicME blog. I want to cover contemporary classical music happenings in Maine. You may occasionally see my articles as a freelance writer in publications in Maine, but I don't want to wait for them to get on the "bandwagon." There are
interesting things happening and they are happening now.

Classical music doesn't need to be relegated to the stuffy cobweb-ridden museums of the past. The bridge between yesterday and today can be crossed, and there's a place for the classical form in that passage.

The focus of this blog will be to bridge the gap of time, to modernize and bring to present relevance, the classical form, and promoting Maine concerts, performers and composers in the process.

I hope you will enjoy this blog, and I do welcome contributing writers. My first story will be up within the day!

Classically Today,
Benjamin J. Meiklejohn