It's not that young people don't listen to classical. It's the NUMBERS of young people that don't. Maybe five percent actually listen or play (if they are taking lessons then they WILL learn some). Some will listen to it as they get older as someone pointed out. Most never will. It starts in the home when you are very young. If your parents owned classical music recordings and played them for you, chances are that you will listen to it as you age, if they don't then you probably won't. I grew up listening to Tchaikovsky and Chopin and remember my mother teaching me to sing "I am always chasing rainbows" while she played the piano. The melody is a Chopin piece. My dad read me the story of the Nutcracker and then gave me an album to listen to. My aunt gave me "Peter & the Wolf" when I was like 9. I played the grooves off the thing. In the West, we seem to be falling behind. You go to Asia--Japan in particular--and young kids (and I mean YOUNG) can play classical, jazz, ragtime, etc. They know our music better than we do and Westerners don't seem to care so I don't know what can be done about it.
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