Expand Your Playlist

(Apologies to The Current for stealing their on-air slogan there, but it just fit this story too perfectly.)

As I mentioned in a previous post, superstar violinist Hilary Hahn has spent much of the last year touring with folk-rocker Josh Ritter. Together, the two appeared on classical stages, playing some of the music that's made her famous, and and some of what has established him as one of the leading musical voices of his generation. (Full disclosure: Josh and I went to college together, and he played regularly at a coffeehouse where I served as the booking and entertainment manager.)

The reaction they've gotten from each of their fan bases has been interesting to watch. The majority of people I know who've attended one of the shows came away having enjoyed the experience, and unless they're classical musicians themselves, they haven't had a lot to say about the "crossover" element. Which is to say, genre hopping has become so common among music consumers today that seeing two completely different styles of music together on one stage just doesn't strike most people as odd.

Some classical critics, however, have been less kind, calling the partnership a gimmick, sniping unintelligibly at Ritter, or accusing Hahn of allowing a lesser kind of music to sully her art. This strikes me as the height of pomposity, and critics like this are exactly the reason (okay, one of the reasons) that so many people find classical music off-putting. If you thought the collaboration didn't work for musical reasons, by all means, say so, but to declare that the very idea of such a collaboration is worthless is ridiculous.

Anyway, Hahn doesn't need me to defend her. She has an excellent post up at one of ArtsJournal's collaborative blogs describing her adventures with Ritter, and the reason that she thought it was an important project to undertake. It's well worth a read...