Creative Destruction, Perpetual Rebirth: Classical Music in the Early Twenty-First-Century United States

Abstract

Joseph Schumpeter’s economic concept of “creative destruction” refers to a process of incessantly revolutionizing an economic structure from within, ceaselessly destroying the old and creating the new. This dissertation examines creative destruction in action by witnessing the demise not only of the old classical institutions but also of attitudes and practices that have gradually been replaced, or stretched, by new strategies. It argues that despite changes and innovations that individuals and institutions promote and embrace, classical music’s deep-rooted values and practices prevail. Recent transformations thus represent reforms, and not disruptive institutional changes that would rethink the entire purpose and structure of classical music organizations and enable a truly inclusive field.

Three concepts reappear throughout the dissertation: the political-economic ideology of neoliberalism as it relates to the challenges classical music faces today, the highbrow/lowbrow concept that strictly defines classical music and places it on a nearly sacred level, and the process of co-optation that incorporates change to preserve highbrow status and long-standing values. The dissertation synthesizes an archival approach, based on newspaper articles, institutional reports, and archival videos of performances and conferences, with an ethnographic study, including formal interviews and participation in classes, concerts, rehearsals, workshops, community engagement events, and concert livestreams.

This dissertation examines a set of four significant challenges and transformations facing classical music in the United States in the early twenty-first century. After an introductory chapter, Chapter Two analyzes the enthusiasm for entrepreneurial education in higher-education music institutions. It argues that that the prevalence of music entrepreneurship helps restore relevance to American music academies, particularly when return on investment (ROI) has become a vital tool to assess the quality of university. The supplementary role of music entrepreneurship to core music curricula helps music institutions resist valorizing the neoliberal precariousness of musical labor, but simultaneously risks making music academies co-opt entrepreneurial training for institutional relevance. Chapter Three examines the move from highbrow snobbishness to inclusive cultural preferences in the world of contemporary classical music. Specifically, it investigates the cultural omnivore approach adopted by vocal octet Roomful of Teeth and reveals how omnivorousness masks racial and class disparities under the guise of revolution, flexibility, and openness. Chapter Four uses the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s vision to be “the most accessible orchestra on the planet” as a starting point to analyze how such a traditional institution has adapted to demands of twenty-first-century consumers. After a major strike in 2010–11, the DSO became a more inclusive and culturally relevant institution and helped revitalize Detroit. Yet, some post-strike initiatives also revealed the social privilege of classical music, aggravating gentrification in and around Detroit, and further reinforcing inequality in cultural access and participation. Chapter Five considers the changing landscape of classical music during the COVID-19 pandemic. The shifts in performing media and perspectives toward online streaming, mobile concerts, and concerns over race and racism accelerated both the transformations and contradictions that took shape at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Orchestras have become more diverse and inclusive, involving more participants from various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Yet, efforts towards diversity and inclusivity may threaten to reinforce inequality in cultural access and participation, invite orchestras to turn those initiatives into capital to help boost their own images involving diversity, and thus help orchestras co-opt activism and perpetuate their exclusive practices.