The outpouring of comments (thanks, by the way) in response to last week’s column prompts me to address another pop music-related tangent: the use of
vernacular materials in new concert music.

I’d like to backtrack several weeks here and take a look at an issue that was raised but not completely resolved in an earlier post: What’s the nature of the relationship between my generation of composers and popular music?

When’s the last time you saw a theory course in someone’s professional bio?

My composer friends and I are in near-unanimous agreement that a “faked” performance of our music is far better than no performance at all.

Maybe I’m way out of line here—if so, please call me out—but I just can’t help thinking that a little mandatory instruction in vernacular new music might pay off.

Welcome, Colin Holter, a first-year grad student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who will be blogging on grad school issues. You can read him here each Wednesday.