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We live in an age where entertainment is fading. I’m not talking about the performing arts, I’m talking about Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Superman. These enterprises are losing money faster than a crypto-bro in the grips of FOMO (fear of missing out). 

The movies are no longer the pinnacle of fame and fortune. The game is now on the phone. It’s on Instagram and Tik Tok. The entertainment industry is falling behind the 15-second bites of content that dominate the attention of billions of people. 

I’m a participant. I don’t do Tik Tok but I found myself doom scrolling on Instagram during the first NFL game of the season. Not even football is immune. I will say that I’ve found some fantastic classical music and opera resources on The Gram, but by and large I’m looking for something to make me chuckle. 

I’m no expert on the topic but it appears to me that social media influencers come and go rapidly. The mark they leave behind is about as significant as the hole a straw leaves in a drink after it’s been removed.

Classical music and opera, on the other hand, continue to endure even in the age of distraction. However, their endurance cannot be taken for granted. For 200 years European Culture was dominated by morality plays. I haven’t seen many of those around lately. It is up to those of us who appreciate and maybe even love classical music to help sustain it in any way that we can. 

The most important way we can help is to begin cultivating ourselves as audience members. To be an audience member, you have to attend a concert. That helps the organization. On the other hand, self-cultivation benefits the self. While I have spent hours scrolling through Instagram Stories, I have never had a cathartic release of dormant emotions in the midst of my chuckles. It happens at almost every classical music concert but that wasn’t always the case. I had to cultivate myself first.

How do you go about cultivating yourself? It starts with exploring the music that is going to be performed. The Jacobs Masterworks Concert Oct, 4, 5, and 6 at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra features Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. I would suggest listening to it a few times before the concert. Go read Mahler’s Wikipedia page. Read related pages such as his wife Alma Schindler, his student Bruno Walter, and his teacher Anton Bruckner. Follow the links and get the information bouncing around inside of you.

Mahler Symphony no. 2 "Resurrection"

London Symphony Orchestra - Leonard Bernstein

While you’re at the concert resist the urge to discover what Mahler was trying to accomplish or what the music meant to Mahler. Focus on yourself. What is the music accomplishing within you? What does the music mean to you? Follow the feelings that the music is illuminating and then talk to someone about that after the concert. Rinse and repeat for the next concert. After a handful of concerts, you will have a staggering amount of knowledge and a musical EQ.