The Continuo Online Thanks -
The Continuo Online and the Jackson Chapter of the American Guild
of Organists thank you for your support of classical music.
Specifically, we first thank presenters, who make classical music
available. From the Continuo Online Calendar fall season we
counted 43 different presenters in the Jackson area
alone, and that number would be
even higher if we counted different groups within schools and
colleges! We especially salute school choirs, and remain convinced
that they represent the portal through which the largest number of
young people enter the world of classical music. School bands also
are significant here. Whenever you get the chance, make your support
known for Public School Music! Piano, other instrumental, voice,
and dance teachers, from those who teach beginners all the way to
graduate students, also have our thanks. If you know any such
teachers, and band and choral directors as well, please thank them
personally for what they do. Without them the future of classical
music is dead.
Audiences are also vital to classical music, and we thank all who
attended a live program or tuned in to PRM (MPB Radio). If you
enjoyed hearing a particular segment of classical music on PRM,
please let Greg Waxberg* know! We sometimes forget that broadcast
presenters don't have the same ability to interact with their
audiences that live presenters do. But remember, whether you
"tune in" or "attend", without audiences there would eventually
be no music at all. The typical classical music audience includes
people who perform in other groups, from beginners to professionals;
people who teach classical music are thus training not just performers,
but audiences as well! And a student who does not go on to perform
is still likely to become an educated member of an audience.
Finally we thank organizations and individuals who provide
financial support to classical music presenters, from granting
agencies including the MS Arts Commission (and the MS Legislature),
and the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson, to businesses, to
colleges, to churches (who often make their facilities available to
presenters free of charge), and to the host of individual contributors
whose help is so important. If you know any people in these categories,
please thank them for their support.
In our world, which at times seems to be falling apart, there are still
things for which we can be thankful, but if we would make a difference,
we must share our gratitude!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Glenn A. Gentry
Editor, The Continuo Online
*Greg.Waxberg@mpbonline.org