Kristjan Järvi “has made it a mission to reconnect audiences with classical music. His strategy is not to push orchestras into embarrassing crossover concerts but to give performances that are genuinely engaging.” And the conductor himself continues:
“Isn't it the truth that classical music has never been more detached from the mainstream than it is now?” he asks.
“There is certainly a change coming about, at least from my side of the spectrum. I see that through my work with different orchestras and my Absolute Ensemble.
"And it's not this kind of stuff (that) is dumbing down into pop, where (audiences) are just going to hear some nice tunes. Audiences are never actually like that, they are never that stupid. Audiences are super discriminating, (that's) what I've learned. You have to challenge them, but at the same time give them something new and of the utmost quality. It can't be cheap in any way.”
Read the rest of Matthew Westwood's piece in The Australian here.