As often seems to happen in this section, Mamianka has taken the words out of my mouth.

I am not closed-minded when it comes to listening to genres outside of classical music. However, most non-classical music doesn’t engage me intellectually, and intellectual stimulation is necessary if I am to enjoy a piece of music.
The simple fact of the matter is that much popular music *is* too corny, simple and predictable. I want to listen to music that moves, challenges and stimulates me, not music that makes me want to hit my head against the nearest brick wall while yelling,
“For God’s sake, DO something!!!!”

Almost every classical musician I know (and I’ve been through nearly 3 degrees in music) prefers to listen to music other than classical for leisure. I very rarely listen to classical in the car, for instance.

You may be mistaking dislike for popular music for a certain level of contempt classical musicians feel toward popular music due to its inherent simplicity. There may also be some resentment from the fact that this music is so popular, and people think it’s the greatest music ever. This is just all opinion.

I’m first and foremost a classical pianist, but some of my favorite bands/performers are:

Ella Fitzgerald
ACDC
old Metallica and Pantera
A Tribe Called Quest
Beastie Boys
Stevie Ray Vaughn
David Bowie
Radiohead
Cradle of Filth
In Flames
Opeth
Sepultura
Guns ‘n’ Roses

just to name a few random things I listen to frequently. I think you’ll find that the range of open-mindedness of classical musicians is the same as non-classical musicians.

Why are so many people insulted by this question? I am a musician and I play (and love) classical music, but I also listen to many other genres of music too. Many classical musicians, however, do not. It’s not insulting, it’s not lumping all classical musicians together – it’s just the TRUTH! I know there are plenty (like me) that DO listen to other types of music, but there are also many that don’t.
As for your question, I believe some classical musicians don’t listen to other types of music for the same reasons you said – mostly because it is too simple. Classical music is obvioulsly more complex than most other styles of music, except maybe jazz. (If you think jazz is simple, easy, stupid, ect…THEN TRY PLAYING IT!! I’m not saying it’s more complex than classical, but it’s certainly NOT simple at all.) People that have listened to and played classical music for a long time have developed a taste for it, and attention for the intricate details in classical pieces. Some of them feel that no other music can be as good as classical, because it doesn’t have the complexity, length, details, variation…and I definitely agree that much of today’s music is very repetitive and can get old. However, there is still plenty to enjoy besides classical.
One definition of “music” is “vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony”. As great as instrumental music is, more modern music with words can be just as good. They are just two different ways of getting across what the person who wrote the music wanted to say. Saying one is better than the other would be like saying a cherry pie is better than a three-layer chocolate cake. As long as the music is not too repetitive, or just pointless, they are just two different kinds of music, and different people have developed different tastes for them.
Personally, I don’t care if some of the music I listen to isn’t as complicated as classical music. I like the music I like, and it’s hard to explain why. I think ALL people should be more open-minded about other genres of music, and be open to trying something new. You never know, you might find something you really like!

I don’t really believe that is true. For example, The Boston Pops plays all kinds. Leonard Bernstein, the Kronos Quartet, are just two who play and compose Jazz, Pop, Folk.

Some of us listen to stuff besides classical music. For example, I would never listen to the absolute crap known as hip hop, rap, and/or pop music. But I do enjoy country music and new age, and have even been known to zip along in my car to some crazy techno.

Did you ever hear Trans-Siberian Orchestra? They perform classical pieces in a rock style, with full orchestra plus modern synthesizer equipment. They rock out!!

Nigel Kennedy plays jazz. And whether or not it is still the case, many musicians in American orchestras used to double up as jazz musicians in whatever time they had spare. Some European conductors objected; others did not.

As for classical musicians in general not listening to other musical genres, I cannot say. I’m not a musician. For myself … and there must, I think, be many like me, it is a question of quality. Someone with a love of fine wines is unlikely to put up with plonk. Soimeone with a love of literature is not going to read comics. It isn’t snobbery; it’s a love of quality.

Alot of metal bands are classical musicians also. I myself am a classical musician and a great fan of metal music.

I can only speak for myself. To begin with, I don’t think I can agree with your assumption: it’s simply inaccurate.

Some probably are, but if so, they have learned the value of “endurance”: the things in life of most, and “real” value, endures on thru the centuries.

How many of the “pop” artists and composers of today, will be remembered 300 years from now, as the great J.S. Bach is today? Do you think any of there music will be performed, heard, then?

I seriously doubt it.

Alberich

Please forgive me, but I don’t agree with your premise.

Maybe this is true of amateur musicians, and those who are lovers of classical music, but the professionals I know, who work a full 40-hour week
in music, do not work after work.

They welcome silence, like to go home after work, and usually settle down to making supper. We all need a little down time. In most cases, they all have private lives, and might not have much time from the 24-hour day to listen to music of any sort, even if their ears and nerves could stand it.

After all, a secretary does not take her typing home….so why would anyone else take their “typing” home? Arrrrgh! Musicians are just normal people, doing what they do best. And, if what they do best takes up the greatest part of the work week, isn’t it ok for them to choose not to have a ‘busman’s holiday?’

….

Frank Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony, says he has ensembles ranging from the Foo Fighters to the Venice Baroque Orchestra on his iPod. Scott Tisdel, associate principal cello of the same orchestra has Metallica, and so on.