My Friend Steve
Some of you may have seen Bach and Boombox, and others may have heard me talk about it (at great length, I’m sure –sorry!). For my first blog post, I thought I’d share the story of when I first started thinking about music this way.
As a freshman cello major living in the football dorm at Michigan (which was great), I was surrounded by people who didn’t know too much about what I was studying. One night I handed a recital invitation to my friend Steve in the hall – he took one look at it, and said: “No offense, Nat, but I hate what you do.”
He meant it as a joke (mostly), and I certainly laughed, but I started thinking about people like Steve, who don’t feel a connection to concert music, and how to reach them.
I have always loved jazz and R&B, and I spent most of high school obsessed with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, so connecting these different styles has always made sense to me, and I find people more receptive to classical music when you meet them on their turf.
So, with Bach and Boombox, I’ve decided to try that, and so far, it’s working pretty well! I’ve brought the program to schools, community centers, Fortune 500 companies, parks, and even an airport!
If you want to see how it works, check out the video page.
This blog will be a way for me to share what’s happening with Bach and Boombox, interesting news and thoughts about the rapidly changing music world, and the occasional Spotify playlist (coming soon!). Hope you like it – please post your comments and share it with your friends! And if you see Steve Jacobsen from South Quad, let him know what he started!