ACO Artistic Director, Richard Tognetti, shares how a new breed of composer is bringing classical music into the 21st century.

Fusty, dusty and downright boring. Written by dead white men and only listened to by the posh, the snobbish and the elderly. Regardless of how completely inaccurate this appraisal may be, there’s just no getting away from it: for many people, this is the pervading view of classical music.

The notion that classical music is out of touch, unpopular and disconnected from the zeitgeist of today is nothing new. And yet, even though those institutions which are dedicated to it are all too familiar with this music’s worth, the thought that the classical genre has become culturally irrelevant is an enduring preoccupation, found etched into the programming choices of major orchestras all over the world.

The reliance on done-to-death favourites of the repertoire, the insistent formality of the traditional concert paradigm and an aversion for championing the new or unfamiliar reveals a persistent anxiety: cultivating a new audience while still catering to the faithful few is impossible. Thus, the self-fulfilling prophecy comes to pass; the classical concert remains the realm of those branded as...