New to classical music?

Start here.

Nobody is born knowing what a scherzo is, and you do not need to know it to have a great night. These short guides give you enough to walk into any hall in the country and know what you are hearing. Regulars are welcome too; there is always another era to fall for.

5 min read

You already listen to classical music

The film scores, commercials, and stadium anthems you know by heart were written by the people in this directory. Start there.

8 min read

How to listen

Symphonies, concertos, tone poems, and the rest: what each one is trying to do, and what to listen for so the shape makes sense the first time.

8 min read

The eras, and what each one sounds like

Baroque to today in six stops. How to tell them apart by ear, and why every one of them is worth your evening.

5 min read

Your first concert

Tickets, what to wear, when to clap, how long it runs, and what to do at intermission. Nothing to be nervous about.

6 min read

How to read a program

Op. 67, K. 550, "in D minor", Allegro con brio: what the numbers, keys and Italian words on a concert program actually tell you.

7 min read

The instruments, and what to watch

Who sits where, what each section does, and the moments in a concert when you should look at the horns, the timpani or the harp.

6 min read

Ten pieces to start with

A short list that covers the whole map, from Bach to today, each one a work you can hear live this season.

5 min read

Masterworks, Pops, Family, Film: which night is for you

Orchestras run several series at once. Here is what each one is like, who it suits, and how to pick.

5 min read

Bringing kids

Which concerts work at which ages, how to prepare a child in ten minutes, and what to do if it goes sideways.

5 min read

Listening at home before you go

A week-before plan: one recording, three listens, and the two or three things to notice, so the live performance lands harder.

5 min read

Why live is different

You can stream any of this for free. Here is what a hall full of people and eighty players in the same room do that a speaker cannot.

7 min read

A short history of the orchestra

From twenty players in a palace to a hundred on a stage: how the modern symphony orchestra took its shape, in five stops.

8 min read

If you like Bon Jovi, try Tchaikovsky

Twenty bridges from the music you already love to a classical work that scratches the same itch, with the reason each one works.

8 min read

Classical music hiding in plain sight

The hit songs built on Rachmaninoff and Pachelbel, the film moments everyone knows, and the rock, pop and hip-hop artists who point back to the composers.

Reference

The words on the program

Allegro, cadenza, Op. 67, K. 550: a plain-language glossary of everything you will see printed, with pronunciation.

Then

Go hear something

Concerts near me This season, everywhere