OK, my daughter said that if I was going to name her in the revenge of the music baton, I was going to have to let her answer in my blog. So, gentle readers, here is Jenn German, my teen daughter, who has very eclectic tastes...

Here's Jenn...

Greetings. I could, as my mom said, simply put this in a reply to her music entry. However, as I consider a non-CMX partner to be unarmed and defenseless, passing on the baton to me is cheating. Therefore, I am instead hijacking her blog. Nyah!

Total Volume

I try not to look. I'm extremely paranoid about hard drive space, and I only check how much space is left in total.

Last CD Bought

Russian Favourites (a whole lot of Missourgsky, with some Borodin and similar composers thrown in

Song Playing Right Now

Nothing at the current moment, but I had "Kovanschina" by Missourgsky on my iPod a few minutes ago.

Five Songs I Listen to a Lot (at the moment)

• "At the Great Gates of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition by Missourgsky
• "Kovanschina," by Missourgsky
• "Habit," by Jump, Little Children
• "Paperboy," by Mycroft Holmes
• "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues," by EELS

Five People To Whom I Am Passing this Baton

• Meredith Collier
• Danielle Trucano
• Bob Jones
• Nicole Harris
• Jana Piotrowsky

OK, I am gonna get Tom Muck for this--passing me the music baton LOL. Or perhaps you, my gentle readers, should. I know what you're thinking: "Oh, no! That ranting classical music person again. Not her!"

Total Volume

Zero when I am working. Here's my little secret: I can't listen to music when I am working because soon I am NOT working. Music is a snake charmer and it makes me want to get up and dance. I do have a Bose Wave radio with CD player in my work area, but that is silent during the day unless there is a big, breaking news story.

In the car is a completely different story. I spend hours a week in my car. I turn the volume up loud. In fact, we're in the market for a new car, and we're looking at one with an upgraded sound system. I could care less what color, make, or model the car is. I will even live without air conditioning and heat--but I can't live without a CD player and great sound system. What do I listen to there? I toggle between WBJC and WGMS, our two remaining local classical music stations, and my CD player. I just bought Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony from the Apple Music Store, and have been wearing a groove in that of late.

Oh, wait. You mean my HD volume LOL? Very little. I burn my tunes to CDs with my SuperDrive.

Last CD Bought

The above mentioned Benjamin Britten Simple Symphony

Song Playing Right Now

None, but like Tom, I am listening in my head--and it's the fourth movement of the Simple Symphony.

Five Songs I Listen to a Lot (at the moment)

• Shostakovich Piano Trio in e minor
• Hindemith Four Temperments
• Benjamin Britten Simple Symphony
• Camille Saint-Saens Samson and Deliah
• Prokofiev Second Violin Concerto

Five People To Whom I Am Passing this Baton

• Jenn German
• Rebekah Herbold
• Elizabeth Bateman
• Laurie Casolino
• John Gallant

After three years of sitting in on the Howard County Middle School Gifted Talented Orchestra, it's all over. My son joined the viola section in 6th grade, and I stayed for rehearsals partly because we live a half hour away and driving home, then back again made no sense. I also stayed, however, because I liked watching the music evolve from the first sight-read train wreck to a finished, polished gem. I liked watching the director, a master teacher who handled the children with skill and humor, mold pieces in the shortest time possible, as the bird flies. I fell into creating and managing the orchestra web site, helping with chairs, and organizing parent volunteers.

It's all over now. My son is graduating from eighth grade. He probably didn't always like having me there. I probably won't be able to sit in on the equivalent high school orchestra, Howard Regional Youth Orchestra, that he hopes to join. So it is with a great deal of melancholy that I attended the final HCMSGTO concert of the year. I sat amazed, as always, at the quality of an orchestra that auditioned and accepted only children who played at a high level because they were willing to practice diligently. Still, even among these children, few will become professional musicians. There are just too few spots for professional classical musicians, coupled with ever dwindling audiences.

Why don't young people like classical music? Or is it just that they think they don't like classical music because of all the misconceptions out there? Even those with the best of intentions write things like "to become relaxed before bed, listen to classical music." No wonder young people don't give it a chance. I don't like deadly dull, soporific music either. And classical music. is. not. dull. Nothing beats the savagery of Stravinksy's Rite of Spring cranked up loud while you're driving 70 on the Interstate. Shostakovich's Piano Trio in e minor would give any heavy metal piece a run for its money, written as it was on the theme of Jews being forced to dance before being shot by the Nazis. Or how about this? Last summer we drove through the Austrian Alps with Wagner Overtures blasting from the bus CD player. Everyone--young and old--got a rush from that. Classical music appeals to my Dionysian side, not my meek and mild side.

So how do we save Mozart? A lot rests with our music educators, many of whom are confined to teaching in janitor's closets, like our daughter's string orchestra teacher was for her first couple years of high school. Engaged in an underground movement of sorts (competing as they are for dollars that many parents would prefer to see put into sports), the dedicated music teachers of Howard County are answering the challenge. At the final orchestra concert, the superintendent of music took the mike and told the audience that Howard County had just been named one of the top school systems in the country for music.

It helps that our county is within spitting distance of Peabody Conservatory (a division of John Hopkins), and is awash with the highest quality teachers, both private and in our schools. It helps that we have educated families who recognize the value of music lessons and are willing to see that their children get them. But what will save Mozart is the dedication of our music teachers as they give time to all the extracurricular orchestras, bands, and festivals that the county hosts. Yes, most of the children in these groups will not become professionals, but they will become audiences.

And as wonderful as it is to have YoYo Ma and Joshua Bell and Wynton Marsalis, in the end only audiences - head over heels in love with the music - can save Mozart.