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I'm wondering if there is a city that has a good collection of at least some of the following ...
Episcopal Churches with excellent traditional music programs
Renaissance and Medieval music, especially vocal music
Chamber Music
Dixieland & other oldtime jazz
Acoustic blues
World Music: especially south and east Asian and middle eastern
other forms of "eccentric" music, such as old time country, traditional bluegrass, eclectic folk music, experimental rock
In addition to this, I would be interested in a city that has good public transit
Well I'm a professional music nerd, maybe I can help.
New York City is an obvious choice. Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles would all end up meeting most of the criteria just based on size.
Minneapolis is easily the best city in the world for choral music after London and New York - and I do mean that. There isn't another city where classical vocal music is as ingrained in the culture. Look up Rose Ensemble, Cantus, The Singers, VocalEssence, National Lutheran Choir, Summer Singers, Kantorei, Vox Nova, and From Age to Age. Plus there's a host of upper-tier church choirs - mostly Lutheran, not as many Episcopal - and three world-class venues in the Cathedral in St. Paul, Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, and the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis (I've had the pleasure of performing in the Basilica, and it is PRIME). St. Olaf and Luther College, both within a few hours, have two of the best collegiate-level choirs in the world (on a level with Trinity College Cambridge).
The Minnesota Symphony is struggling right now, but the public outcry in response to this has been incredible, and I doubt very much that it will be down forever. Generally, it's a major fine arts city. Probably its strongest selling point is its emphasis on and widespread love of fine arts.
One of the biggest Renaissance Festivals in the country is held in Shakopee.
Minnesota is home to the second-largest Hmong American population in the US after California. There are numerous thriving south Asian enclaves. The Festival of Nations each spring involves a ton of performances from around the world, and there's always world music going on somewhere in the Twin Cities.
Lively music scene in the vibrant parts of the cities. Everything from blues to screamo to country to classic rock. It's not an international hotspot for anything other than choral music, but it does have pretty much everything in abundance.
Public transit is good and getting better. Currently one rail line with a fabulous bus system, with plans for BRT lines and several more rail lines.
all of the cultural meccas...namely, NYC, Chicago and LA. There are likely other places to offer these things, but not in the same abundance.
Except Boston, which would be my top pick. The city is renowned for it's music education (Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory and excellent programs at several colleges), it's support and appreciation for music ranging from Pops to Rock and the city's intellectual atmosphere is attractive to many musicians/songwriters.
I still wouldn't put Boston above the other three on sheer size and number of opportunities.
But yes, Boston is great! Also has New England Conservatory, Longy School and of course the Boston Symphony and Pops.
It's all interconnected anyway. A couple hours ago my friend mentioned that she will be teaching with Mark O'Connor at his camp at Berklee College. That's one of the biggest names in bluegrass/crossover/classical/etc bringing his quartet to teach kids in Boston. But then again, the whole group is from NYC...
I still wouldn't put Boston above the other three on sheer size and number of opportunities.
But yes, Boston is great! Also has New England Conservatory, Longy School and of course the Boston Symphony and Pops.
It's all interconnected anyway. A couple hours ago my friend mentioned that she will be teaching with Mark O'Connor at his camp at Berklee College. That's one of the biggest names in bluegrass/crossover/classical/etc bringing his quartet to teach kids in Boston. But then again, the whole group is from NYC...
I've never been in the Megalopolis region ... just on the fringes, in the more rural parts of the northeast.
Being in the middle of it all ... now that would be fun to check out.
Thanks for the posts, music fans.
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