PATRICK MERRILL
Other
Hey. I am Patrick Merrill, a young classical musician currently studying in Baltimore, MD under the illustrious Duke Thompson, DMA. I'm also studying at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where the late Tupac Shakur also attended.
I am very unhappy with the state that classical music is in at this point in time. First of all, I hate calling it classical music. That alone makes it seem as though it is not fresh and interesting. It also seperates it from the people who are writing music today. There is lots and lots of wonderful, interesting, expressive, artistic music that people are writing today. What seperates them from the music that was written 200 years ago besides time? "Classical" music is simply music, and music is still alive today.
I enjoy playing a sonata by Scarlatti as much as I enjoy improvising at the keyboard. I enjoy the power in Liszt's Totentanz as much as I enjoy the power of AC/DC's Thunderstruck. I enjoy the longing in Rachmaninoff's piano concerti as much as I enjoy the longing in Emery's The Weak's End. I enjoy the wittiness of Mozart's music as much as the witty songs of Relient K. Whether it is the sparkle of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue or the threatening Dies Irae of Verdi's requiem or the smooth vocals of James Blunt, it is all art and it all expression through the manipulation of sound.
It's all music, and I urge you to enjoy it all!
