SING!

Batten down the hatches--Fio has been thinking again.

Last week she was watching a wonderful program which followed the progress of the Metropolitan opera finalists through the run-offs. During the show, one the officials said that the Met was trying to attract a younger audience because the average age of its attendees was 60+.

Fio blames rock'n roll for the lack of interest in musical performance because one doesn't sing along with rock, one listens. (Can you imagine Snooky Lanson singing rock?) Yes, the western world has become musically passive. Students on bus trips don't sing about a duck being someone's mother anymore--they listen to their I-pods. Choruses and glee clubs--which used to abound because there was nothing else to do--have almost disappeared. One doesn't have to entertain oneself anymore when there are TV and DVDs and video games in abundance.

You out there! Lift up your voice and start yodeling--it's good for opera and it's good for the soul and it's good for you!