Taylor Swift or Mozart? Among Stellenbosch students the answer is clear.
Classical music is not very popular on campus, according to a poll conducted by MatieMedia among 100 students of the university.
67% of students claimed they never listened to classical music.
Do you listen to classical music?
Of the 22% of students that said they did listen to classical music sometimes, many of them said that they did so while studying.
Only 11% of students said that they listen to the genre often.
74% of students said that they had never attended a classical music concert.
Moreover, when given a selection of music genres, not one student chose classical music as a favourite choice:
Which music genre do you listen to the most?
The most popular genres are: Pop (40%), hip-hop/rap (23%), RnB (15%) rock (11%) and house (11%).
“Generally we have an older audience, especially retirees,” said Fiona Grayer, Artistic Manager for the Endler Hall Concert Series.
“We do, however, encourage students to come and watch our shows,” she said.
Ticket prices are often an issue among students but Grayer offered a potential solution: “If students join Musicultus Society they can watch shows for just R10,” said Grayer.
When asked how to get students interested in classical music, Grayer said that “there’s a big move towards getting jazz into our academic curriculum”.
Which music genre do you listen to the most?
On the surface, the picture appears to be similar at other tertiary institutions.
BA Humanities student at the University of Western Cape, Gizelle Louw (20), said: “I do enjoy classical music but I don’t really go to concerts.”
Recent graduate from the University of Pretoria, Zwanyi Mohale (26), said: “I feel that classical music was not a popular genre among students when she was studying.”
“I hardly ever listen to it and, when I did, it was only while I was studying,” said Mohale.
100 students were polled at random in and around campus between 26 April and 4 May 2017.
Upcoming events at the Endler’s concert series include the US jazz band on 12 May and The Beethoven Project on 19 May.
Tickets are available through Computicket and Musicultus Society. – Welile Makena