Art museums draw loyal audiences. Plays show to sold-out houses. Novels attract enthusiastic readers. But our symphony orchestras are struggling. Could it be that we are attracted to paintings, books and plays because in school we draw pictures, write stories and act out our own scenes while in music class we only perform other people’s music?

      In short, I think yes. In my autobiography I recall my own music education, where teachers explained music to us before we droned through it. Meanwhile I was intensely passionate about firing spitballs at the ceiling and setting up the entire percussion section in band rehearsal to topple over piece by piece at the touch of a finger. What happens to most students who come out of such a system, totally unconscious of sound? Sound stays exactly that: unconscious.

      Which means music’s primary use becomes background. Most people think of music as an accompaniment to something—movies, dancing, parties, elevators, hotel lobbies and long flights. If pressed about serious music, they often ask, ”What am I supposed to see when I hear it?” But Beethoven rarely intended for you to see anything—just to be moved by auditory vibrations. Great music stands alone: it doesn’t need an image or event to be understood.

      This becomes obvious when you create music yourself.

      Too much to ask, you say? We can’t expect every listener to endure years of specialized study? But they don’t have to. Anyone can learn how to structure a composition, even for symphony orchestra. I just had a group of 12 year-olds at the Thorncliffe Middle School in Toronto write a five-minute composition for orchestra in three days using graphic notation. It was premiered by the Esprit Orchestra the following week. Afterwards, I experienced my most inspirational moment in years when an “A-ha” look dawned on the students’ faces and they said they wanted to go to an orchestral concert for the first time.

      Which brings us back to the original problem: lagging interest in symphony orchestras. Yes, high tickets pieces, repetitive repertoire, formal atmosphere in an air of exclusivity all contribute to ticket sales. But I think the underlying issue is that listeners feel too far removed from the product—classical music itself, especially modern music. "It’s hard to understand.” “It’s abstract.” And I sympathize with them. It was like that for me too, until I started writing it.

      This puts the prime responsibility for keeping great music alive squarely in the lap of our educators: they’re the ones who create classical music customers. But first teachers must know how music is made. Wake up music schools! Stop making our future teachers write endless papers. Teach them how to write music. Then they can pass on that gift to their students.