Philharmonie de Paris

The Paris Philharmonic is located in the most northeastern part of Paris itself. It took me about an hour to get there by metro, but the place itself is amazing. It is more like an American college campus than just one concert hall. It is almost like this is the musical safe haven in Paris. There are music schools, music stores that sell key boards, pianos, guitars, wind instruments, electronic music equipment, sheet music, stands . . . pretty much anything you can think of. The Paris museum of music is also there, but I missed the closing time by one hour. Immediately to the left of the walk way to enter the Philharmonie De Paris is a little fenced in area with goats. They have their little huts and water troughs right in front of the most modern building I have seen yet. The park next to the building is very modern with areas for working out and peaceful, winding, paths through bamboo forests. I spent an entire day in this area of the city.

I was scheduled to meet with Fabien Lerat, who works at the Philharmonie. He is a clarinet player had we had such a great conversation that we ran out of time. He explained to me that the Philharmonie de Paris was built so far from the center of the city to attract people that would not normally attend classical concerts. We talked about every thing from the history of music education in France to the progressive programs of the Philharmonie. My favorite was the classes that anyone can take where you learn a theme from a famous classical piece on an instrument you may have never touched before. They also focus on music from all over the world from Bali and Ghana to Japan to teach people that European culture is not The Classical Music. He also told me that tickets for concerts at the Philharmonic are discounted for students and the sooner you buy the cheaper they are.

After our interview I had a few hours to spend in the beautiful park and the music shops before the concert. I was in heaven. The concert, much like the concert hall, was more abstract and modern than any of the other concerts I had experienced. The first piece was the most radical. It was very chaotic and had very little structure, and I almost wanted to hit the mute button at times. The rest of the concert was lovely though.