'Tis the season for holiday cheer and gift-giving! Do you have someone on your list who loves classical music, and you're unsure of where to start? Fret not. We have some ideas.
1) A high-quality radio (or upgraded speakers)
This one seems obvious coming from someone who works at a radio station, but it's a fact – the sound quality on a good radio beats that crummy clock radio you've had since you were 8. And if the music lover on your list is more digitally-inclined, there are lots of reasonably-priced speakers that pair with smartphones or with stereo systems. The Wirecutter has excellent reviews (at various pricepoints) of bluetooth speakers (large ones and portable ones) and bookshelf speakers, as well as tabletop radios.
2) A multi-room solution for a single-room audio setup
When I moved from a tiny studio apartment into a 1-bedroom, I was so excited to have a separate kitchen and living room – but I was not so excited about it being more difficult to listen to records while cooking, as I did not want to run speaker wire from the turntable/cd/receiver setup in the living room into the kitchen. After hours of research, I settled on this solution: a second set of speakers in the kitchen, hooked up to a wireless transmitter that would communicate with the receiver in the living room, allowing me to listen to CDs, records, or radio while slicing and dicing. (Since I'd inherited a couch for free from the previous tenant, I figured I could splurge on this instead... but this would be a great gift, if $100 is in your range.)
3) Concert tickets
I am a firm believer in the idea that experiences make better gifts than things (#millennial, I know), and while listening to a symphony at home is fine, experiencing it live is so much better. If you've never felt the floors of Symphony Hall vibrate under your toes during a concert, you are not getting the full experience.
If your music-lover lives in the Boston area, our list of WCRB In Concert partners is a fantastic place to start looking for concert tickets.
4) Music lessons
Music lessons at a local music school could spark something in a music lover of all ages. If your music lover is in Boston, here are a few options:
Community Music Center of Boston
New School of Music
Page Music Lessons
5) Books about music
Support a local independent bookstore if you can! Here is a list of books recommended by folks on our staff.
6) A donation to a music-related organization
This may seem like a cop-out, but in my family, it's tradition: we don't give gifts, we make donations in honor of each other. Here is a very small list of the thousands of organizations doing great work in music access and education:
El Sistema USA
Community Music Center of Boston
Music for Food
Revolution of Hope
Save the Music
Musicians Without Borders
Your local youth or community orchestra, if they accept donations
Your local classical music public radio station (sorry, had to include this one)
Have other ideas? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter. Happy holidays!
