“From Philadelphia to Sioux Falls, orchestras are embracing a growing breed of contemporary composer that emphasizes the classical tradition of writing to entertain, rather than to explore academic, less accessible theories. While the point is partly to please crowds, these new works are taken seriously. The popularity of this new classical music — variously called “contemporary classical,” “alt-classical” or “music of our time” — represents the latest stage in a reaction to the 1950s and ’60s, when the dominant composers were academics who invented tonal structures that broke with European musical traditions.”