How Does New Music Relate To “Classical” Music?

“One wonders how much discussions of new music have to do with the classical music world today: a collection of fundamentally conservative institutions in which predominantly old music is presented and received in reverential, churchly silence and new music, for better or worse, is too often something to sit through. Many critics deplore this situation and are deeply invested in encouraging contemporary performances from classical institutions. In essence, we’re demanding of classical music that it be a living art. But focusing as we do on the larger institutions, we’re not necessarily keeping abreast of the latest trends in composition ourselves.”