In my youth, I volunteered at the local symphony (my niche during that time was the coat room) and it was cool to watch them perform.  But I also know I wasn’t the average youth, and for most people in my middle and high schools, the most classical music we were exposed to was the math teacher playing Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” while we were taking a test (because, he said, it would improve our scores).

Lewis Clark, leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, thought a classical mash-up of sorts, melded to a disco beat, could get people’s attention, and “Hooked on Classics” was born.  A series of popular albums, the series blends a bunch of recognizable classical signatures into one ongoing track. Many are grouped by theme to create soundscapes that work on their own right, while others are more akin to medleys.

I actually wasn’t familiar with the concept until last year, when a post I saw about Busch Gardens and the music played in the park referenced the series; the park uses it in some of their areas.  But I kind of dig it, and in a world where mash-ups are pretty common, this seems quite ahead of its time.