Could we be turning a corner? Is the newest music becoming the hottest thing – in “classical” music of all places? Let’s not get carried away with our metaphors, but, even recognizing that I’m an optimist, I’d say there are signs of a sea change taking place.

First of all, the new music scene in New York has exploded, in a good way. For decades I’ve been going to concerts uptown and downtown, and it’s always been very active, but now I see a whole different kind of creative energy and energetic audience. It no longer feels like a niche, but like a scene, or a whole lot of overlapping scenes. Go to productions of the Prototype Festival. Could you have imagined a series of nine contemporary opera productions, with multiple partners and venues, even ten years ago? How many really excellent new music ensembles are there now – ranging from small to large ensembles? The question now for the older generation of new music ensembles and presenters is how to differentiate themselves. The competition is getting fierce.

It’s major institutions too. The indispensible American Composers Orchestra is no longer the only game in town. The New York Philharmonic (where I led education from 2004-2018) has evolved from having a marginally involved composer-in-residence, to inventive and adventurous seasons of increasingly new music under Alan Gilbert, to a whole panoply of high profile commissions and brand-new, enticing new music events in the current Jaap van Zweden season. Even the Metropolitan Opera – the largest and most conservative musical institution in the country – has just announced a commissioning program putting women at the forefront, and new venues for newer work.

And this isn’t only a New York story, though NYC is my main experience. The LA Phil and San Francisco Symphony have led the way among orchestras. And almost every opera company now has a chamber series for new work, trying to keep up with Prototype.

These changes have a lot to do with specific people – music directors and artistic staffs of new generations. But I feel they also reflect an evolving zeitgeist. Artistic excitement, increasingly, means something new and hip, whatever that might mean in a given context. Music presenters are finding that they can get that coveted young professional audience with new music, especially when it’s presented in innovative ways.

Back at the NY Phil, two recent projects really fueled my optimism. One developed over several years, with grant support from the Wallace Foundation: pop-up performances of mostly new music, in unconventional settings like rooftops and clubs, with alcohol served, and dance parties after. In this case, exclusivity drove youthful attendance: you needed to be on the list to receive the secret the location on the day! Hundreds were turned away. These “Off the Grid” events were incredibly fun – for the Philharmonic musicians (not all of them the youngest generation either) as well as attendees.

Then last June, Esda-Pekka Salonen wrapped up his three-year residency at the Philharmonic with a blow-out concert at Geffen Hall. He conducted the Orchestra in two works of his and one by Icelandic composer Daniel Bjarnason. The opening piece had the most sophisticated video accompaniment I’ve ever seen – real-time abstract images responding to the music. The Bjarnason Violin Concerto was played by Pekka Kuusisto with a rock-star vibe that drove the audience ape. And the final Salonen work was danced with choreography of tremendous muscularity by Wayne McGregor, with a breathtaking ending. There were two long intermissions with plenty of bars, and drinks were allowed back into the hall.

What excited me was not just the thrilling presentation of uncompromising, hard-hitting new works, but the youth and excitement of the audience. Well over half the audience had never been to Geffen Hall. But there they were, dressed up and pumped and overwhelmed by sensory input. This was surely a vision of some aspect of a future devoutly to be wished. And if it can happen at the New York Philharmonic, where can it not happen?

And then of course there’s the Very Young Composers of the New York Philharmonic. Created by Jon Deak, with partners around the world working with thousands of young composers, the program hit a high note this past summer when two Brooklyn girls – 11-tear-old Camryn Cowan and Jordan Millar – were played by the full orchestra in four major city parks. With guileless enthusiasm, they infected the Philharmonic with the energy of today’s youth, and received a hero’s welcome from hundreds of thousands of listeners and multiple media outlets.

I’ve long had a fantasy vision of the music my colleagues and I compose being part of a vibrant intellectual and artistic scene – like Mozart’s operas, Dvorak’s symphonies, Stravinsky’s and Copland’s ballets, Bernstein’s shows. Mostly we work more humbly and we cherish the very real community and experiences we have. But why not aim for a bigger impact? America is full of young, curious, sociable people who flock to hear all kinds of music. Live music is thriving, driven by the latest platforms for online exploration. Production values are through the roof for live shows. And it’s the very latest music they want to hear.

Music never stops being current and vital, and people never stop going for what speaks of their time. So why not the amazing stuff being written by young composers today? And by older masters now getting the hearings they’ve long deserved? Why not music that has fascinating foreign accents, drawing on traditions from all over the world? Why not multimedia presentations of new music that defies categorization? Why not our music, in surprising venues, with production values and sincerity and fun?

Maybe we’re turning a corner already. Or am I being over-optimistic?