I didn't get a ton out of that TED talk, but I suppose that kids and emotional robots need to be told that there's a deep personal connection that can be made with music. It doesn't have to be classical music either, it can be anything. The point is that people just need to stop and listen, and learn how to do both of those things!
To me, one of the most interesting things about classical music is the seemingly unending library of music out there. I listen a lot, and I know there's a lot that I just have never heard (or don't remember). Always something new, even when it's hundreds of years old.
I didn't say it would be easy or cheap or that it could work anywhere. DC, NYC, San Francisco, LA, etc would be out for obvious cost reasons. Now could it be scaled to work appropriately in Dallas or Houston and would those cities have enough young professionals interested in that kind of entertainment on a regular basis? I don't know. But since I would probably need close to a nine-figure net worth to be comfortable with looking into that idea on a serious basis, I think it will remain on the shelf for some time. But I think this obscures my larger point that turning concert halls from temples into taverns might be a worthwhile experiment. In that respect, discussing the murder mystery orchestra restaurant is a rhetorical device, hyperbole to emphasize that I want entertainment on my terms, which may differ drastically from what has come before.
Give me beer, pizza, and floor seats to watch the semi-operatic production of Conan the Barbarian.
Give me a pitcher of margaritas, ceviche, and a luxury box to listen to Copland.
Give me the complete experience, the same as I can find at a ballgame or at a movie restaurant, so that I can make a full date of it with my SO in the limited time I get each week.
I recall that the greying of the audience has been studied for some time by some of the orchestras in this country. Can't remember where the results have been published but ax I recall the average age of a classical music concert patron is about 50, but the good news is that this figure has been stable for decades. apparently the average American takes some maturity to appreciate classical music but we aren't losing the audience to old age as new 50 something's replace the patrons who become too old to attend concerts,
It doesn't have to be classical music either, it can be anything. The point is that people just need to stop and listen, and learn how to do both of those things!