In the eyes of Emily Isaacson \u201904, classical music doesn\u2019t just belong in concert halls, it also belongs in community centers, yoga studios, and sometimes in a giant pit of mud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Isaacson is the founder and artistic director of Classical Uprising, a Maine-based arts collective dedicated to rethinking the classical music experience. The collective puts on about 50 events annually, drawing roughly 5,000 attendees each year through festivals, educational programs, and unconventional performances.<\/p>\n The collective\u2019s next event, Mudfest<\/i>, is a classical music festival marking the transitional period between winter and spring. This year, the event will run from March 19 to 29 near Portland, Maine.<\/p>\n Isaacson\u2019s inspiration for the event came, in part, from her experience at the College. \u201cWilliamstown is the same as Maine in that winter is long and hard,\u201d Isaacson said. \u201cIt is muddy, it is brown, it is slushy, it is depressing. As a result, we hibernate. We tend to stay inside. We don\u2019t engage in community as much.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Isaacson, Mudfest<\/i> seeks to transform this gloomy, transitional period into one that is joyful. \u201cInstead of saying, \u2018It\u2019s muddy,\u2019 we say, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s muddy, we\u2019re going to celebrate mud \u2014 we\u2019re going to create something beautiful out of something messy,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Mudfest<\/i> will include a game of musical chairs set to classical music, a protest song sing-along, and a \u201cMudball\u201d \u2014 an outdoor dance party and bonfire in the muddy plains of Maine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Isaacson, Mudfest<\/i> is an opportunity for people of all ages to embrace creativity and joy, no matter the season. Through the childlike medium of mud, she tries to create opportunities for kids and adults to engage with each other as equals. \u201cBy embracing mud, [Mudfest<\/i>] says the normal rules don\u2019t apply here,\u201d Isaacson said. \u201cIt gives people permission to be open to a different kind of experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Subverting the culture around classical music through mess is just one way that Classical Uprising realizes its mission of making the genre more approachable. In conversations with contemporary composers, Isaacson has found that many artists want their music to be a part of average people\u2019s everyday lives. \u201cPeople [assume] classical music is elitist, it\u2019s snobby, [and they] have to know about how to dress and how to act,\u201d Isaacson said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n To break down the exclusionary expectations aroundclassical music, Classical Uprising holds performances in unexpected venues, ranging from bowling alleys to breweries. When classical music appears in familiar settings, Isaacson explained, audiences often feel less constrained by traditional expectations and are able to appreciate the music for what it is. \u201cThe negative expectations get torn away, and people are much more [receptive],\u201d she said. \u201cTheir spirit is more open to seeing what the art could do for them.\u201d<\/p>\n For Isaacson, attending classical music concerts growing up shaped her vision for Classical Uprising. \u201cI just felt like there was a huge disconnect between the way the music made me feel and the etiquette that was expected,\u201d Isaacson said. \u201cIf this music makes me feel excited or I want to dance, why am I supposed to sit still and wait until the end of these four movements to clap?\u201d<\/p>\n With the aim of making classical music more accessible, Classical Uprising works to keep its events affordable. According to Isaacson, about 60 percent of the organization\u2019s events are free or low-cost. Many events are also held in places that already have deep ties to communities, such as churches, parks, and town centers, which helps keep the group\u2019s events less expensive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While a student at the College, Isaacson majored in English, although she knew that she wanted to be a classical conductor since age 13. \u201cI figured if I was going to spend the rest of my life studying and making music, that I wanted to spend my time at Williams exploring other things,\u201d Isaacson said.<\/p>\n She went on to pursue masters degrees in Musicology and Choral Conducting at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oregon, respectively. She also received a Doctorate of Musical Arts, specializing in conducting at the University of Illinois.<\/p>\n Isaacson credits her time at the College for shaping her approach to community-centered arts and teaching her to always push the limits of what is considered the norm. \u201cI think I\u2019m able to communicate to people why they should care, why music is important, why beauty is important, why community is important, why joy is important,\u201d she said. \u201cI have Williams to thank for that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source williamsrecord.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Isaacson and members of Classical Uprising poses with their string instruments. (Photo courtesy of Classical Uprising.) In the eyes of Emily Isaacson \u201904, classical music doesn\u2019t just belong in concert halls, it also belongs in community centers, yoga studios, and sometimes in a giant pit of mud.\u00a0 Isaacson is the founder and artistic director of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2322856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2322854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Emily-Isaacson-04-reimagines-classical-music-with-Mudfest-\u2013-The.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2322854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2322858,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322854\/revisions\/2322858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2322856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2322854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2322854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2322854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}