Australian Winds Blow as Strongly as Ever

Treasa at Winds and Breezes is gallivanting around Australia. Unlike some other bloggers reading her reports, I am not bitter, merely jealous.
I am so glad she posted on Lyric FM (see last post). Like Treasa I have very broad taste in music and have attended as many NCH concerts and John Fields room gigs as I have alternative rock ones.
I wanted to post on the nature of music and snobbery but now I'm just going to quote Treasa.
"Richard has finally noticed that they occasionally play Irish traditional music on the breakfast show. I have to say, what in the name of God took you so long Richard? Because this is one of the most positive features of the station. It is not totally elitist. Sure I get annoyed when they play that Gilbert and Sullivan stuff I don't like, but 1) I applaud them for playing it 2) I recognise that no one else plays it and 3) the world does not revolve around my taste in music and frankly, I think mine is probably broader than most people's. "

and

What is the problem with many classical music fans? Why do they assume that only classical music is a valid and acceptable form of musical entertainment? What in the name of all that is holy would Richard do if classical music didn't happen? Would he be listening to the music of Hildegard von Bingen for his whole life because music only went in one direction?

I would also like, in the interests of transparency, to admit to owning CDs of Hans Zimmer, and having spent many enjoyable hours at the piano working through some of his scores.
I would also like to recommend Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill to anyone who's interested. Their concert in the NCH about 2 years ago was even better than Yo-Yo Ma's. And in Richard's eyes, given their nativist fiddling, this could be considered reverse snobbery.