The Music of Culture and Diplomacy: Why the Opera and the Symphony Matter for Younger Generations

For many people my age, opera and the symphony seem like relics of the past. Yet these art forms have long served as powerful tools of cultural diplomacy, national identity, and international cooperation. Engaging younger generations with this music is not only a cultural goal; it is an investment in the future of that diplomacy, since the institutions that carry it forward will only remain relevant if new audiences keep walking through their doors. I grew up in a music-loving household, attending the local symphony, opera, and ballet with my family. Studying history and international relations only reinforced what those evenings had already begun to show me: the symphony and opera are instruments of diplomacy, and their survival depends on the audiences we build today.

Opera and Symphony in International Relations

Classical music and opera are intertwined with global history. Names like Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky are internationally recognized, and music’s role as a political tool stretches back centuries. State-funded opera houses projected images of wealth, stability, and power; Wagner’s works helped foster a more unified German identity and Verdi’s operas were intertwined with the Italian Risorgimento. During the Cold War, the United States sponsored international tours for artists like Louis Armstrong and Leonard Bernstein as part of a deliberate soft power strategy.

That tradition of musical diplomacy is very much alive today. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded by conductor Daniel Barenboim and scholar Edward Said, brings together Israeli and Arab musicians to perform across the world in what is widely regarded as one of the most compelling examples of music as a vehicle for dialogue across political divides. When Ukraine’s orchestras continued to perform abroad during the ongoing war, those concerts became acts of cultural resistance and international solidarity. Prague’s own Spring Festival has welcomed orchestras and soloists from around the world since 1946, making it one of the longest-running platforms through which Czech culture has engaged with dialogue with the rest of the world, while the Czech Philharmonic’s international touring continues to do the same today. Similarly, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual New Year’s Concert, broadcast to over 90 countries, reinforces the image of a culturally rich and unified Europe. Meanwhile, the European Union has increasingly used co-productions and orchestral exchanges as symbols of cooperation, and China’s significant investment in classical music education and performance reflects an awareness that cultural presence carries geopolitical weight. Where formal diplomacy struggles, music often finds a way through.

Accessibility and the Next Generation

If these art forms are to continue serving as platforms for international dialogue, the question of who has access to them becomes pertinent. There has long been a rhetoric that opera and the symphony are archaic and inaccessible to younger generations. Yet around the world, major theaters and institutions are working to change that. I’ve experienced this firsthand: student discounts in my hometown, the “Young ROH” scheme offering £30 tickets for those aged 16-25 at the Royal Opera House in London, and here in Prague, the National Theatre’s “Juniors under 26” program. These programs exist in many cities, but are often poorly publicized to the very people who would benefit most. The appetite, it turns out, is there. A 2022 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra survey discovered that 65% of people under the age of 35 regularly listen to orchestral music; the group now more likely to listen than their parents (Foster, 2026). Driven in part by classical compositions in film and television, growing online communities like “#classictok” on TikTok, and the orchestral influence in the work of artists like Laufey and Raye.

The challenge is translating that listening into attendance. Research from the Polish National Centre for Culture revealed that in 2024, 61% of people aged 18–24 and 55% of those aged 25–34 had never attended an opera performance or a philharmonic concert, among the lowest results across all cultural activities surveyed, in a country home to world-class orchestras and the birthplace of composer Frédéric Chopin (Rogucka, 2025). The next generation is already listening. Getting them through the doors is the next step, and it is one with implications beyond the concert hall: a generation that experiences these performances live is also a generation more equipped to engage in the cultural conversations that shape international relations.

A Path Forward

Ensuring these art forms remain accessible and relevant requires action on several fronts. Cultural institutions can do more to publicize youth initiatives and build partnerships with universities and secondary schools, making attendance a natural part of young people’s lives rather than a discovery left to chance. Educators, particularly in fields like international relations and history, can integrate concert and opera attendance into curricula, helping students understand these art forms not only as aesthetic experiences but as living dimensions of global culture. Policymakers, meanwhile, can strengthen cultural diplomacy by investing in musical exchange programs, including the arts in bilateral agreements, and supporting the institutions that make these experiences to young audiences domestically and abroad. Experiencing opera or a symphony is more than beautiful music and performance. It is an opportunity to engage with centuries of shared cultural history, to better understand other societies, and to support institutions that continue to foster international dialogue. Whether in your hometown or travelling abroad, I encourage you to explore what your local symphony or opera company already has to offer. You won’t simply be attending an incredible performance, you will be participating in a tradition that has connected cultures and strengthened international understanding for centuries. And as countries increasingly compete through culture as much as through economics and security, investing in the audiences of tomorrow is not simply cultural policy and preservation; it is an investment in a country’s soft power and future diplomacy.