Does anyone else find being a classical musician kind of lonely?

[mozart404]

This may sound odd but hear me out.

I only got really interested in classical music about 2 years, I was a heavy metal guitar player... (I know, I know.) Since then it's taken over my life, starting with the piano (I now practice at least 3 hours day), I now compose too which I'm hoping to go on to study.

The thing is, not being at music college I know absolutely nobody with the same kind of passion for this stuff. If I discover a wonderful new piece (which happens everyday.) I have no one to share it with. Especially with operas, I first saw Lulu and it changed my life. But I have no to talk about it with, to have such a profound experience but to have to keep it to one's self is a strange thing. Because to any of my friends it's just weird music with people yelling in German.

Can anyone relate to what I'm saying?

It's worse being into new music too. Finding some absolute gem only to discover just how few people have even heard of or care about the composer.

[quantum]

I like to focus on the music itself, and less about perceptions of what other people think of it.  So to answer your question, no I don't find being a classical musician lonely. 

[Bob]

A musical island phenomena. At least we have places to go online.

Beyond that, music takes a lot of work.  Anything that you give a lot of time too is going to isolate you a bit.

[indianajo]

Yes. I have great passions for special things, only one period in my life did anybody share them (high school band). When I graduated high school, I never saw those people again.  I paid for my college education, so I couldn't afford to waste tuition on music school. Physics was my ticket, the  scholarship I qualified for wouldn't even pay for engineering.  The band at the college I did go to was so bad compared to my high school band I quit after a month.  
I'm living in a low cost area now, I'm considered weird because I don't like basketball, George Jones and Ernest Tubb (country music).  
I had a guy get all enthused about my playing a couple of weeks ago. I was playing hymns on piano at a small country church; but he wanted a bass player for his string band and I can't play Beulah Land by ear or stringed instruments either. I gave up on guitar when I bought metal strings and my fingers didn't grow any calluses.  Now that guitar player has nothing to say to me about music in church.  I'm not adverse to learning string bass but the $1200 to buy one is a barrier, as is the $20000 it costs to buy a car big enough to haul one around.  I could fit a $75 spinet piano in the trunk of my 14 mpg car, but I was specifically disinvited to bring a piano to the hymn sing at the park next month.  Just because Huey Lewis played piano with a bluegrass band doesn't mean anybody will stand for that around here.  
At least there is the internet, where we can find special friends, if not spend much time with them or play instruments together.  
If you're in Germany, at least the distances are not so bad and the train tickets aren't outrageous either.  Here in the states I'm limited by income to where I can get on my bicycle before dark, and the nearest music school, IU Bloomington, is 70 miles away.  I even tried to take a piano lesson, but the teacher who is competent on that piece is 45 miles away in a little college and she never comes to town.  

[senanserat]

This is why this kind of places exist.

[coda_colossale]

Not only musically either.