The future

I wonder what contemporary classical music will be like 50 years from
now.  By that time all of the original atonal/serial composers such as
Boulez, Carter, Stockhausen, etc. will be gone.  Do you think that
atonal music will die with them?  Was this just a mistake of history or
will it somehow make a comeback?

When I was in the music world full time I always thought that atonal
music was something that was just misunderstood and that somehow it
would find it¹s rightful place in the concert hall.  Now that I am
older and I am in a completely different field outside of music, I come
into contact with people who are not professional musicians.  Many of
them have no interest in classical music at all, which is kind of
depressing already, but the few who do don¹t seem to have any idea or
interest in contemporary, atonal music.  On the rare occasions when I
actually get to play this kind of music for them, it is always met by
either incomprehension or hostility.  I used to think that with enough
exposure and education that people would like it the way I do, but now
I realize that this will probably never happen.  If people who are open
to classical music react this way, what future does this music have?  I
guess there will always be people like me and the people that post to
this board that will listen to it, but is that enough to sustain it?

What kind of music will people write?  Will composers be able to find
an audience again or will classical music just become a museum of the
dead.  I hope not, but it seems like this is where things are headed. 
Will composers go back to just sounding like Beethoven and Brahms?

20 years ago when I was just starting to get into contemporary music,
there seemed to be a lot more opportunities to hear it.  Occasionally
they would play it on the radio.  Even conservative institutions like
the NY Philharmonic felt that they at least had some obligation to play
contemporary music.  When I was growing up there were 3 classic radio
stations in NYC.  Now the only classical radio station left, WQXR, is
horrible.  They never ever play contemporary music (well OK I just
heard them play Appalachian Spring today, wow how adventurous), it¹s
mostly just the most innocuous, obscure baroque composer that is
perfect when you are at the dentist. And this is NY City!!  I can just
imagine what radio must be like in other parts of the country!

And forget about recordings, it seems like the only ³new² recordings
that companies are just reissues.  I was in the record store the other
day and I saw yet another repacking of Reich¹s Drumming on DG.  I mean
how pathetic is that?

Well, hopefully I¹m just being too pessimistic, but from where I am,
things don¹t like too bright.  Maybe the internet can provide the
answer, but I haven't found too many sites that really provide much. 
It seems to me like the one hope for composers is to use the internet
to distribute their music and find an audience that way, but I don't
see this happening yet.