Alec Baldwin to discuss how classical music helped him heal at Princeton University Concerts event

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Actor Alec Baldwin has been a fan of classical music for decades, and has talked publicly about how music affects his moods, life and creative process. Now, he’s bringing that passion to a Princeton University Concerts event, where he’ll discuss how music has guided him through various challenges and has helped him reflect, listen and engage.

Baldwin was first introduced to classical music in middle school. He said he’s forgotten most of that time, except for music class, where his teacher, Fred Stolle, made the class listen to operas.

“Everybody sat there rolling their eyes, were like, ‘Why do we have to listen to this?’” recalled the three-time Emmy winner. “But it stuck with me, it stuck with me.”

Later, in the 1980s, he was in his car when Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 came on the radio. At the time, he was navigating a quickly rising career, mourning the loss of his father and was tired of popular music. He was looking for something different. Baldwin said hearing the notes was a visceral, overwhelming experience.

“It just attacked me, and just got into my body like in some science fiction movie. It invaded my mind,” he said.

Baldwin soon became very serious about listening to classical music. He wrote down the names of pieces, composers and orchestras on a notepad, and started collecting recordings. He also began attending concerts regularly.

Over the decades, classical music has remained a companion and an escape during difficult times — often evoking vivid images for the actor.

“The minute you put on Mahler’s 4th Symphony, it starts snowing in my mind, a very pretty tableau pops up,” he said. “So the music was taking me somewhere.  The music made me feel a certain way, and the music made me feel things I had never felt before.”

He explained that often, during a performance, tears will roll down his face, or emotions come up that he didn’t expect. Listening to music is also a way to calm down and become more deeply aware of his state of mind.

“If I sit in this living room of mine, I’ll go, ‘I feel a certain way right now. I feel like I want to connect to something, respond to something.’ And I don’t quite know what it is,” he explained. “If I put on the music, I’m there, I’m ready. And the music then comes.”

Baldwin’s appearance in New Jersey on Sept. 19 is part of the Princeton University Concerts Music and Healing series. Terrance McKnight, an evening host of the classic music radio station WQXR, will moderate the conversation, punctuated with live music by pianist Tony Siqi Yun.

Baldwin hopes that talking about the powerful influence of music on his life will inspire others to listen and engage.