There's an unfortunate notion that classical music is... well, boring. Frankly, it's sort of true. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart was so 18th century, yet their compositions are the first ones that people think of. My goal today is to have you to listen to at least one of these selections, which will hopefully inspire you to dig deeper into this genre of music, rather than avoiding it.

Check these out:

1. "An American In Paris" by George Gershwin

American composer, George Gershwin, studied composition in Paris for a part of his life in the early 20th century, which influenced him to write this jazzy symphonic piece. My favorite part is Gershwin's use of car horns to portray the street noises in France.

2. "American" String Quarter by Antonin Dvorak

I dubbed Dvorak as the pop composer of classical music. His first and fourth movements are very catchy. With a lively tempo and easy-to-follow melody, this piece is sure to captivate its listeners. Dvorak's use of the viola to introduce the melody from the get-go is very striking, as many composers tend to neglect the rich, mellow sound of the inner voices (usually second violin and viola).

3. "Cowboy Overture" by John Williams

Do you like the movies Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter? John Williams is the film score composer of the century. One of his film scores, The Cowboy Overture, is sure to give you the same rush that the movies mentioned previous have given you.

4. "Toledo" by James Moody

Harmonica isn't a common instrument for symphonies, bands, or string orchestras, but Tommy Reilliy urged composers to expand the harmonica repertoire and now we have Toledo. A very Spanish influenced piece, which will surely make you want to dance.

5. "Marche Slave" by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Heavy in brass and percussion, this head banger has a very deep historical background to it. For all you history nerds out there, this was written in response to the Serbo-Turkish War.

This piece depicts the Turkish's oppression of the Serbians and the Russians sympathizing with the Serbians.

6. "Six Bagatelles" by Gyorgy Ligeti

Contemporary composer, Ligeti, is notably known for excerpts of his pieces being adapted for film score usage. He's a relatively new find for me as well, so I haven't done too much research. However, I did find this YouTube video and I love how the melody jumps around so it seems as if a conversation is taking place amongst instruments.