Everyone’s favorite online contemporary classical station, Q2 (part of the WNYC family), needs your help. They would like for Q2 listeners to take a survey to help them gather information that will shape the station’s future programming.

Want more vocal music? Less crossover? Or more programs featuring Olivia Giovetti? Q2 wants to hear all about it!

We Remember September 11 // 24 Hour WPRB Live Radio Marathon

At the 10th anniversary of September 11, Classical Discoveries with Marvin Rosen will present a 24 hour live radio marathon, totally devoted to music written by composers from many countries as a reaction to the unforgettable events of that day. The program will air on WPRB 103.3 Princeton and around the world at www.wprb.com and will start on Saturday, September 10 at 7:00pm ET until 7:00pm the next day, Sunday, September 11, 2011.  Marvin has already in quite impressive collection of 9/11 works some of which have already been broadcasted on his program, but he would like to get other compositions as well.

The call is for music written as a reaction to 9/11 that is within the Classical Discoveries and Avant-Garde Edition format, for any combination of instruments, voices and electronics. Non-commercial recordings are accepted as long they have good quality sound and are on CD (no MP3 and DVDs).

If you are sending a private recording:
§    You must have the name of the composer, title, and timing marked on the CD
§    all information including performers, composers bio, notes about work,  should fit in the CD tray.
§    CD should be placed in a plastic CD case to prevent scratching
§    Broadcast release form should be attached
Each composer whose work is selected will be notified prior to the broadcast.
Unused CDs will be not returned to composers, except if prepaid envelope is attached

Before sending any recordings, please contact Marvin for his postal mailing address at: marvinfor911@gmail.com.  Marvin has established this special e-mail address so that no mail will be lost. He will answer within 10 days of each inquiry, but if no answer is received please resend your email.

Deadline for accepting recordings is Friday, August 12, 2011.

For more information closer to the Marathon check the Classical Discoveries website, or Marvin’s new blog MarvinTheCat.

Getting ready to enjoy all those new, happy/shiny Xmas presents, I’m sure… Well, here’s another that won’t cost you a dime:

S21′s WPRB-favorite-son, announcer Marvin Rosen, is getting a jump on the upcoming Alan Hovhaness centennial with a 24-hour marathon broadcast of Hovhaness’s music (that’s Marvin above, in 1992, with Hovhaness at the composer’s home). ”Mountains and Rivers Without End” begins Sunday, Dec. 26th at 7pm, and will feature more Hovhaness than you can shake a stick at (I know more than a few composers who might well be furiously shaking that stick, but I myself am pretty partial to this American original). Two guests during the marathon will be clarinetist and conductor Lawrence Sobol (December 26, evening), and pianist Sahan Arzruni (December 27, early afternoon) both of whom have recorded the composer’s music. In the New York/New Jersey area you can tune to WPRB at 103.3 FM, while the rest of can stream it all live online.

Marvin is about as well-positioned as anyone to lead you through Hovhaness’s vast output; his doctoral dissertation was on Hovhaness’s music; he was a friend of the composer for many years and spent two weeks in Seattle working with him on his piano music in preparation for the first of two recordings on the Koch International Classics label. Marvin also wrote the liner notes for other Hovhaness recordings on the Koch International Classics label as well. And Marvin has one of the most extensive rare collections of Hovhaness’s music both on CD and LP, so there are bound to be many treats heard. So turn out to tune in, and give Marvin some virtual caffeine support through the long night and day!

Janus was formed by flutist Amanda Baker, violist Beth Meyers, and harpist Nuiko Wadden in 2002, and since then they have been rapidly expanding the flute/viola/harp trio repertoire.  Their debut album i am not drops today, and features music by Jason Treuting, Caleb Burhans, Angélica Negrón, Anna Clyne, Cameron Britt, and Ryan Brown.  It’s out on New Amsterdam Records, which as always has streaming audio for you here.  I’m listening to Caleb’s piece “Keymaster” as I type this: something is beautifully turbulent in paradise.

They are (clockwise from top left) Alex Mincek, Clint Needham, Andrew Norman, and Cynthia Wong:

Q: “You all have probably been involved in a group lesson or masterclass at some point – some sort of public forum – with a teacher, composer or perhaps an ensemble and conductor. Project 440, however, involves not only a selection committee, but comments on the internet. How do you view the critiques and praise, both positive and negative – and how does it differ from a masterclass/learning situation?”

A’s:
David T. Little:
As always, comments on one’s music should be understood for what they are: opinions. While a composer certainly can (and should) learn something by considering other people’s thoughts on their work–especially, say, in the case of a master class–they ultimately, for better or worse, answer only to themselves. When the time comes to sit down to write, I try put all of this aside and just create the best and most honest music possible.

Zibuokle Martinaityte:
Orpheus Project 440 offers young composers three main ingredients, which solidify the recipe of becoming a successful composer in the world and make it complete: exposure, the opinion of a larger audience and the critical judgment of a highly competent selection committee. The integration of these three things distinguishes it from other projects and learning environments such as master classes or public forums for composers. These usually incorporate one or two of the above-mentioned components, but have a non-worldly aspect used for isolated learning where only professionals of the field contribute their qualified opinions or honest advice. This is very useful for analysis and explanations of complex music and perhaps even improving compositional skills, but has little to do with the important relationship of composer to audience.

Due to its presence on the Internet, Project 440 is a unique and useful “reality check” with listeners who are in fact the audience whether one realizes it or not. This framework creates more vulnerability for the composer who becomes completely exposed to others not only through the sounds they create which would be typical for a composer, but also through the verbal interpretations of the listener. People have the freedom to speak candidly about the music and regardless of how we feel, it is posted and available for others to read. Furthermore, it is going to influence other listeners as well. It is my first time participating in a web-based public project and I’ve been very curious and stimulated by reading all the comments. Both positive and negative feedback is equally valuable for me, giving me a glimpse of what the listener is actually experiencing when encountering my music.

Chen Yao:
I am open to different critiques and praise, as these comments are based on the listeners’ different listening experiences on my music. I can tell that the critiques and praise I have received for my Glowing Autumn come from the listeners who are from all kinds of backgrounds. They take my music to various perspectives and levels. I deeply appreciate their individual thoughts and comments. I am very happy that my music can offer the listeners a little sound pleasure as well as an angle by which they can get to see and think what today’s young composers are creating.

It definitely differs from what you can hear and learn from a masterclass. The internet offers a no-personal interaction inviting listeners from a broader level of society, and mostly the comments you receive on line present a wide range of aesthetic levels and unfold what your music means to others. A masterclass provides a situation in which a composer can share his/her music ideas with other professional and experienced colleagues, and often the comments you receive at a masterclass deal with the composers’ understandings of what music composition is, and what might improve your composition.

Clint Needham:
I applaud the idea and effort behind Project 440 and I am honored to be selected to the next round of the competition. However, the major issue is that most comments for each composer come from friends of the composer (myself included). In an open forum where anyone can comment there is really no way of being “fair” and totally objective. That being said, I am fine with the way things are being run and I am happy the final decision comes from the committee. I would also add that I don’t think most of us would get such glowing reviews (or overly harsh ones) in a room where people, who were asked to be objective, spoke to us directly.

Christopher Lee:
I view comments I receive from the Internet not at all like those I would get at a masterclass, or even from a newspaper review, though that’s closer. Comments from online listeners represent feedback one would get from a concert audience, made up of people with very diverse backgrounds and degrees of experience with music. As such, I think this is important feedback to have, and represents “the last stop” our music makes on its journey into the world, but I would expect composers to take the same attitude towards it as they do to reviews: some will care, and others will not. This seems to be an interesting new direction for the reception of concert music however, and puts the music back into the public arena in a way reminiscent of the 1930′s and early 40′s with Copland and other populist composers.

Alex Mincek:
The comments have been fun and interesting to read. However, because many of the people who have commented perhaps feel as though they are in some way directly voting, there has been some amusing hyperbole. This project has been a unique experience and so I don’t really find it has much in common with a masterclass situation. While it is certainly informative to hear feedback, I don’t think the dynamic between myself and an anonymous commenter has much in common with any teacher/student relationship I have encountered. I think the project has more in common with a post-concert situation, where, after hearing my work people sometimes share their reactions and opinions without necessarily intending to be pedagogical in any way.

Devin Farney:
Project 440 offers composers a relatively unique opportunity to receive honest feedback for their work. While certainly not the case for all comments posted, many seem to be uninfluenced by personal opinions of the composer or the composer’s type of music. Such unfiltered opinions are seemingly hard to come by, especially in a world where we are all taught to “play nice” with each other. This being said, I am in a rather unique (and perhaps unfortunate, depending on which way you look at it) position in this competition – being the only composer whose work has received no comments (as was pointed out in the following article: http://bit.ly/brk9V3). So accordingly I have no point of reference for personal reaction.

Daniel Wohl:
I enjoy the anonymous critiques. I’m always amazed at how entertaining and candid comments are on public online forums. In this instance some reviews are written by friends who are being generous and showing support for your work, but others come from people who want to state an opinion about your music, even discuss it’s merit, either because they disliked it or because it resonated with them in some way. It’s interesting to start a discussion where everyone feels safe to genuinely express themselves . In a typical masterclass setting, you often get a very diplomatic response to what you present, and it’s refreshing to get a completely frank opinion whether it’s positive or negative feedback.

Jonathan Russell:
The biggest difference is the anonymity of the comments in Project 440. Whereas in a masterclass or other learning situation, I would know the person giving comments and have some sense of their background, interests, and tastes, in the Project 440 comments I don’t know anything about the people commenting. On the one hand, this can make the comments seem somewhat less salient – negative comments are easier to brush off, but positive comments also don’t seem quite as meaningful, since I don’t know the backgrounds of the commenters. On the other hand, it can be very revealing – and intimidating – to be evaluated by the “masses” rather than a “master.” In a masterclass, the person commenting is an expert coming from a world that you know and are familiar with. With Project 440, on the other hand, you’re explicitly opening yourself up to popular opinion, something composers of concert music don’t often have to do. For a composer like myself, who aspires to speak to a much wider audience than the new music specialists who often hear my music, it feels like a true test of whether I am accomplishing what I hope to in my music, whether I am, in fact, able to reach a wide and diverse audience. In this sense, the reaction my music gets in the Project 440 comments is of far more import than the opinion of a single expert at a masterclass.

Yotam Haber:
Ultimately, I write my music hoping that others will find something individually meaningful while listening. But the word ‘others’ doesn’t necessarily mean a group of cognoscenti-composers, performers, or musicologists. Receiving praise (or criticism) from those who hold doctorates in music can be helpful, but is sometimes tempered by politesse and a collegiate cordiality. What often gives me the most food-for-thought is speaking with non-musicians. Once we get the I-don’t-know-anything-about-music nonsense out of the way, people speak from the gut, recounting their first impressions, how it made them feel, of what it reminded them, where they were thrilled, where they were lost, or where they fell asleep. In other words, I feel lucky to have this opportunity: a public internet-based forum that truly involves listeners, both professionals and amateurs, anonymous or not, could possibly bring a fresh, open, unabashed discourse on new music.

Aaron Grad:
I have really enjoyed following the comments on my Project 440 page. I am not sure how much of a parallel I see to a master class or school environment; it feels closer to the performance experience of sharing and connecting through music. Probably half of my comments are from people I know, and most of the rest are from people they know (I must say I actively encouraged visits to the page), so the comments have helped me check in with whether the music is communicating what I hoped it would, both to musicians and to non-musicians. I feel encouraged when I see adjectives such as “fresh” and “delicate” and “playful.” They confirm that my intentions came through.

Benjamin Ellin:
I think when one opens up to the world of public opinion, which can be both random and of extreme temperament, you have to accept the inevitable. I don’t think it’s wise to take anything personally but you should weigh up any comments that you read objectively and be honest about whether or not they ring true. After that you can choose whether to take them on board or to ignore them – which I always find hard to do. Through all this you have to be honest to yourself and remember who and where you are. With a teacher or a mentor I think you yourself place a great trust in their hands; ie, you want them to be as honest as possible about your work as you are searching for your own path and you are inviting them to be a crucial part of that process. To be honest though, you can learn about yourself and your work in any situation, and sometimes the most unlikely circumstance can lead to a real clearing of thoughts. It all depends on whether you can genuinely receive honest critique and not let positive feedback become too absorbing.

I’ll pose another question to the final twelve before the four winners are announced. What would you want to know?

Our friends at Q2 are featuring the work of Paola Prestini today. the festivities include Prestini commenting on featured tracks at the top of every hour and this nifty live cut (available for download on the Q2 site):

and this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 11:00am (EDT) Classical Discoveries Goes Avant-Garde will present the world premiere broadcast of Morton Feldman‘s 21-minute ‘lost work’ Dance Suite [For Merle Marsicano] (1963), recorded by Glenn Freeman, percussion and Debora Petrina, piano-celeste. This is ahead of its September limited-edition release on OgreOgress Records. Originally composed for the dancer and choreographer Merle Marsicano, it was the longest work Feldman had composed to date and provides insight into his upcoming 1964 solo percussion work The King of Denmark. This very unique and haunting sound world, created with various keyboards, mallet instruments and exotic percussion instruments, can later be heard in several of Feldman’s epic length works of the late 1970s and 1980s.

Then from 12:00pm till 2:00pm (EDT), world-renowned Israeli cellist and new-music champion Maya Beiser — whose latest and most excellent CD release Provenance is riding high in the charts – will join Marvin live in the WPRB Studio to chat and perform.

As always, NYC’ers can tune in directly to WPRB at 103.3 FM on the dial; everyone else can head to the WPRB website and click the “Listen Now” link on the left side of the page.

The International Contemporary Ensemble will be featured at 7 PM tonight on Q2. Hosted by John Schaefer, this live broadcast from Yamaha Piano Salon in NYC is a sneak preview of Lincoln Center Festival’s Varèse: (R)evolution.

(R)evolution will present the composer’s entire oeuvre over two concerts on July 19 &20. Performers include the New York Philharmonic, conductor Alan Gilbert, percussionist Steven Schick, and ICE.

Program:
Density 21.5 (1936) with Claire Chase, flute
Un Grand Sommeil Noir (1906) with Samantha Malk, soprano
Ameriques (NEW YORK PREMIERE of 8-hand piano version) (1929) with Jacob Greenberg, Amy Williams, Amy Briggs and Thomas Rosenkranz

Q2 and ICE have been kind enough to share a freebie that all the new music kids will be adding to their Droid/iPhone/Blackberrys: a Poème Électronique ringtone!

For the past eight years, Graham Parker has been the Executive Director of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Now, he’s going to work for New York’s classical music radio station.

It was announced today that Parker will be the new Vice President of Classical WQXR 105.9 FM and WQXR online. It appears that he’s been tasked with helping the station to develop its brand identity. For those who aren’t “New Yawkers,” this may require some explanation.

In 2009, New York’s National Public Radio Station WNYC acquired WQXR from the New York Times. WQXR’s frequency, 96.3 FM, was in turn traded to Univision’s WCAA, moving the classical station further up the bandwidth to 105.9. For those of us out in the ‘burbs, this has made it more difficult in many areas to get the station. Coverage routinely goes in and out on my commute down to Princeton as I get further from the city.

While signal weakness has been a concern for many listeners, there have been other growing pains associated with the move as well. Some of the music programming previously on WNYC, which was considered the station for more cutting edge fare, has been moved over to WQXR. Some longtime DJs from WQXR were kept on; others were let go to make room for their counterparts on WNYC. As a public radio station, WQXR also jettisoned commercials and religious programs.

The marriage of mainstream classical and public radio’s eclecticism has been a challenging balance to negotiate. The station’s 2009-’10 programming doubtless left a number of longtime WQXR listeners unhappy at the increased incorporation of new music into its mainstream broadcasts. WNYC listeners who hoped for the eclectic and innovative types of music heard on programs such as Soundcheck and New Sounds to be writ large on the rest of the schedule have probably been bummed out too. They’ve been subjected to far more Vivaldi and Telemann than they consider healthy!

A bright spot has been the station’s online new music programing at Q2. This week, they’re spotlighting the music of Xenakis. While one understands that this probably isn’t their best bet for “drive-time” fare, its too bad that more of Q2 hasn’t infiltrated the airwaves.

One hopes that enlisting Mr. Parker helps the station to find its footing and reassert the importance of classical radio – contemporary music and repertory favorites alike – in New York.

So, Sequenza 21 readers, its your turn. What should Parker focus on to make WQXR a better station?

A) Better signal quality/range/accessibility.

B) A more coherent vision for music programming.

C) Local identity and live events.

D) Limiting the amount of Vivaldi bassoon concerti played during any given four-hour period to no more than three.

E) More Nadia Sirota, all the time.