tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104856192009-05-22T09:59:05.530-04:00Elodie LautenJerry Bowlesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-47881840133597820982009-05-22T09:49:00.004-04:002009-05-22T09:59:05.536-04:00Nick Hallett's Whispering ExercisesYesterday I was at the New Museum on the Bowery in the all-white (from seats to walls) auditorium downstairs, enjoying the sounds of Nick Hallet’s Whispering Exercises which staged four singers and a harpist (all young women) as if sitting on a cloud, surrounded by quickly evolving and contrasting light projections all around the theater’s inviting walls. With some of the tunes, one felt Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-79627225104647445832009-05-10T14:12:00.007-04:002009-05-10T14:32:33.135-04:00Weird inventions and dawn of the TerpstraLegend: top to bottom: Terpstra, Bikelophone, OrbiTouch, FingeRing (hand), Jankó keyboard, Bowafridgeaphone (right).People have been inventing new instruments ever since the beginning of time, but it is almost frightening how lately people are thinking up alternatives to the ever-present keyboards we use: the piano keyboard and the QWERTY keyboard.The OrbiTouch is a “keyless” keyboard that Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-60309137159712517032009-05-10T12:08:00.003-04:002009-05-10T12:14:04.895-04:00Reason Producers’ ConferenceShamelessly retreating from a beautiful sunny day I spent Saturday afternoon watching the new and newsworthy of the Reason 4 software, presented by its makers, Propellerhead. The event took place at Clinton Studio on 10th Ave. According to an informal survey of the participants, most users of this production tool are in advertising, television and film, hip hop, country, rock – but not in Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-42722689683722022462009-05-10T11:43:00.002-04:002009-05-10T11:48:16.097-04:00Richard Kostelanetz: OpeningsOn Thursday evening at the AC [Institute Direct Chapel] (sic), a gallery in Chelsea, I watched, along with a few privileged viewers, the unfolding of Openings by Richard Kostelanetz. In this time of mainstream predominance, it is refreshing to see an informal event in a gallery setting, without any of the expected performance parameters; when the piece started Richard was sitting on the floor Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-17406962727687624792009-04-02T07:16:00.002-04:002009-04-02T07:32:22.495-04:00Women's History Month Ends As March comes to a close, I wanted to mention a couple of events involving the New York Women Composers organization. On February 14, the Light and Sound ensemble, a new trio formed by violinist Julianne Klopotic with Jennifer DeVore on cello and Elaine Kwon on piano performing on a regular basis at the wonderful Old Stone House in Brooklyn, a quaint historic residence where the wood paneling Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-74687778979456627662009-03-21T10:58:00.010-04:002009-03-21T15:20:56.560-04:00Free Panel Discussion on The Two-Cents Opera TodayThe panel discussion on The Two-Cents Opera will take place today, Saturday March 21 at 5PM - it's free...first day of Spring - to hear Kyle Gann, Yuko Nii (curator of the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center where my work will be shown in April 25-May 1st as part of the Women Forward exhibition that hosted Yoko Ono in March), violinist Julianne Klopotic and other performers of The Two-Cents Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-34071735453241058452009-03-13T12:13:00.004-04:002009-03-13T12:41:19.016-04:00Putting in my two cents...Well that's it, we're right in the middle of it - premiere was yesterday but nobody noticed... and is running Thursday through Saturday and even on Sunday afternoons... until the end of March. It's been great working at the Theater for the New City and I have some photos (photo credit: Joe Bly). You can more about The Two-Cents Opera on my web site using the link under the picture at left. Left Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-9641080637861296442009-02-24T17:18:00.002-05:002009-02-24T17:29:26.579-05:00Cool MachineWhy did I suddenly crave to hear once again the sounds of the band Soft Machine? I hadn't listened to that music since the early seventies. I was able to locate the album "Soft Machine Third" authored by Ratledge (keyboards), Wyatt (drums) and Hopper (bass) and as soon as I hit the play button it took off like a Marcel Proust "madeleine" (you know.... how in Remembrance of Things Past, the writerElodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-57929261253881691422009-02-07T13:03:00.004-05:002009-02-07T13:19:56.370-05:00The Home StudioGetting comfortable with a piece of gear is often key to composing. As long as I can remember, some new instrument or equipment has given rise to a new body of work. An upright piano, a Sequential Circuits Pro-One analog monophonic synthesizer and a primitive studio consisting of two identical Technics cassette decks I used to create loops led to the production of my first two albums, Piano WorksElodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-65709207480290506382008-12-19T16:16:00.004-05:002008-12-19T16:30:12.394-05:00Who knew? Music by Marcel DuchampLast night I was able to attend what has been one of my favorite venues over the past few years: the annual S.E.M. Ensemble concert at Paula Cooper Gallery. Just being there in the spacious white gallery space with the beamed ceiling arched like a cathedral was an experience: white, indirect lighting, all-in-the-open simplicity; no curtains, no theatrics; nothing unnecessary; a transparency of Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-51620927299585912672008-11-29T10:56:00.004-05:002008-11-29T11:11:12.545-05:00A textural Godot resurfaces into the 21st century with Sin Cha HongSamuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1953), even though it was somewhat unconventional in its premise as it wrestled with existential problems of being and nothingness, had a long run on Broadway. If you have a chance, try to catch the new "Godot" at LaMama, choreographed, directed and performed by Sin Cha Hong. It is a both delightful and intense one-woman show by one of New York's most popular Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-18568966637125094722008-11-15T11:37:00.009-05:002008-11-15T12:45:12.324-05:00What makes me thinkLately I spend just about as much time with art as I do with music, and it is the A.I.R. Gallery History Show that gave me inspiration this time around. A.I.R. is short for Artists in Residence, an incredibly resilient women's gallery formed in the early seventies and whose current primary function is not to make a profit but rather to teach by example. A three-part "History Show" takes place Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-317402746768560642008-10-14T13:24:00.006-04:002008-10-14T17:00:00.546-04:00Doctor Atomic at the MetDespite the negative economic climate, on the night of the premiere (October 13), the Met was as packed and festive as ever. I noticed two young men neatly wearing identical suits, white Wayfarer glasses, and purple bow ties (younger incarnations of Gilbert and George), attractive women in lavish decolletes, everyone young and old rather dressed up for the event, a good feeling. Thanks to the Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-4581572096287435752008-09-24T18:30:00.005-04:002008-09-24T18:51:32.348-04:00Where Are The Women?! Women Who RockWhere Are The Women ?! (sic) is the title of a program featuring flutist Andrew Bolotowsky performing pieces by women, coming up this Saturday, October 4 from 3:30 to 5PM at the Anita Shapolsky Gallery, 99 Spring Street. This is free or by donation. Women Who Rock is a program taking place on Monday, September 29 at 7:30 PM at the Times Center, 242 West 41st Street. Tickets are $25 or $20 for Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-38734435348290612342008-09-17T12:21:00.004-04:002008-09-17T12:35:58.865-04:00A depressed look at the new cultural seasonI usually read The New York Times online, but at a friend’s house I found the Arts and Leisure section announcing “The New Season” in the arts… and I opened the large-size, ink-laden pages to find humongous adverts for centennials, old classics and show biz staples: Madonna and Tina Turner making a comeback, the everlasting Rockettes of Radio City, the unavoidable Cirque du Soleil, a smattering Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-39546708691778542212008-08-25T10:19:00.003-04:002008-08-25T10:28:19.647-04:00A Reedy Feeling… Double EntendreSpending the summer in Manhattan has its occasional rewards – like not getting bitten by mosquitoes for one… I had a delightful afternoon at the Chelsea Arts Museum on Saturday with the Double Entendre Music Ensemble. I always enjoy being around art as well as music, and the art shown all around the musicians set a mood of environmental consciousness from the critical to the humorous: a blackenedElodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-72378829798350391912008-07-08T14:31:00.009-04:002008-07-08T15:05:36.092-04:00Composition in ActionNew trends in what do with audiences are apparent; a visit to http://improveverywhere.com/ will reveal a whole new crew of artists - they call themselves "agents", and a creative product between prank and happening - the piece with the cell phones ringing at the same time in the multiple bags checked at the department store counter is almost a chance composition. It's a rethinking of the Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-27556568326748107392008-04-27T03:24:00.004-04:002008-04-27T03:57:54.511-04:00Of all the many little things that can go wrong...I am blessed but also cursed with an ear for detail. I still remember that time in the 80s when a overly amplified saxophone sent an excruciating message to my brain for days, even though my intellect appreciated both the performer and the original music being created. Especially with singers, I (for better or worse) can hear all the little flatnesses and sharpnesses that occur, and that makes Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-54548351421004323382008-04-13T11:48:00.002-04:002008-04-13T11:57:12.155-04:00Satyagraha or the force of truthAfter a particularly long and arduous winter, fraught with economic woes, hopelessness about world happenings (Shiites, Tibetans...., indecision about the upcoming election, and a general sense of potential doom, Satyagraha could not have come at a better time to lift our spirits.I’ll admit that I have always been partial to the music of Philip Glass, especially his early works back in the late Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-3786632326199724862008-04-09T08:32:00.003-04:002008-04-09T08:45:33.983-04:00The 40-year deadlineI was, as usual, perusing the AMC Opportunity Update which conveniently lists upcoming commissions and other programs for composers. Lately, I have been noticing a trend, which seems to get stronger and stronger: opportunities are reserved for the young. Many programs list 40 or even 35 as the age limit.True, young people should be encouraged, but it is the business of schools and conservatories Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-12022756952378763082008-04-07T11:06:00.002-04:002008-04-07T17:35:25.683-04:00Celebrating nonviolence: Satyagraha is here!The Metropolitan Opera is running Satyagraha, the opera composed by Philip Glass in 1980 during his hyper-minimalist period, in other words the good old days when creators did not hesitate to carry on for several hours at a stretch (actually Satyagraha is only 3.5 hours long, which is considerably less than Debussy’s Pelléas) with very repetitive and meditative patterns; that was when meditation Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-16124863844483862102008-03-13T08:00:00.002-04:002008-03-13T08:10:55.386-04:00Metaphysical Reality Check“Question reality” (The Mountain Astrologer)“If the means is impure the result is impure” (Gandhi)“Only two things are certain: death and taxes” (old saying)To question reality one must first find reality. But where is reality? What is it? Reality is not one-dimensional – both quantum scientists and Buddhist monks have questioned even the reality of reality itself, as the observer is involved in Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-48374850573550939072008-03-03T13:33:00.003-05:002008-03-04T10:21:09.703-05:00Avant-post synchronicityRecently perusing a Brooklyn newsleaf (actually, no other than the wonderful L Magazine, an illustrated listing of goings-on in New York, which I still cannot find in my Manhattan downtown neighborhood), I noticed on the cover something about the death of the ‘avant-garde’ in New York. Intrigued, I looked at the article inside went through a list of the names that would constitute the avant-gardeElodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-72964549248430447612008-01-18T15:01:00.000-05:002008-01-23T08:22:32.310-05:00Human Sacrifice?I have noted lately how often composers are asked for commissions that actually cost them money, negative commissions, so to speak, in which they are expected to support the event in more ways than one besides donating their services. I don't dare say it out loud...but whenever someone asks me for a piece, I have a moment of anxiety wondering whether I'll be able to "afford" the commission in Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10485619.post-6417268626691671592007-12-26T17:35:00.000-05:002007-12-27T08:33:03.080-05:00Possible obsolescence of chaosWith the following keywords: fractals+creativity requested from Google, the number of entries were over 500,000 – there is obviously interest, even excitement over fractals. Fractal analysis helps explain many phenomena which we are accustomed to considering as ‘chaos’, and this very term may be obsolete one day, along with the antonyms order/chaos, because fractals seem to, if not fully explain,Elodie Lautenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02678759349156783268noreply@blogger.com0