Your 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship Awards
The Guggenheim Foundation recently divulged its latest crop of worthies. Click here for a complete list of the winners by category. Editorial bias compels me to extend a special mention of Tania Leon, Paquito D’Rivera, and Dmitri Tymoczko (orbifolds — remember? Quiz Monday, y’all.).
The other music folks are, unfortunately, news to me. Though something tells me they aren’t to many of you . . .
Well, a little better than the usual fare. I keep applying for this, and I never get it. It’s gotten to the point where I’m now applying for the usual “f-you” letter that they send me (well, it doesn’t really say “f-you”, but it might as well!), and hoping they’ll turn that down in favor of the actual grant.
What’s frustrating is that no-one there will tell you why your proposal was rejected. The old NEA (remember that one?) used to be able to give you the official notes of the panel. Okay, I’m sure there’s a lot that doesn’t make it into the official notes. But, at least you can learn something from them. The Guggenheim provides no such service. It’s a mysterious process: we don’t know why those composers were chosen, and the others not. Was it purely qualitative, or was it political, cronyism, or someone with a stylistic axe to grind?
I’m not denigrating any of these winners – as I said, this lot seems much better than some I’ve seen in the past. And I will say that the Guggenheim is a little less political than other competitions.
Rinde Eckert was also the librettist and solo performer of Steve Mackey’s Ravenshead; which is, or was, available on CD. Paul Dresher’s site says that a video of the work is also available.
I’d also be curious to hear/see Rinde Eckert’s own, more recent works:
http://www.rindeeckert.com/rinde/projects.html
Don Byron and Jane Ira Bloom, are, umong other things, some terrific jazzers. I love Bloom’s soprano sax sound. They are both terrific composers.
Rinde Eckert used to sing with with the Paul Dresher ensemble. I’ve no idea what his own music sounds like.
Elizabeth Brown is a first rate composer with a genuinely original sound. I am very happy for her. If this were downbeat she’d be TDWR.
I must also give a shout out to my good friend, movie going companion & fellow Smith College Campus School dad with a daughter Professor Michael Gorra.
David van Tieghem plays drums on some of Laurie Anderson’s albums. No idea what his own music sounds like, though.