Month: October 2010

Composers, Concert review, Conductors, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, File Under?, New York, Orchestras

Magnus Lindberg on Kraft + Einstürzende Neubauten

My tweet right after the concert on Thursday: “Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft: some very beautiful passages + intriguing spatial effects amidst a joyously chaotic maelstrom of sound.” It’s a fascinating piece and a gutsy one for the New York Philharmonic to present. I do question the wisdom of programming it alongside Joshua Bell playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto. It threw some of the more conservative ticket-holders a curveball, as they had no idea (unless they’re checked out the promo videos on YouTube) what the Lindberg had in store for them. There were far more than the “handful” of walkouts Anthony Tommasini

Read more
by Christian Carey
Conductors, Contemporary Classical, Houston, Interviews, Opera, Premieres

Houston Mixtape #6: The Silent Prince

It’s a cliché to say Texans like things BIG although a mid morning drive on Houston’s freeways will do little to dispel this notion. However, many incredible opera companies in Houston presenting cutting edge programming and embracing fresh approaches to audience outreach are relatively small operations. But that doesn’t mean these companies and their ambitions aren’t growing. Viswa Subbaraman is the Founder and Artistic Director of Opera Vista, Houston’s innovative contemporary opera company. October 15, at 8pm at Zilkha Hall (located in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts) maestro Subbaraman and company present the world premiere of composer and

Read more
by Chris Becker
Contemporary Classical

Contest. Contest. Who wants to win tickets to Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft for next Tuesday night?

I was supposed to run a contest promoting the premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft tonight at the NYPhil but I forgot (that’ll teach them to do business with a card-carrying member of the Medicare set) so this is a makeup.  I have tickets for the October 12 performance for the first person who can tell me the name of American composer whose Second Symphony is based on a single lyrical motif and explain what in the hell this has to do with Magnus Lindberg.  I also have a pair for the first person to correctly identify the Helsinki hotel at

Read more
by Jerry Bowles
BAM, Bang on a Can, Boston, Contemporary Classical, New York, Opera

A House in Bali (and in Boston and New York)

Finally, it’s almost here, after over a year of waiting, the east coast premiere of Evan Ziporyn’s new opera A House in Bali. Our friends in Boston get to check it out first this weekend: Friday and Saturday, October 8th and 9th, at the Cutler Majestic Theater (219 Tremont Street).  The good folks at Bang on a Can have even made a special offer available for these two shows – just click here for the offer. Then, the next weekend, the whole production is coming down to NYC for performances at BAM, October 14-16th, as part of the 2010 Next

Read more
by James Holt
Contemporary Classical

Commenters Wanted: No Experience Necessary

There are a couple of posts over at our new sister ship Chamber Musician Today that cry out for comment.  Alas, the folks who visit there so far seem to be a bit more shy than the S21 gang so I’d like to recruit some of you to run over and stir up some trouble.  In New Rules for Classical Musicians, violinist Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi argues that it is unrealistic to expect struggling big city music organizations to pay the same salaries and maintain the same work rules they’ve had in better times.  The Detroit Symphony strike, she says, is simply hastening

Read more
by Jerry Bowles
Bang on a Can, Concerts, Contemporary Classical

The season has begun for Bang on a Can

The founders of Bang on a Can have been busy, and it looks like the fall season is starting in a big way for David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe.  Below are some concerts coming up in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and Cleveland, which are all worth checking out. Sunday, October 3:  Music of Julia Wolfe performed by Robert Black and the Hartt Bass Band, JACK Quartet, and Matthew Welch at Le Poisson Rouge.  Wait, that was last night, sorry – whoops. Well, even though it’s too late to check out that concert, I wanted to

Read more
by James Holt
Composers, Contemporary Classical, Los Angeles, Obits

Art Jarvinen, RIP

The quiet, quirky, extremely inventive Californian composer Art Jarvinen (b.1956) has died. Always one to go his own way and not chase the typical composers “path to glory”, Art was still a strong influence on a lot of younger southern Californian minds. Both David Ocker and Kyle Gann have a little personal appreciation and what little info we know about Art’s passing, something that came far too quickly.

Read more
by Steve Layton
Band Music, Composers, Contemporary Classical

Three Evenings With John Mackey

Last week at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance saw a visit from renowned band composer John Mackey. Accurately described as a young hotshot, Mackey’s transformation from an unknown dance-music composer in New York to a wildly successful creator of band music began with the 2004 wind ensemble arrangement of his orchestral work, Redline Tango. Since then he has received countless performances from high school, college and professional groups and has earned stunning national popularity best illustrated by his estimable total of 5,000 Facebook friends.  Though he came to Michigan for the October 1 performance of

Read more
by Garrett Schumann
Composers, File Under?, Songs, Twentieth Century Composer

Cyberbullying and Britten

When I planned to teach a course at Westminster Choir College about Benjamin Britten’s vocal music in the Fall, I knew that gender/sexuality studies would play a role in our evaluation of his works. But I certainly wasn’t planning to discuss something as topical and unsettling as the recent tragedy at Rutgers. Our campus is a half hour away from RU (my alma mater), and a number of students were understandably shaken by hearing about Tyler Clementi’s suicide. The technological tools for communication may have gotten more sophisticated; but the people using them, if they act selfishly, can be in

Read more
by Christian Carey