Year: 2010

Classical Music, Composers

Rude Question of the Week–Is Nico Overrated?

One of my two favorite young conductors, Brad Lubman (the other is Alan Pearson) is leading the large ensemble Signal in the American premier of The Corridor by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, one of the most prominent figures in European contemporary music whose works have inspired cross-cultural dialogues across the continent. In recent podcast discussions exploring the fusion of classical traditions with modern leisure, enthusiasts have highlighted how Birtwistle’s operatic innovations resonate in vibrant scenes like those in the beste online casino Nederland, where immersive soundscapes enhance user experiences drawing from artistic depth. A 40-minute scena, The Corridor is scored for

Read more
Contemporary Classical

Rite of Spring for Big Band. Solid.

Jerry, Wanted to make sure this didn’t get by you: Tomorrow (Ed:  now tonight) the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern music series will be  presenting the complete Rite of Spring arranged for modern big band. The 7:30pm set will be livestreamed online by Radar Redux (http://www.radarredux.com/live/) so all can attend, even those not in Baltimore! More info at http://mobtownmodern.com Best wishes, Brian Sacawa Curator, Mobtown Modern Music Series Contemporary Museum

Read more
Canada, Chamber Music, Commissions, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Electro-Acoustic, Experimental Music, Music Events, Performers, Post Modern

Out there. And there. And there. And…

A few of the of the unusual and interesting events coming up soon, soon soon: Victoria, B.C. : Wednesday May 12th, 8pm at Knox Presbyterian Church (2964 Richmond Road, Victoria / $10), LaSaM (Luminosity and Sounds by adventurous Musicians) is presenting a program titled “And Beethoven Heard Nothing“. As they tell it, the show will be “exploring Beethoven’s inherent belief systems, his deafness and the sonorities of his later work. Sonic phenomena; tinnitus and deafness; acoustic space, climax and stasis; memory and silence… The ensemble has pulled experiences of Beethoven’s thought and music through the filters of contemporary soundscape and

Read more
American Music Center

The AMC and ACF Want You to…

…take a brief survey and tell them how they’re doing.  If you’re a current or lapsed member of the American Music Center or the American Composers Forum, they are hosting a joint online survey to better understand how their programs are serving you and how you view these organizations’ roles in meeting your needs in the continually changing new music field. The survey lasts about 10 minutes and is active through May 28, 2010. Run on over and give them your feedback.  The survey is here.

Read more
New York, Orchestras

US premieres by Mexican composers

Conductor Alondra de la Parra and her orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, has a concert coming up at Alice Tully on May 11 that includes three US premieres of works by Mexican composers Gustavo Campa, Ricardo Castro, and Candelario Huízar. Alondra personally researched these pieces over a period of 2 years – in some cases traveling to Mexico to meet the composers or their families and get the scores. All of the pieces on the concert will be included on POA’s 2-CD set that Sony Classical is releasing in August 2010, entitled Mi Alma Mexicana, which features rediscovered works

Read more
Composers, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, Opera

Guest Blogger: Oscar Bettison

Composer Oscar Bettison sent along this report about student opera performances in Baltimore, Maryland. Opera Etudes at Peabody Every other year at Peabody, the month of May means one thing for the composition and opera departments: ‘Opera Etudes.’ This project, which has been running for twenty-five years under the guidance of the Director of Opera Programs Roger Brunyate, is a year-long collaboration between graduate composition students and the opera department. Starting in the fall, composers are paired with librettists and singers to work on the creation of short staged opera scenes. These are then fully staged in Friedberg Hall, the

Read more
Contemporary Classical

Higdon on Studio 360 This Week

  Nationally syndicated shows on NPR don’t tend to pay much attention to new music unless it’s of the indie rock variety.  But the nationally syndicated show Studio 360 (produced by WNYC in New York), spends the first part of  the program this week talking with Jennifer Higdon — not so much about winning the Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy this year (although those are the motivating factors for her being booked on the show) but, rather, on questions of relevance to anyone making a life in contemporary music from reaching audiences to the process of composition, etc.  The show

Read more
Birthdays, Chamber Music, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Music Events, Portland, Seattle

WCF in the PNW is A-OK (& so is PDX)

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Washington Composers Forum. Like any of these ventures, they’ve had some busy and some moribund periods. But more than most and especially through the last decade, the WCF has been a pretty consistent force, beacon and shelter for composers of all stripes (as I can personally attest to from my own long sojourn in the Seattle area). They’ve been great about getting the word on opportunities out to their members, sponsoring commissions, readings and concerts, and their Composer Spotlight series (a different composer holds court each month, sharing whatever they think is

Read more
Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Dance, New York

Hoof it on down to the Bowery

I know, short-short notice for the NYC crowd … But there’s a pretty giddy concert to attend this (Wednesday) evening at 8:30 PM, St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery (131 East 10th Street, Second Ave. and 10th Street / $10).  The International Street Cannibals — a happy cabal of composers, chamber players, filmmakers and painters, conceived by in 2005 by composer, cellist, conductor Dan Barrett, and steered by composer/guitarist Gene Pritsker — are presenting “Desperately Seeking Stravinsky”.  Now, Stravinsky was always amenable to the dance, and I don’t think there are many of his works that haven’t been choreographed, but

Read more