Tonight will feature the two winners of the first annual Call-for-Scores that the Nief-Norf Project put together this year as part of the first 10-day Nief-Norf Summer Festival going on down at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. The brainchild of percussionist and Artistic Director Andrew Bliss, the festival presents five concerts that focus on new music for percussion, including works by Cage, Reich, Applebaum, Bresnick, Zorn, and this year’s composer-in-residence, Christopher Adler. In addition to works for percussion by Mario Davidovsky, Stuart Sanders Smith and Alexander Lunsqui, Caroline Mallonee’s North South East West and Steven Snowden’s A Man with
Read more[Apologies for the delay on this posting – laptop illness kept me from completing it till today.] During my week stay in Illinois, I was lucky enough to catch several concerts that proved how strong the new music scene is in Chicago. On Saturday May 28, Ensemble Dal Niente presented a rich and varied concert at the Music Institute of Chicago that featured several new and established works and a wide array of talented performers. Ensemble Dal Niente has been steadily gaining ground as one of several new music ensembles (including ICE and Alarm Will Sound) that has taken the
Read moreMany instruments have their 99-cent toy counterpart: tiny play trumpets, cheap plastic recorders, pint-sized accordions, even mini drum-kits with cymbals the size of espresso saucers. But it’s only the toy piano that has graduated to the big leagues, with an large and diverse repertoire and even a dedicated group of high-caliber performers to boost its status. I really think this all came about from two sources: John Cage‘s modest 1948 Suite for Toy Piano, and the instrument’s inclusion in George Crumb‘s highly influential Ancient Voices of Children (1970). Both of these works had (and still have) a certain vogue; pianos
Read moreThe American Composers Orchestra has been holding annual reading sessions for twenty years now: quite a milestone! This weekend will see composers of concert music hearing their works read by the ACO, conducted by George Manahan, with one of the composers being awarded a $15,000 commission. For the first time, there will also be sessions devoted to jazz composers. The New Music Readings’ (June 3 & 4) participating composers are Janet Jieru Chen, Mukai Kôhei, Michael Djupstrom, Narong Prangcharoen, Jordan Kuspa, and Kate Soper. The Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute Readings’ (June 5 & 6) participating composers are Harris Eisenstadt, Mark Helias,
Read moreThe 2011 Celebrate Asia competition from the Seattle Symphony is now open! Seattle Symphony’s Celebrate Asia announces the second Seattle Symphony Celebrate Asia Composition Competition. The Competition seeks to promote and recognize young composers who are interested in Asian culture, music and traditions. The concept originated in 2008, when local Asian leaders wanted to find a way to strengthen bonds with the broader community through a cultural celebration. Celebrate Asia is part of the Seattle Symphony’s Around the World series. The Seattle Symphony, presenting its 109th season in 2011–2012, will come under the artistic leadership of Music Director Designate Ludovic
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Brooklyn, Chamber Music, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, File Under?, New York
As we gallop towards the end of the concert season proper (and towards the bevy of summer music festivals), it’s shaping up to be a busy time here in New York. Case in point, in the evening on Thursday June 2nd, there are two events that would suit many a new music aficionado’s fancy. Locrian Chamber Players are performing at Riverside Church at 8 PM. The program includes John Adams’ String Quartet (a work that also appears, with different performers, on the new Adams Nonesuch disc), a piece by Manhattan School of Music faculty member Reiko Füting and world premieres
Read moreDavid Robertson will lead the New York Philharmonic in Shostakovich‘s Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninoff‘s The Isle of the Dead, and Schoenberg‘s Erwartung, with the commodious soprano Deborah Voigt as soloist, on Thursday, June 9, 2011, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 10, at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, June 11, at 8:00 p.m. You can win a pair of tickets for the June 10 performance; Just name all the one singer, one act operas you can think of. The person, or maybe persons, with the most wins the tickets. You are on the honor system not to Google.
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Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, File Under?, Interviews, Performers, Philadelphia, Piano
Pianist Marilyn Nonken is performing Triadic Memories on June 4 in Philadelphia as part of “American Sublime,” a festival devoted to the works of Morton Feldman. Marilyn was kind enough to tell us a bit about working on Feldman’s music, as well as some of her other upcoming projects. -What were your early encounters with Feldman’s music like? I can’t remember my first live Feldman experience as a listener. One of the first works I remember hearing was FOR SAMUEL BECKETT. My first experience playing Feldman was with Ensemble 21, when we performed VIOLIN VIOLA CELLO PIANO, which was
Read moreFull disclosure is necessary up front: last year I had the pleasure of studying composition with Don Freund at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. Our working relationship was fruitful and inspiring, and I left his studio with new insight, skills, and quite a lot of new music. So what are some of the important things I learned from him? Passion, energy and confidence are infectious. Anything goes stylistically when instilled with passion, energy and confidence. Know thy instruments and use them with passion, energy and confidence. Take risks and don’t be afraid to fall flat on your face
Read moreAnyone who thinks that straightened circumstances of a still sluggish economy have dampened the ambitions of concert presenters need look no further than Philadelphia to see a sublime idea at work. Bowerbird, a Philly-based non-profit, is mounting “American Sublime,” a seven concert festival devoted to the works of New York School composer Morton Feldman (1926-’87). The concerts run from June 4-12, with ticket prices ranging from free to $20. Marilyn’s hands. Photo by Peter Schütte Excerpt from Triadic Memories, performed by Marilyn Nonken on Mode 136 Courtesy Mode Records A M E R I C A N S U B L I M E A
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