Nicholas Maw, the British-born composer who was probably best-known for the violin concerto he wrote for Joshua Bell, the lengthy orchestral work Odyssey and the opera, Sophie’s Choice, died yesterday in Washington at the age of 73. Interesting take from Telegraph critic Michael White More to come Tom Myron has a lovely photo and tribute here.
Read moreThe brilliant young pianist Xiayin Wang will perform back-to-back world premieres of Sean Hickey’s Cursive and Richard Danielpour’s Enchanted Garden, Preludes Book 11, two new works for piano, in her performance at Alice Tully Hall Monday night, May 18th at 8 PM. Included in the program are works by Haydn, Chopin, Ravel, Scriabin and Liszt. Of Cursive, Hickey says “The piece begins with a seven-note ostinato in the right hand which serves as a fixed idea throughout the entire work. But the nature of this falling pattern is such that it immediately spawns other related figures. The piece concludes with
Read moreTo celebrate the 45th anniversary of In C, the Kronos Quartet is “curating” a star-studded gathering of musicians who will perform In C in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall for the first time tomorrow (Friday) night. This once-in-a-lifetime concert has an ensemble that includes Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, and original In C performers Stuart Dempster, Jon Gibson, Katrina Krimsky, and Morton Subotnick. Not to mention: Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Sidney Chen, Dennis Russell Davies, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, Bryce Dessner, Dave Douglas, Trevor Dunn, Jacob Garchik, Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Harrison, Michael Hearst, Scott Johnson, Joan La Barbara, Saskia Lane, Alfred Shabda
Read moreSteve Reich has been awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Music for Double Sextet. Frank J. Oteri has details here. To which I say: it’s about damned time. UPDATE: NPR’s story is here. Boosey & Hawes press release is here.
Read moreThings have been pretty quiet over at the S21 Naxos blog for awhile but there is a terrific post up now by Collin Rae, Naxos of America’s Marketing and Special Projects Manager, who recently started a series of email discussions with composers, all of which which have been posted on PMS #286 Appreciation Society, the Naxos of America blog. This discussion with composer David Lang yielded some interesting answers— including a list of terrific musical favorites. Harold in Italy? And, speaking of blogs, Charles Colman has a splendid new one called The Downtown Interlude. Any man who loves Sweet Pea’s
Read more[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irPSvEkQl8Q[/youtube] Obituary
Read moreHey, remember a couple of weeks ago when I asked if anyone knew a video blogger for a special project. I found one and not only is she a terrific interviewer (not to mention cute as a button) but i hear she plays a pretty mean fiddle. Here, Hilary interviews violinist and YouTube symphony member Ben Chan about his experience via video Skype. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZhqE0sVfV0&annotation_id=annotation_681278&feature=iv[/youtube]
Read moreCongratulations to our Peruvian-born, Belgium-abiding amigo Marco Antonio Mazzini who was one of the 90 or so musicians from 30 countries chosen from submitted videos to play in the YouTube Symphony. The orchestra will appear on April 15 at Carnegie Hall, with Michael Tilson Thomas as conductor, and music by Tan Dun.
Read moreSchuyler Chapin, the legendary former general manager of the Met, died yesterday at 86. Composer Matthew Zachary Johnson, who served as Mr. Chapin’s secretary for the past four years, has a tribute here.
Read moreThere are beings that are just too special for this world. They arrive, fully-formed, on the messy little stage of your life and immediately dazzle you with their stunning beauty and charisma and goodness. They capture your heart so completely that you are always a little fearful that something this perfect cannot last. Howard arrived in our household eight years ago, at a time when we were still mourning the loss of a previous companion. By the second day, previous cats were forgotten. He seemed to have two speeds—full and stop—careening around our apartment and crashing into furniture like a
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