Indaba Music has announced the winners of the Steve Reich 2×5 Remix Contest. As one of the judges of the competition (along with Mr. Reich), let me offer my congratulations to the winner – Dominique Leone – and runners-up: Vakula and David Minnick. I’d also like to congratulate the rest of the entrants. Selecting the winner was a very difficult process: the pool of remixes from which to choose was excellent! Below are the winners’ remixes. Enjoy!
Read moreMikel Rouse’s song cycle Gravity Radio is given its New York premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music on Tuesday and Thursday evening. The nice folks at BAM have offered for Sequenza 21 to give away four pairs of tickets to the event on the 7th or 9th. The first four folks to email me with the name of one of Rouse’s bands/ensembles will be our winners! Gravity Radio Part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival Dec 7 & 9—11, 2010, 7:30pm NY Premiere Conceived, written, and directed by Mikel Rouse BAM Harvey Theater 60min, no intermission Tickets: $25, 35, 45 Set
Read moreCall for Scores: Deadline: January 31, 2011 The contemporary classical music website Sequenza 21 (https://www.sequenza21.com), in partnership with Manhattan New Music Project (http://www.mnmp.org/), is pleased to issue a call for scores. Composers of any age may submit a single work with the following instrumentation: violins (2), viola, cello, piano, and percussion. Works for smaller groupings (solos, duos, trios, etc.) that employ the above instruments are especially welcome. In the interest of performing as many entries as possible, pieces that are shorter in duration may be preferred. Several pieces will be selected from these entries for our 2011 concert in New
Read moreThe 53rd Annual Grammy nominations have been announced (list of nominees in the Classical category here). Lots of contemporary classical represented, even in the more general categories. Congratulations to Steve Mackey and Michael Daugherty: both are up for Best Classical Album. The ensembles that recorded their works, BMOP and the Nashville SO, respectively, are also up for Best Orchestral Performance. Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin was nominated in the Opera category, while Magnus Lindberg’s Graffiti and Arvo Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 were both nominated for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Also glad to see the Sherry Quartet’s recording of Schoenberg and the Parker
Read moreThe latest vendor to wade into the online sales arena is Sony’s Ariama. The site’s “public beta” version was recently unveiled. That means that the store is up and running, although they’re still tweaking things and making additions. More than fifty major and indie classical labels have already signed up to sell their catalogs on Ariama. There are several purchasing options available, including MP3, lossless digital (at a higher price), CDs, and SACDs. This past week, I went on to the site to “kick the tires,” making a few purchases and checking on its search engine and offerings. A few
Read moreCongratulations to Louis Andriessen for winning the University of Louisville’s 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. He received the award for La Commedia, his fourth opera. This year’s award is $100,000.
Read moreWe’re saddened to hear the news of Ann Southam’s death this past Thursday after a long battle with cancer. Southam was one of Canada’s foremost composers, an influential teacher at the Royal Conservatory, and longtime arts advocate, active in several groups which fostered contemporary music. She received numerous honors during her distinguished career. Earlier this year, she was named a member of the Order of Canada. Southam’s oeuvre encompassed several compositional styles and genres: twelve-tone music, lyrical Neoromanticism, electroacoustic music, and postminimalism. I particularly admire her writing for the piano and have included two videos of contrasting works for piano
Read moreThanks to Carlton Wilkinson for sharing this on Facebook! I’ve written about Keith Rowe a couple of times for Signal to Noise, but he hasn’t been in the rotation for a while. I’m glad to see this gutsy and muscular prepared guitar performance.
Read moreWho says Barber cornered the market on Adagios?
Read moreThe New York Philharmonic kicks off its second season of the new music series CONTACT! this Friday and Saturday at Symphony Space and the Met Museum (tickets/details here). The theme of the concert is spectralism. The program pairs Souvenir, a new work written in memory of Gérard Grisey by NYPO composer-in-residence Magnus Lindberg, with Grisey’s own Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil. Lindberg studied with Grisey, and he talks about the connections between them in the video interview below. And more about his new piece: And there are lots more video goodies and links over at the NY Phil’s Tumblr
Read more