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 moreOf all the press releases I received over the summer, none made me happier than the one saying that, yes, there would be another New Music Bake Sale this year. It’s happening this Saturday, September 25, at the Irondale Center (85 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn) from 5-11:30pm and will be emceed by hosts from WQXR/Q2. It looks like this year will be even more delicious than last year with more performances, more baked goods, and a silent auction. All of the ensembles with tables have been invited to offer special items for auction (with all the money going directly to
Read moreThe last thing that Alan Gilbert or the New York Philharmonic needs is another affirmation that they have done something important and memorable by producing Le Grand Macabre in May. There were three (perhaps more?) New York Times articles over 11 days (May 18th, 23rd, 28th), an nice summary over on Anne Midgette’s Washington Post blog, and from just a few days ago there was this over at Newsweek. Of course our own site added to the frenzy of press/buzz here, here, here, here, here, here, and here – and with good reason! I’m quite happy to throw my hat
Read moreThe final American Modern Ensemble concerts of the season are happening this Thursday and Friday (June 24 and 25, 8pm) at Faust Harrison Pianos. Stephen Gosling and Blair McMillen will be throwing-down on works for two pianos by John Adams (Hallelujah Junction), John Corigliano (Chiaroscuro), Mary Ellen Childs (Kilter), Amanda Harberg (Subway), Doug Opel (Dilukkenjon), Frederic Rzewski (Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues), and the world premiere of Deep Blue Ocean by AME founder and Artistic Director, Robert Paterson. There will be limited seating over at Faust Harrison so you might want to save a couple bucks over the price at the
Read moreWe covered some great shows coming up this month in the Bay Area and NYC, now it’s Seattle’s turn. For the next two weekends (June 4-6 & 11-13) On the Boards will be hosting the 2010 NW New Works Festival which features “emerging and established artists from a variety of performance disciplines” and “highlights artists who are pushing themselves to take on new challenges.” Looking over the list of showcases it seems that the festival is primarily focused on new theater and dance, but there are a few music related sets in there if you look hard. The Mint Collective,
Read more[Polly writes about great events happening in the Bay Area, here. And, I’ll have a few cool things happening in Seattle soon. In the meantime here are some interesting performances coming up in NYC ] It looks like the first couple weeks of June are going to be full of tough choices. Like, on Saturday, June 5th will I check-out, a) The JACK Quartet on the opening night of the Tribeca New Music Festival, b) Wet Ink meets Yarn/Wire at Roulette, or c) Feldman performed by Flux Quartet and Evan Ziporyn? Here’s what’s coming up, choose wisely: June 2: Da
Read moreFor our friends in Southern California… Soprano Susan Narucki (Professor of Music at UC San Diego) and her new ensemble, Kallisti, will debut this week with the West Coast premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s chamber opera To Be Sung (text by Gertrude Stein). Check out To Be Sung on May 26, 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theater at the Conrad Prebys Music Center on the UC San Diego campus. General tickets are $25, but get this: $1 student rush tickets available one hour before the concert. Did you see that? $1 student rush tickets!
Read moreConductor 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 moreThe Chiara Quartet is back on tour and has one more show in NYC this week (they actually played Sunday in Southport, CT and tonight(!) at Symphony Space but your humble/slacker correspondent wasn’t able to get this ready in time for y’all). Anyway, you’ll still have a chance to catch them on Wednesday at (Le) Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street) performing Different Trains, Webern’s Five Pieces for String Quartet, and Jefferson Friedman’s 2nd Quartet. Somehow Jonah, Becca, Julie, and Greg were able to find time between rehearsals and performances to answer a few questions for us. Enjoy…. JH: During this
Read moreI recently spent some time with three amazing pianists who are all based on the West Coast: Sarah Cahill, based in the San Francisco; Vicki Ray, based in Los Angeles; and Cristina Valdes, based in Seattle. As usual, I asked each of them about their experiences working with composers, and you can listen to what they have to say here: Sarah, Vicki, Cristina. It’s great to hear what these ladies have to say, but trust me, it’s even better to hear them perform live. All three of them they will be performing (separately) across the country during March and April…
Read more