Author: James Holt

Chicago, Conductors, Interviews, Performers, Podcasts

My Ears Are Open, Chicago. Part I.

Colnot

One of the simple rules for the podcast is that there is a new episode every two weeks.  That rule was broken in July when all four members of ETHEL were featured.  And, that rule is being broken again in September when four musicians based in Chicago will be featured.

The month starts out with conductor Cliff Colnot (best known for his work with Contempo, Chicago Symphony’s MusicNow, ICE, and others).  Cliff is a unique person in that he feels so strongly about notation and rehearsal efficiency, that he has produced documents outlining the way he likes to see things as a conductor–and gives them away to anyone who asks.  Some of his thoughts on the topic are rather controversial, but anyone who has met him knows that it is hard to find a more appropriate word to describe him than “efficient”.   Even if you disagree with him on some of his points of view, it’s hard to argue with the fact that composers should be preparing scores and parts in a way that doesn’t waste rehearsal time.  Cliff describes how to get these documents for free at the end of his episode.

As always, you can subscribe in iTunes here, on the web here, or just click here to download the episode.

by James Holt
Interviews, Podcasts

My Ears Are (Still) Open

Let’s just say that “life” has distracted me a bit lately from my updates here.  But, for those of you who have been following, you know that the good times never ended and that podcast episodes have been arriving on schedule.

So, where were we?

ethel_gasJuly wrapped up Parts III-IV of interviews with the members of ETHEL.  What did we learn here?  Perhaps the cliché that a quartet is more than the sum of its parts?  Am I the only one who is continually amazed that ensembles like string quartets even work?  Can you imagine committing yourself to playing for years and years with three other people whose attitudes about music are seemingly totally different?  Maybe that’s where the special magic comes from: the coming together of opposites.

All four interviews are still available by clicking here:

Part I with violinist Cornelius Dufallo
Part II with violist Ralph Farris
Part III with cellist Dorothy Lawson
Part IV with violinist Mary Rowell

PHpic7With August upon us, what’s next?  This month is devoted to two international musicians, conductor Paul Hillier and violist William Lane.  Paul’s episode is now available, and William’s will be up August 23rd.  I really want to thank Paul Hillier for agreeing to be part of this project; I have so much respect for him and the amazing musicians he works with.  The big take-away from his episode is, basically, to think global and act local.  He has great advice for composers considering sending their music to musicians in other countries—especially musicians you have never met!  You can listen to Paul’s interview here.

Before I sign off, let’s take a quick look ahead into the fall and winter – I can’t resist!  You might remember or notice that the podcast is making an effort to engage with musicians outside of New York City.  September will feature musicians from Chicago, and October will feature California.  January will feature Boston, and February will feature Seattle!

You can subscribe to the podcast here and here.  You can send comments or suggestions here.

by James Holt
Exhibitions, Experimental Music, Improv

I write the songs

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I’ve only been living in New York City for a few years, but I already feel like there are times when I just simply take the city for granted. Or worse, I don’t take advantage of all that it has to offer. But I think what makes living here so exciting is the opportunity to accidentally stumble onto incredible events, or to go places expecting one thing and end up (pleasantly) at something totally and completely different.

This is exactly what happened yesterday afternoon as I wandered in to the World Financial Center Winter Garden during the third hour of “I Write the Songs.” All I knew was that the event was a drawing installation created by Suzanne Bocanegra, in collaboration with the Drawing Center, paired with spontaneous music composition featuring the FLUX Quartet. Even though I really had no idea what this description meant or what it would look like when I got there… it still sounded pretty cool.

I’m still so impressed with this brilliant idea; let me try to explain how it worked.

Walking through the Winter Garden, you went to one of several drawing stations, each equipped with loose sheets of printed music and colored pencils. You picked a page of music and colored or drew or wrote whatever came to mind, in any way you wanted. When done, the music was handed to a person on a ladder, who handed it off to be clipped to a high strung clothesline, which transported the pages to the stage.

Once on stage, the music was distributed to a member of the quartet, each of whom “played”/improvised what they saw on the page. The added bonus was that each musician had a TV monitor facing the audience, displaying the current page of music on their stand. Everyone could see what the performers saw at any moment—many people waiting excitedly to see their page played… Brilliant!

The sound for four performers playing this music all at once was not as cacophonous as one might imagine; and some clever “composers” asked quartet members to sit quietly and take a break, or to observe the player to their right. Once performed, the music was returned to the person on the ladder to be sent away on a different clothesline. At the end of the line, volunteers from the Drawing Center collected and hand-bound the music into books.

Suzanne’s installation created a 5-hour constant loop of new pages of drawings/music, traveling from “composer” to clothesline to performer and back to clothesline. I have no idea what Suzanne will do with the bound collections of music, but I’m sure she has thought of something fascinating.

by James Holt
Interviews, Podcasts, viola

My Ears Are Open, ETHEL. Part II.

ralphAs promised, today is Part II in my series of podcast interviews with the members of ETHEL. I’m happy to announce that violist Ralph Farris gets the My Ears Are Open “prize” for not only providing us with the longest episode to date, but I think it’s fair to say that he also has the most opinionated episode to date. It will be a 30-minutes well spent.

If you would like to subscribe to the series you can do so here and/or here. And, as always, feel free to send comments, suggestions, and recipes to podcast@jamesholt.net

If you missed Part I with violinist Cornelius Dufallo you can listen now by clicking here. Next up is Part III with cellist Dorothy Lawson on July 21 and Part IV with violinist Mary Rowell on July 26.

Is there a person or ensemble you’d like me to interview for the show? Over the next several months I’ll be featuring more musicians from places OTHER than New York so please send along your wish lists and don’t be shy.

by James Holt
Interviews, Podcasts, Violin

My Ears Are Open, ETHEL. Part I.

dufallo_bioI am excited to say that this month on the podcast I am featuring all four members ETHEL. I was able to spend some time with the band before their performance at the Bang on a Can Marathon and would like to thank them for being so generous with their time. It was difficult to decide who should go first, so I’ve decided to go alphabetical by last name (brilliant, right?!), which means that we’ll begin with violinist, Cornelius Dufallo.

If you want to keep up with this series, I’d recommend subscribing in iTunes or through your blog-reader. Or, you can listen to this week’s episode now by clicking here.

Check back on July 16 (for violist, Ralph Farris), July 21 (for cellist, Dorothy Lawson), and July 26 (for violinist, Mary Rowell).

And before I go, I just want to mention that I’ve had a chance to listen to Cornelius’ new CD, Dream Streets, which you can find on iTunes or Amazon, and is well worth spending some time with. If you are into the whole amplified-violin-looping-thing then you’ll love this recording. He has an original voice in this genre and I really love that when I’m done listening I don’t feel like he was just showing off or trying to impress someone.

by James Holt
Interviews, Podcasts

My Ears Are Open. This week on the podcast: Brad Lubman

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Brad is another musician who needs little introduction to S21 readers. He has worked with a seemingly endless list of ensembles across the United States and Europe, primarily as a conductor, but also as a composer. I caught up with him between Signal rehearsals in a Greenwich Village coffee shop.

The thing I love about this episode is that Brad has an almost Zen-like attitude about meeting and working with composers. He really wants us to be open to anything and everything, to be as receptive as possible, and to take it all in. You’ll want to listen to his thoughts on the “age of the masterpiece” – is it over or just getting started?

You can listen to the audio now by clicking here.  For more information about the podcast you can always check-out the website.

by James Holt
Boston, Electro-Acoustic, Interviews, Piano, Podcasts

My Ears Are Open. This week on the podcast: Seda Röder

4Seda Röder is a Turkish pianist who currently teaches in Boston.  Those of you who are interested in electroacoustic music may remember her performance back in April during the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival at the CUNY Graduate Center.  If you live near Boston, take a look at her website: she will be playing four concerts in the area between September and the end of the year.

Seda has been very active recently, performing and recording works by young Turkish composers including Tolga Yayalar and Hans Tutschku. She believes that most Americans don’t know much about young Turkish composers — I believe she is correct!

You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the podtrac-player at myearsareopen.net or at instantencore.com.

Click here to subscribe through iTunes. Click here to add it to your RSS.
by James Holt
Interviews, Performers, Podcasts, viola

My Ears Are Open. This week on the podcast: John Pickford Richards

161406554_2a1aeaa283 This week on the podcast, I wrap-up the month of violist interviews with John Pickford Richards. For those of you not sure who John is, he’s best known as the violist in Alarm Will Sound and the JACK Quartet. Our three violists in May posed some important questions, not just for composers, but for performers as well. Beth Weisser asked, “What is the core of what we do?” Nadia Sirota encouraged us to embrace who we are. John Richards asks, “What is the opposite of a cheerleader?” Also, have you ever wondered if John has been hit by a composer? Listen to this weeks episode and find out.

Click here to subscribe through iTunes. Click here to add it to your RSS.

I wish I could tell all of you how excited I am about the interviews lined up for the summer, but I need to keep a few of them a secret until I actually finalize and record them. For now, I will just mention that July is devoted to the members of a certain unique string quartet, and August and September will feature musicians from outside New York (and even a few from outside the US).  In the meantime, check back in June for my interviews with Seda Röder and Brad Lubman. And thanks again to Beth, Nadia and John.

For those of you in NYC, I’ll see you today at the Bang on a Can Marathon!

by James Holt
Composers, Interviews, New Amsterdam, Performers, Podcasts, viola

My Ears Are Open. This week on the podcast: Nadia Sirota

For those of you keeping track, this week’s episode is the second of three highlighting violists. Last week, Elizabeth Weisser; this week, Nadia Sirota. Nadia has some good advice for musicians: it may sound obvious, but that thing that makes you unique is the thing that makes you special. Not only is this good advice for performers but it’s good for composers to remember as well. The more we can embrace our “craziness”, the more comfortable we can be with ourselves. Musicians on the podcast talk a lot about working and collaborating with composers, but Nadia actually has some suggestions for making these relationships work in mutually respectful ways. Nadia also has a new CD, first things first, which will be released on New Amsterdam Records on Tuesday, May 19 (Steve had a nice pre-release-party-post last week).

Looking ahead, the week of May 31 will feature violist John Pickford Richards, and during the month of June I’ll be talking with pianist Seda Röder and conductor/composer Brad Lubman.

May 31 also happens to be the annual Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City– are there any musicians you would like me to try and track down for an interview? I will also be in Chicago in early June – is there anyone in the second-city I should be in touch with? If you have suggestions please email them to:

podcast@jamesholt.net

And for those of you new to the show, you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes by clicking here, point your blog-readers here, or find it on InstantEncore by clicking here.

by James Holt
Composers, Interviews, Performers, Podcasts, viola

My Ears Are Open. This week on the podcast: Elizabeth Weisser

As promised, during the month of May I’ll be talking exclusively with violists, beginning with Elizabeth Weisser of the iO Quartet. I swear it’s a total coincidence that, two weeks in a row, I’ve talked with musicians who had great experiences with Helmut Lachenmann (and I already know there will be one more mention this month). Elizabeth does have lots of other things for us to think about, though, for instance: when a composer brings material to a musician, the musician improvises, and the composer notates the improvisation, then whose music is it? She also asks, “What’s the core of what we do? What’s the main thing we are trying to get across? And, why?”

Looking ahead, the week of May 17 will be my interview with violist Nadia Sirota and the week of May 31 will be violist John Pickford Richards.

Want to take a listen? Subscribe in iTunes here, or point your blog-readers here. You can also find it on instantencore by clicking here.

by James Holt