Our regular listen to and look at living, breathing composers and performers that you may not know yet, but I know you should… And can, right here and now, since they’re nice enough to offer so much good listening online: Beth Custer (b. 1958 — US) Extra, extra!… Fearless woman seizes her day!… Beth was born in South Bend, Indiana, raised in western New York, but has lived in San Francisco for for the last twenty-five-and-some years. As if she wasn’t busy enough being a composer, performer, bandleader, clarinet teacher, and running a record label, she’s also a founding member
Read moreOur regular listen to and look at living, breathing composers and performers that you may not know yet, but I know you should… And can, right here and now, since they’re nice enough to offer so much good listening online: Stephane Ginsburgh (b. 1969 — Belgium) I first ran across this fine pianist a few years ago, while searching the web for information about Marcel Duchamp’s prescient, chance-based 1913 “compositions”, Erratum Musical — In 2001, Stephane recorded a number of his own interpretations of Duchamp’s score for the Sub Rosa label. A little of Stephane’s official bio: Born in Brussels,
Read moreA few picks ago I introduced you to my new Houston friend, pedal-steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. She’s off to Argentina just now, but before she left she sent me a YouTube link to her performing in her studio just a week or two ago: [youtube]4x5UEEbnVQU&NR[/youtube] Absolutely fascinating to see and hear.
Read moreOur regular (well, semi-regular, at least until our dust has settled in Houston) listen to and look at living, breathing composers and performers that you may not know yet, but I know you should… And can, right here and now, since they’re nice enough to offer so much good listening online: Amos Elkana (b. 1967 — US / Israel) Born in Boston and a product of Berklee, the New England Conservatory and Bard, Amos now makes his home in Tel Aviv. He was one of the brave few “serious” composers that took the online plunge early; I first bumped into
Read moreJerry’s recent semi-dismissal of our good friend Accordion prompts me to share a couple things, less well known than the usual Pauline Oliveros / Guy Klucevsek suspects: Stefan Hussong (b. 1962 — Germany) Stefan is one of the top contemporary accordionists working today, playing everything from Bach to the more than 80 new works specifically dedicated to him. His website is here, but the link on his name above is where I want to send you. It’s a recording of a March 2004 Other Minds concert, where Hussong essays wonderful performances of works by Cage, Harada and Höelszky, as well
Read moreHouston, we have a problem… We’re sweating like pigs in your fair city! …OK, OK, it’s not nearly so bad (yet), though the humidity definitely hangs in the air most of the time. But the sky’s blue, the city’s BIG, the food’s good. Things are a’building everywhere; other things are falling apart everywhere, and usually right next to each other. In places it’s hard to tell whether what I’m looking at is renaissance or apocalypse. But if apocalypse, it’s a pretty friendly one. Just a quick link to honor our new home: Susan Alcorn (b.1953 — US) Susan plays a
Read moreIn my Click Pick #16 I introduced you to the young Mexican contemporary scene. I just recived a note from one of the musicians profiled, flutist/composer Wilfrido Terrazas, that I’ll pass along: Friday, May 4, 2007 at 7PM Wilfrido Terrazas, flutist New Mexican Works for Flute Free Admission Americas Society 680 Park Avenue New York, NY This concert, organized in collaboration with ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), is part of a project during which the flutist has collaborated with some of Mexico’s most daring and original composers in pieces that explore novel ways of writing for his instrument. The concert will
Read more…Will just have to wait… Since, in just a little over a week, this nearly-lifelong Northwesterner will have left Seattle and be stumbling around our new home: Yep, Houston, Texas! My wife has an incredibly sweet job waiting at the Houston Chronicle, and I’m happy to play Mister tag-along. As to music, I’ve done the “virtual” scope-out of the big and small institutions, ensembles, and universities. You all know me, though; I’ll be poking around in the cracks, looking for the really interesting folk. As to its out-of-the-way “podunkiness”, I might have to remind a few of you that while you were distracted
Read moreOur regular listen to and look at living, breathing composers and performers that you may not know yet, but I know you should… And can, right here and now, since they’re nice enough to offer so much good listening online: Gilbert Artman and Urban Sax (France) Urban Sax is a long-running ensemble / musical extravaganza founded by the French musician Gilbert Artman. It was was formed in 1973, when Artman organized a concert by a group of eight saxophonists at a classical music festival in the south of France. In subsequent years, the number of players grew to 12, 20,
Read moreOur regular listen to and look at living, breathing composers and performers that you may not know yet, but I know you should… And can, right here and now, since they’re nice enough to offer so much good listening online: Two pals-in-a-pod: Alex Temple (b. 1983 — US) I started composing when I was 11, on a family trip to Italy. My earliest influence was Bach, and after that, Hindemith, Prokofiev and Bartók. When I was 15 I discovered rock (by means of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I Am The Walrus”), and when I was 17 I discovered the experimental
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