Turkish pianist Seda Röder has been around these parts more than a few times; sometimes for her wonderful playing and sometimes for her wonderful podcasts. Now an Associate at Harvard, since coming over to the U.S. in 2007 (after graduating the Mozarteum in Salzburg) Seda has been a bit of a whirlwind when it comes to new music. Not content to take the standard performer’s trajectory, Seda gives almost equal measure to not onlyconcertizing, but also informing and promoting on behalf of the lesser-known — both newer and older — corners of modern classical music. Of course, in one of the corners most dear
Read moreThis past Friday and Saturday gave Ann Arbor new music seekers two compact and powerful concerts: the final concert of the year for the University of Michigan Contemporary Directions Ensemble (CDE) and a series of 8-minute operas created by graduate students in Music Composition and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. The CDE concert – directed by charismatic conductor Christopher James Lees – was about an hour in length, and packed into that time four vibrant works from Pulitzer Prize winners Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Jennifer Higdon and Shulamit Ran. Similarly, it took an hour to see all the
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Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, New York, Strings, Twentieth Century Composer, Video
Steve Reich turns 75 this coming October, and the celebrations have already begun. Later this month is a concert at Carnegie Hall on April 30th. It features the Kronos Quartet in a new piece commemorating a more sombre anniversary: WTC 9/11. In the lead up to the Carnegie concert, there will likely be countless interviews, features, etc.; but this YouTube video is a terrific five-minute distillation of Reich’s interests, influences, and musical style. I love the segue early on from bebop ii-V-I changes to Steve Reich’s pulsating ostinati. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO_WVD6Dt6E[/youtube]
Read moreSunday was a big day for the brilliant young Slovakian contrabassist Roman Patkoló. First, he played two new works commissioned especially for him by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation–Duo concertante for Violin and Contrabass by Krzysztof Penderecki and Dyade for violin and contrabass by Wolfgang Rihm–at Avery Fisher Hall with the dazzling Frau Mutter on violin. Then, after the concert, Mutter presented him with the first ever Aida Stucki Award, a new honor for gifted musicians named for her beloved childhood teacher. “Aida is 90 now and we wanted to do something to honor her while she is still around to enjoy it,” Mutter
Read moreNot even two years old by students and alumni of Peabody Conservatory, the Figaro Project is one of several new opera companies that have sprouted up around the country, and it presented itself last night not only as an impressive collective of talented performers, but as a strong advocate for newly-written opera. Brought to life in the University of Baltimore’s Performing Arts Theatre (and for the low-low price of “free”!), thirteen singers and a small pit of 1-3 players provided the spark for three one-act operas by local composers Paul Matthews, Douglas Buchanan, and Joshua Bornfield. Each work stood apart
Read moreThis Sunday, April 3rd, 2-10pm, the Switchboard Music Festival will present their fourth annual 8-hour music marathon at the Brava Theater in San Francisco (a new venue to accommodate the overflowing crowd they had at last year’s sold out event!). Switchboard’s goal is to bring together bands, composers, and other musicians whose work combines genres in interesting, organic ways. They place a special emphasis on music from the Bay Area, but always with an eye on the larger scene and bring in at least a few out-of-towners. This year’s festival features up-and-coming indie band Birds & Batteries, fresh off a
Read moreAmong your name brand violinists, Anne Sophie-Mutter has been the most ardent champion of modern and new music. There are few, if any, 20th century violin masterworks that she hasn’t played and/or recorded. She rarely does a concert without modern pieces and her appearance with a group of chamber music all-stars at Avery Fisher Hall at 3 pm this Sunday, April 3, is no exception. In addition to the Beethoven String Trio in G Major op 9, No. 1 and Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings, she will be teaming up with the brilliant young double bassist, Roman Patkoló, for the U.S. premiere
Read moreLee Hoiby, one of the preeminent composers of song and opera in the 20th Century, passed away today at the age of 85. I was lucky enough to host Lee for a two-day residency here at SUNY Fredonia last September, which culminated in a concert of his works by students and faculty with Lee playing piano for every work…including a sing-a-long with the entire audience at the end. To see 20-year-old voice majors lining up after the concert to get his autograph was pretty special, and indicative of how much he meant to so many music lovers around the world.
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Chamber Music, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, File Under?, New York, Video, Women composers
Thus far, 2011 seems to be the year of the festival. From Tune Up to Tully Scope and beyond, a wide variety of adventurous outings have been offered in New York. Starting tonight, Symphony Space joins in the fun with their Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival. If each festival has had its own identity – Tune Up reveling in the Park Avenue Armory’s generous space and acoustics, Tully Scope celebrating the diversity of its offerings and its newly remodeled digs – the emphasis of Cutting Edge seems, like so many events at Symphony Space, to be outreach and interaction. All
Read moreIf you have the slightest interest in contemporary opera or modern drama, you must see Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, scheduled for one more performance by Long Beach Opera on Sunday, March 27. It is a brilliant update of Wagner’s idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, in which Glass’s music, staging by Andreas Mitisek, choreography by Nanette Brodie, and video projections by Frieder Weiss all combine into one amazing whole. At the heart of the work is Glass’s monolithic score and libretto. The story itself is a series of tableaux depicting the rise (Act 1) and fall (Act 3) of Akhnaten and his dangerous
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