FJO flags Terry Teachout’s WSJ piece called Jazz Wins a Pulitzer – But did Ornette Coleman deserve his prize? Thoughts?
Read moreLots of neat stuff happening this week and beyond. Pulse, the composers federation that includes our amigo Darcy James Argue will close out its 2006-2007 “season” with a new music project called Sihr Halal, Music of Praise and Celebration. The concert is Saturday, May 5th 2007 at 8:30 PM at Roulette located at 20 Greene Street in SoHo (tickets are $15 at the door, $10 students/seniors). The project is funded in part through Meet the Composer’s Creative Connections program. Sihr Halal features the premiere of six compositions by the composers of Pulse—Darcy James Argue, Jamie Begian, Joseph C. Phillips Jr., JC Sanford, Joshua Shneider, and Yumiko
Read moreItaly has produced great pianists like Busoni, Michelangeli, and Pollini. Its current pianist in the running for that distinction, Marino Formenti, even hails from Pollini’s hometown, Milan, where he was born in October 1965. Formenti has been dubbed ” a Glenn Gould for the 21st century ” by The LA TIMES’ Mark Swed, which probably refers to his Gould-like obsessive-compulsive absorption in the music he performs, as well as the widely divergent composers he programs. These traits were certainly center stage in the last of 3 San Francisco Piano Trips programs — the first consisted of Kurtag and 17 other
Read moreMstislav Rostropovich died this morning in Moscow. He was 80 and suffered from intestinal cancer. Tim Page has an appreciation here. Updates: Alex Ross, Charles T. Downey, Guardian Tributes, Marc Geelhoed, Bruce Hodges, Pliable, Kenneth Woods, Steve Hicken, Jessica Duchen, Scott Spiegelberg, Jeremy Eichler
Read moreOn Sunday, April 27, KUSC will broadcast (and stream on the internet) the program with Dudamel conducting the L.A. Philharmonic. It was an exciting performance, and I hope that comes across when broadcast. For those of you in the center of the known universe the broadcast will begin at 7:00 pm. For those of us in more adventurous climes, it begins at 4. The program is Dances of Galanta by Kodaly, the Rachmaninoff Third Concerto with Bronfman, and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. That’s on KUSC, with links for PC, Mac, and iTunes. And do try to see and hear the Viola/Salonen
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 moreHarry Somers A Midwinter Night’s Dream Canadian Music Centre 12306 Any one considering an opera suitable for young people may want to consider Harry Somers’ A Midwinter Night’s Dream. The story takes place in very-north America, near the Artic circle, and tells the story of a bored young man who slips into a dream, thinking he is dead. The libretto, by Tim Wynne-Jones, shows a fusion of cultures, combining folklore and present-day ideas (like Star Wars and Miami Vice). The score is atmospheric. Using a piano and percussion, along with a children’s chorus, the textures move the text (and I
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 moreIt’s minimalist week in the Center of the Universe, highlighted on Friday night by the John Adams 60th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall. Adams will be conducting the American Composers Orchestra in performances of My Father Knew Charles Ives, The Wound-Dresser (with bass-baritone Eric Owens) and the Violin Concerto, with Leila Josefowicz doing the honors. Meanwhile, also on Friday, in a nearby universe, Michael Riesman, Music Director of the Philip Glass Ensemble and concert pianist, will be performing the world premiere of his marvelous new transcription for solo piano of Glass’ score to the 1931 classic horror film, Dracula. The gothic walls of the Orensanz
Read moreRudolph Dunbar (right), who died in 1988, was the first black musician to conduct the Berlin and London Philharmonic Orchestras, he wrote a best selling book on the clarinet, was an acclaimed jazz musician, and a contemporary composer. Yet today he isn’t even mentioned in the standard music reference books, and is only remembered as a black activist – why? Read about the mystery of Rudolph Dunbar over On An Overgrown Path. Photo – University of Massachusetts
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