Contemporary Classical

Awards, Classical Music, Composers, Contemporary Classical, Downtown

News Flash: Zorn is a Genius

John Zorn is officially a genuis.   The 53-year-old composer, improviser, saxophonist, provocateur, and ardent promoter of experimental music through his Tzadik recording label, was one of 25 new MacArthur Fellows named today.  Like his fellow honorees, Zorn will receive $500,000 in “no strings attached” support over the next five years.  Unlike most other awards, MacArthur winners don’t apply but are picked by a secret committee of “experts.”  One day you get phone call that says you don’t have to worry about next month’s rent. 

The award notes that Zorn is a “largely self-taught artist who, since the mid-1970s, has been at the center of what has come to be called “downtown” music, based on his residence and collaborations in lower Manhattan.”

Speaking for the S21 community (always a dangerous thing to do), let me offer a hearty “Nice going, Johnny.”

Speaking of genius, Christina Fong posted some thoughts on that very subject a few days ago.

by Jerry Bowles
Classical Music, Composers, Contemporary Classical, Critics

A WTF Moment From Mark Swed

I like Mark Swed’s writing a lot and find I normally agree with his tastes but I can’t make sense out of his review of the Carl Orff/Jefferson Friedman concert at Hollywood Bowl that we hyped a little last week.  I am particularly baffled by this line: 

As in “Carmina,” there is much to like musically in “Throne,” as long as you hold your nose. The political implications in both scores are troubling. Orff was, if not a Nazi sympathizer, at least a National Socialist opportunist.

Okay, but I can’t for the life of me see a parallel in anything else in the review that would make me think Jeff Friedman is an awful person.  What exactly are the “politics” of Friedman’s The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly?  Is Friedman some kind of closet skinhead?

Read Mark’s review and tell me what I’m missing.

by Jerry Bowles