(UNTITLED), an original film satire of New York’s avant-garde art scene, will appear in theaters across the nation this fall. By poking fun at the idiosyncrasies of 21st century Bohemia, (UNTITLED) introduces American audiences to some of the best that contemporary art has to offer, notably a score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, who merges the artistic expressions of the composer protagonist with his own musical voice. (UNTITLED) revolves around melancholy composer Adrian (Adam Goldberg) and his whirlwind affair with a Chelsea gallerist (Marley Shelton), who unbeknownst to Adrian sells vacuous commercial works to high-paying corporate clients. The film
Read moreAhead of its Oct 23rd general release date Adam Golberg, the actor who portrays all-too-well a modern “avant-something” composer/performer in the new film (Untitled) (with score by David Lang), will be making an appearance on CBS’ Late-Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight at 12:35 AM. (Hey, if you can’t get actual new-musicians on the mainstream media, might as well settle for someone who plays one!) Here’s hoping Ferguson picks up on the quirky charm and knowing ribbing, rather than the more typical “I just don’t get these losers” read. Sure, hipster new-music meets hipster gallery is an exotic, pretentious, even
Read moreOne of the totally unexpected perks that has come along with producing my podcast is all of the press releases that started showing up in my inbox, and even CDs in the mail once in a while. Well, last night was another first for me: an invitation to screen a new film before its release. I like films and like to follow what some of my favorite directors and screenwriters are up to, but I am far from an aficionado—so I won’t pretend to be one here. If you hadn’t heard, there is a new film coming out this month
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Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Electro-Acoustic, Film Music, Opera, Premieres, San Francisco
San Francisco-based composer, conductor, writer, educator, and filmmaker Jack Curtis Dubowsky is a very busy man. This Wednesday night, September 9th at 7:30 p.m., he’ll take the stage along with the Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble in San Francisco’s Meridian Gallery, located at 535 Powell Street, convenient to Powell Street BART. Next month, he has a new opera premiering. But fortunately, he wasn’t too busy to talk to me. S21: How does it feel to be leading off the Meridian Gallery’s 11th season of Composers in Performance? JCD: It’s an honor to be selected to be a part of the Meridian
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 moreFor those of you who were insufficiently cheered by Florida’s decisive surge over the Ohio State football factory, here’s something that should help. Our friends at Naxos will release on January 31 a DVD of fellow Mountaineer Pare Lorentz’s landmark New Deal-era documentaries “The Plow that Broke the Plains” (1936) and “The River” (1938), featuring the first complete modern recordings of the seminal Virgil Thomson soundtracks by Washington, D.C.-based Post-Classical Ensemble under Angel Gil-Ordóñez, with narration by Floyd King. “The Plow that Broke the Plains,” which examines the causes of the Dust Bowl drought and was made for $20,000, was the
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