The Original New Music Community
Charles Wuorinen, who turns seventy today, has been commissioned by New York City Opera to compose an opera based on Annie Proulx’s short story Brokeback Mountain. It is scheduled to be produced in 2013.
Happy Birthday CW!
http://pressroom.nycopera.com/pr/nycopera/news/_prv-BrokebackMountain.aspx
Last year, many of us saw a posting regarding the VIM:Tribeca concert series. The organizers, Judd Greenstein and Kimball Gallagher, wanted to put on concert series of mostly new works; the composers were responsible for providing performers. The concerts were to be put on in the Gallerie Icosahedron (I’m deliberately not linking to them, for reasons that will be apparent soon!). The first indication of trouble to us should have been the delays, imposed by the gallery, regarding scheduling and, we found out later, the renting of a piano. The first public sign of trouble was the sudden announcement that the concert series was now to be called the ICO series.
When it was announced that my work had been accepted, I was thrilled. I was to be featured alongside Pamela Stein; I contacted Kathy Supové, who was going to play my new pieces for interactive piano. And, Pam was going to sing the premiere of a piece by Lukas Ligeti. This had all the makings of an exciting event.
On Thursday, we received the following note:
1) CONCERT FEE: all concerts will be subject to a $300 minimum, payable to the gallery in half a week before the concert, with the remainder due at the show. For double-bills, each artist will be responsible for half this figure. In addition to this de facto rental fee, all money over $600 in receipts from the door will continue to be split 50/50. The fee is a guarantee against low turnout – a deposit, essentially. These checks must arrive 1 week before each concert, beginning with the February 14th show, and all checks should be mailed to Gallerie Icosahedron, 27 N Moore St., New York, NY 10013, and made out to Gallerie Icosahedron.
2) TICKET PRICE: the ticket price will now be raised to $20, with no student discounts.
3) REHEARSAL FEE: all artists will have access to the gallery from 5-6:30 on the day of the show. Any other rehearsal times need to be scheduled in advance and will be available at a $40/hr rate.
4) INTERMISSION: there will be NO intermissions of any kind. For double-bills, there will be a brief set change, but even this will be less than a standard intermission.
5) COMPS: there will be no comps, except for press.
6) PIANO: the piano needs to be kept at the back of the gallery, and cannot be moved forward.
And, furthermore, Judd and Kimball were to be removed from the organization of the concerts themselves. Actually, we’d have to individually negotiate elements of the shows, if we wished to continue.
At this point, the series is in disarray. I haven’t kept track, but most of the participants have jumped ship. I’m not sure if I would have done this had these policies been in place beforehand. But, to impose these changes mid-season – mind you, the ICO had a full slate of concerts in the Fall of 2007 – is just infuriating. And, looking at their demands, the one that irks me the most is the policy against comps or student discounts. $20 is a steep fee, particularly when you’re just going to a gallery with folding chairs. $20 would get me into a lot of concert halls in many places (okay, nosebleed seats in some places), and with more comfortable chairs.
I’m aware that costs have risen tremendously in the past few months. But, assuming their gallery would have been open those nights anyway, would the ICO series really have been displacing $300 worth of business? $900, if you count the door costs.
What’s truly disturbing is the Kremlin-style overthrow of the originators of the series. Here you have two people who have done all the work, put a huge amount of time, energy, and, I assume, their own money into this project. It seems to me that the ICO people just want the series to go away, which it seem like it will.
First of all, here is my advice. If anyone is still planning on putting on one of the ICO concerts, please go support them. Go to the gallery, and have a good time. Don’t buy any refreshments if the gallery sells them. As a matter of fact, avoid direct eye contact with any gallery employee. However, if you see any art there you like, write down the name of the artist, and contact them directly when you go home. If you like, wait until their show at the ICO is done. Buy something else from them, but make sure no money goes to the Gallerie Icosahedron.
At one point, I have been told, they complained about the nature of the music being presented. It wasn’t ‘classical’ or ‘conservative’ enough. I didn’t realize that we were under the scrutiny of the new music police, telling us how to write as well as demanding that we pay – oh, and that piano is just there for decoration. I’m sure that their list of demands would eventually include no parallel 5ths or un-resolved dissonances – and, I’m sure, no Max patches.
This is truly a horrible situation for all of us. I understand that concerts do need to be canceled sometimes. Performers get sick or injured, the composer isn’t finished with the piece, sometimes even accidents occur in the performance venue. Yet, this is truly, truly appalling: a concert canceled because of greed and almost maniacal control exerted by the proprietors of the concert space. I am disgusted by their actions.
This morning, someone suggested that we try to find another location. I’m all for that, although I have my doubts that we’d be able to find a decent concert site that would have availability for all the events (which were scheduled on Thursdays). If that can be done, I’d be thrilled. I’d be happy to wait until the Fall. I’d be happy to pay or raise funds for a performance at a good venue. And, I’ll be happy to avoid walking down the street anywhere near the Gallerie Icosahedron.
Andrew Cyr writes:
Hi Jerry,
I just wanted to give you a heads up about a couple of things:
Avner Dorman, the composer we just cut an album with (in editing mode now), had some incredible news in Germany, which I think is potentially worthy of a post. His new percussion concerto was just premiered in Hamburg a few weeks ago, and was just added in a rare surprise programming shift, with Munich Symphony — when was the last time you heard an American symphony do something like that! Check out the press release, which I received from his publisher, Schirmer. You can have a look at his website, too, http://avnerdorman.com , for additional info too…
In Metropolis news, another very talented composer we’re
collaborating with, Ryan Francis (b.1981), has won a prestigious
commission from the American Composers Forum, for a piano concerto which we will premiere in April…. There’s pretty much complete info for you on that on our homepage, under NEWS (we’ve a blog post about it) http://metropolisensemble.org/ — might be worthy of a post with you at some point, if you announce these kind of things. I think Ryan is an incredibly talented composer to be watched…
Hope all is going well in the new year, and thanks for all your
support!!!
All the best,
Andrew
If you’ve been wondering who is responsible for dumbing down American musical culture, it’s people like Ronen Givony and me. Givony, as many of you know, is the mini-Sol Hurok who is responsible for New York’s priceless Wordless Music series. Like me, Givony is not a composer or musician or even someone who reads music. But, also like me, he loves new music and wants to help nurture and promote the talented people who do. The web has given us both platforms to indulge our desire to do so.
According to Andrew Keen, that makes us the worst kind of well-meaning but dangerous and misinformed schmos. We are”amateurs,” in the most perjorative sense. Keen’s new book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture blames the equalitarian nature of web publishing and self-promotion for everything from Britney to global warming.
I dunno. Seems to me that influential “amateurs” have always been with us. Weren’t a lot of the explorers and scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries people who simply pursued their discoveries, quite often using their own resources?
I’m sure this august group can think of many examples of amateurs who have had some influence on the advancement of new music. Share some of them with us, please.
p.s. By the way, I am no longer an amateur web site builder and manager. My first paid-for site called MyVenturepad opened for business yesterday. Nice article today on the front page about the changing of the guard at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe.
Over the past couple of years, ISSUE Project Room has become one of the hot spots for contemporary music in the city and earned a well-deserved reputation for presenting new and artistically challenging work. It has outgrown its funky silo on the Gowanus Canal and has just launched a $350,000 capital campaign with the goal of expanding its programs and moving to a larger, more centrally-located home.
As often happens, though, a great opportunity has come along and the group needs to raise a bundle of cash by July 24 to take advantage of it. ISSUE is one of two finalists for the right to move into a new, rent free space in one of the most beautiful buildings in downtown Brooklyn. But, says founder and artistic director Suzanne Fiol, it must demonstrate the financial capability to develop the space if it is to secure the lease.
An anonymous donor has made a $25,000, one -for- two matching grant to be met by August 10, which means that for every dollar the group raises between now and then, it will get an an additional 50 cents. It has already raised $10,000 and Fiol says her goal is to raise another $25,000 this week.
“The reason of the urgency is that we’re meeting with the property’s developers on July 24,” Fiol says. ‘It is crucial to our success that we have this money in hand in time for this meeting. Nothing could better help ISSUE in making its case to the property’s developers than to be able to walk into the meeting saying we have met the match. Successfully closing this first phase of the campaign before the deadline will inspire large donors, corporations and foundations.”
Here’s how to give:
To make a donation on line, go to http://www.nyfa.org and click “For Donors.” Be sure to earmark your donation for the Issue Project Room. To make a donation by check, make your check payable to the New York Foundation for the Arts . Write ISSUE Project Room in the memo line, and mail your check to: ISSUE Project Room 232 Third Street, Brooklyn N.Y. 11215. ISSUE Project Room is under the fiscal sponsorship of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and all donations are tax deductible.
If you want to know more about ISSUE or have ideas about how to help, you can contact Fiol at 718-812-1129, or write to
suzanne@issueprojectroom.org.
Beverly Sills, the All-American diva from Brooklyn, has died of cancer. Bubbles, as she was known to all, was a big lady with a big heart whose down-to-earth personality, talent and lifelong dedication to Lincoln Center made her a treasure for the city’s arts establishment. I never heard her sing live in her prime but there are those who swear her Lucia and Rosina were among the best. She was a hometown heroine who will be missed.
UPDATE
Steve Smith, Tim Page, Anthony Tommasini
The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas concert at Rose Hall last night was one of those rare “what’s not to love” events that only occasionally grace New York stages. Take a program of thinking man’s bon bons (Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, Silvestre Revueltas’ Sensemayá, Ginastera’s barnburning Estancia), add a star turn by Latin music legend Paquito D’Rivera, and throw in an energetic and talented young orchestra led by a drop dead gorgeous conductor and you have a surefire receipe for fun. Many of the audience members came dressed for a post-concert gala which gave the evening a particularly elegant flair and provided a refreshing contrast to the usual New York concert-going experience where you can’t tell if your neighbor is a homeless person from Port Authority or the CEO of Ogilvy. Of course, I dress that way myself so I can hardly complain.
Alondra de la Parra, a 26-year-old Mexican conductor and pianist started The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) in 2004 to increase public awareness of Latin American symphonic music. The list of blue chip sponsors on the program and the monied audience suggest that her organizational and marketing skills are at least as formidable as her music talents. (Did I mention that she is drop dead gorgeous?)
But, I digress. The highlight of the evening was an appearance by the Cuban-born saxophonist, clarinetist, band leader and composer Paquito D’ Rivera who, I was a little surprised to learn, writes “serious” music that sounds quite at home on a concert program. Fantasia Mesianicas (Blues for Akoka) is a set of variations for clarinet, jazz trio, and symphony with a clarinet part inspired by Henri Akoka, a man with a great sense of humor who was the clarinetist in the premiere of Oliver Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, not exactly a humorous piece. Memories (Danzón), based on the national dance of Cuba, is a romantic vision of moonlit nights filled with dangerous rhythms and elegant cornet lines, channeling the great orchestras that played the grand hotels that once graced the Havana shoreline. D’Rivera performed a couple of encores, including a show-stopping clarinet/piano duo. (Terrific pianist, by the way, although I couldn’t find his name in the program. Anybody know?)
The second half began with the world premiere of Ixbalanqué, a moody, often dark, tone poem drawn from Mayan legend, by the 26-year-old Mexican composer Martin Capella. The piece was the first winner of the POA’s Young Composers Competition, which invited composers aged thirty-five and younger from the American continent to submit an 8-12 minute work for orchestra. Robert Beaser, Paul Brantley, Mario Lavista, Tania León and Nils Vigeland were the judges. Ixbalanqué is an accomplished work but it’s a little tough to precede (or follow) Sensemayá, an undisputed masterpiece of the short, Latin genre which is so obviously Ixbalanqué’s granddaddy.
To cap off a perfect evening, de la Parra whipped the orchestra through Ginestera’s exhuberant Estancia, bringing the audience to its collective feet with the wild and crazy Danza final – Malambo.
Beyond being a lot of fun, the concert was a useful reminder of how deeply and irreversibly the Latin musical language is ingrained into–and enriches–North American culture. There is nothing foreign or alien or threatening about it; this is our music too. A useful rejoiner to the growing wave of xenophobia that hovers over the land in these troubled times.
For the past 27 years, the Mexican-born pianist and composer Max Lifchitz has been a tireless and resourceful promoter of new music (including his own) through live performances and recordings with the North/South Consonance Ensemble, the chamber group of the non-profit North/South Consonance organization. Many young composers, particularly those of the Neoclassic or New Romantic temperment (Larry Bell comes immediately to mind), have gotten a career boost from Lifchitz’s annual programs and recordings, which now number nearly 50.
I mention all this because North/South Consonance’s final concert of the current season is coming up on Sunday afternoon June 17 at 3 PM and will take place at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th St, NYC) on Manhattan’s West Side. Admission is free (no tickets necessary).
The program will feature two compositions involving narration: Igor Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat and Lifchitz’s The Blood Orange. I personally detest works that involve people talking while I’m trying to listen to music, but apparently some people like it and many famous composers have written works for ensemble and spoken word.
Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale was written at the end of World War I and is one of those Faustian/Devil Goes Down to Georgia things about trading in your soul for a fiddle. Lifchitz says the work is being performed to mark the 125th anniversary of the birth of the composer and, in fact, it is being performed on June 17, the exact day Stravinsky was born in 1882 in a town near St Petersburg.
Lifchitz’s The Blood Orange is a setting of a text by New York City writer Kathleen Masterson, written especially for the actress Norma Fire, who will perform it. The narrative with music relates the story of Fire’s parents who emigrated to this country before the Holocaust, and of their relatives who did not. Fire will be supported by violinist Claudia Schaer and Lifchitz on piano.
Today’s musical question is: Name the best pieces ever written for music and narration (and let’s get Copland and Honegger out of the way quickly).
