I am excited to say that this month on the podcast I am featuring all four members ETHEL. I was able to spend some time with the band before their performance at the Bang on a Can Marathon and would like to thank them for being so generous with their time. It was difficult to decide who should go first, so I’ve decided to go alphabetical by last name (brilliant, right?!), which means that we’ll begin with violinist, Cornelius Dufallo. If you want to keep up with this series, I’d recommend subscribing in iTunes or through your blog-reader. Or, you
Read moreSummertime in the Steel City brings forth some pretty damn good concerts from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, one of the best new music ensembles in the country, every year and this year isn’t any different. This summer PNME will be performing over twenty new works, including two commissioned world premieres by Houston’s Pierre Jalbert and Chicago’s Stacy Garrop, over the next four weekends under the direction of their executive artistic director, Kevin Noe. They had their first concert last night, but you can still catch them this evening at the City Theatre (1300 Bingham St.) for an 8pm concert,
Read moreAlmost everyone on the web has seen this by now but if you haven’t, take a look. It’s a classic example of don’t-get-mad-get-even. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo[/youtube]
Read moreAnd you thought the master was gone?… Nooo no no, not that easy… His foundation and famous summer courses in Kürten continue — even stronger, if that’s possible. Starting today, July 10th, and continuing every day through July 26th, at 8pm there’s a concert featuring Stockhausen’s work (interspersed with course participants, which spiritually is very much the same thing). It’s a crazy insane compendium of S.’s music, spanning decades; there’s just too much to put on the main page, so I’ll list it all after the jump (and why the hell isn’t German Radio or the BBC camped out for
Read more(Thanks to Kevin Austin, who runs the Canadian Electroacoustic Community e-mail list, for pointing this one out): Every serious classical listener/collector has spent time probing through the hiss, pop and crackle of early monophonic 78 and 33 rpm recordings; though the sound is tinny and boxed in, they love the magical feeling of somehow being brought closer to some vital moment, performer or composer. Until 1958 people could only buy monophonic records; some might have heard stereo sound previously in a few push-the-envelope films like Fantasia, but for at least a couple generations mono was all they had. Yet there
Read moreLast week the BBC reported that the seminal electronic act Kraftwerk wowed the crowd at the Manchester Velodrome, not just with their music but a live riding appearance by the British Olympic cycling team during their classic song “Tour de France”! But also interesting was the opening act: Bang on a Can premiering Steve Reich‘s newest composition “2×5“. Scored for two sets of five instruments (hence “2×5”), the 21-minute piece calls for a total of ten musicians: four electric guitars, two pianos, two bass guitars, and two drum sets. And this from Reich: “It took me until 2009 to finally
Read moreWe like to think that we live in the light, or as the current phrase goes — “it’s all good ” — when in reality everything really seems to happen in the dark where angels are wrestled with. This came forcibly to mind when I caught the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra’s Restless Dreams concert on the June 13th at San Francisco’s Old First Church. The program — 8 pieces by 8 composers–also bore out music director Mark Alburger’s from the stage quip that it was Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony in reverse — instruments were added instead of subtracted as it
Read moreHilary Hahn doesn’t need much introduction; as one of the leading violinists today, many of you have any number of her recordings or have been lucky enough to catch her in concert. Usually we put our stars up on some pedestal, always with that remove of the stage between us. But Hilary herself has a different idea of what a star should be up to in between wowing folks at those concerts. She happens to love to talk to people, especially other musicians, and is genuinely interested in what makes them tick. And she loves to share what she hears
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Concerts, Electro-Acoustic, Experimental Music, Improv, Just Intonation, Music Events, Percussion, San Francisco
I’ve been working so hard today I’ve forgotten to eat, and it’s in that spirit of lightheadedness and poor impulse control that I share with you the following San Francisco Bay Area new music scene update. The Lab’s 25th anniversary performance series is well underway, and in just one night, they’ll run the gamut of styles celebrating their audacious artistic vision. On Thursday, July 2nd, Mills College’s own Chris Brown will curate and perform in a concert featuring Charles Johnson, Chad and Curtis McKinney, Tom Nunn and William Winant. When Johnson et. al. take the stage, you’ll hear amplified string
Read moreBrad is another musician who needs little introduction to S21 readers. He has worked with a seemingly endless list of ensembles across the United States and Europe, primarily as a conductor, but also as a composer. I caught up with him between Signal rehearsals in a Greenwich Village coffee shop. The thing I love about this episode is that Brad has an almost Zen-like attitude about meeting and working with composers. He really wants us to be open to anything and everything, to be as receptive as possible, and to take it all in. You’ll want to listen to his
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