Miller Theatre at Columbia University continues its Composer Portraits series with a 90th birthday celebration for composer Leon Kirchner. The concert will include performances of a recent piece for flutist Paula Robison, the Claremont Trio playing Kirchner’s Trio No. 1, and the 1960 Double Concerto for violin, cello, winds, and percussion. The show starts at 8; there’s a talk onstage with the composer; tickets range from $7-$25.
Read moreThe new season of the Phil was announced Thursday afternoon, accompanied by a press conference (with internet simulcast) by Dudamel and Deborah Borda, president of the board. This announcement was earlier than usual in order to fit into Gustavo’s schedule. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the Phil is using this opportunity to encourage people to submit their re-subscriptions early. Here’s the the index to the set of press releases. The Phil is welcoming Dudamel with a Bienvenido Gustavo” celebration — free — at the Hollywood Bowl and a performance of the Beethoven Ninth by the orchestra with the
Read moreSo Yo-Yo, Itzhak and gang were string synching and what we heard on TV was Memorex. Misleading? Unethical? Biggest scandal since we found out that those adorable little Chinese kids were lip synching the opening ceremony of the Olympics? Or, no biggie. Give the nice folks a break, nobody could actually play under those frigid conditions. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDUTM3NViHc[/youtube]
Read moreI heard the world premiere of Absolute Ocean by Augusta Read Thomas in Houston Thursday night at Jones Hall. 1. Thomas spoke before the concert about her compositional process and specifically about Absolute Ocean. Her talk was engaging, direct and charming; Thomas included showing the audience some of the manuscript score, and explained how 15 seconds of music might take five hours to score by hand! 2. Absolute Ocean is a work for Soprano, Harp and Orchestra in three movements from poetry by ee cummings commissioned by the Houston Symphony. The soloists, soprano Twyla Robinson and harpist Paula Page, performed
Read moreMaybe it’s all that cold, dark and ice; stuck inside with nothing else to do for a lot of days must be conducive to composition. At least it feels that way with regard to Canada, since this huge but relatively sparsely-populated space has what seems a disproportionate number of composers that I just love. And now the Canadian Music Centre has made it awfully easy for YOU to love them as well; at their site you’ll now find a service called CentreStreams, which offers streaming access to the Ann Southam Audio Archive. This comprises a huge number of concert and radio recordings made by
Read moreWhile the spotlight on Tuesday will be on the inauguration, it’s also a big day for the music business. Among several important CD releases is the new full length from Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion (Domino). Hua Hsu wrote an article about the building interest in the band leading up its release in Sunday’s New York Times. It’s interesting to note that Merriweather is already posting significant sales numbers, particularly for an ‘out’ rock release, on strength of the vinyl version alone (released Jan.6). The recording has quickly become the darling of the blogosphere, garnering a cherished high rating
Read moreJanuary has brought a richness of performances of contemporary music. At the half-way point on the calendar this has already been a marvelous month, but there’s much more to come. Each of the major music organizations across the county seems to have decided on some exceptional music. I haven’t been able to attend everything: too many tickets, too many nights. Wouldn’t it be nice to be paid to attend the concerts? Wouldn’t it be nice just to afford them all? Oh, well, the old suit will last another year or so before replacement. The Phil is leading the way, of
Read moreBoth György Kurtág and Peter Eötvös will be in New York this month as part of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture’s Hungarian Culture Year (“Extremely Hungary”). Carnegie Hall presents two weeks of folk, symphonic, and new music, as well as educational programs performed by today’s most noted Hungarian musicians. Featured highlights of the festival will be three concerts of music by two of Hungary’s greatest living composers. On January 29 Peter Eötvös will lead Ensemble ACJW in a portrait concert of his music. On the program will be the U.S. premiere performance of Octet Plus (2008) for soprano and wind
Read moreWhat are you doing? @alma Wassup, Tweeps! G. conducting 2nd 2nite. Goes on 4ever. Stuck at home w/ Evl Sis. Boorrring. about1 hour ago from web @AlexZ Did u show him my score yet? Did he like it? How much did he like it? Loved it, I bet. about 59 minutes ago from TweetDeck @gropius Tx, God, u’re there, A. We r in bg trble. Must speak 2 u urg. G. has been talking about us 2 nut case Freud. It’ll be all ovr Vienna. about 59 minutes ago from TweetBerry @alma OMG. I thought u were the
Read more
Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Downtown, Electro-Acoustic, Experimental Music, Music Events, New York, Opera
Interpretations continues its twentieth season of provocative programming in New York City. Founded and curated by baritone Thomas Buckner in 1989, Interpretations focuses on the relationship between contemporary composers from both jazz and classical backgrounds and their interpreters, whether the composers themselves or performers who specialize in new music. To celebrate, Jerry Bowles has invited the artists involved in this season’s concerts to blog about their Interpretations experiences. Produced in tandem with La Mama ETC and Performing Artservices, the centerpiece of the series this year is a two-week, three opera, 10 performance, mini-retrospective of the recent works of Robert Ashley:
Read more