Today is not a day in which one considers celebrations, but we are pleased to send Arvo Pärt greetings and congratulations on his ninetieth birthday.
Read moreTerry Riley turns ninety years old today! Happy birthday from us all at Sequenza 21! Today, our friends at Red Hot Org are sharing a raga performance by Terry Riley and Sara Miyamoto. A teaser track, it will serve as the b-side for a July release by Kronos Quartet. Both Riley’s raga and the pieces on the a-side are written as anti-nuclear war messages. Riley is entitled to rest on his laurels, but he is instead remaining an advocate for peace. Thank you for this present, Terry, on your birthday no less!
Read moreHappy 87th birthday Philip Glass! Composers who live into their late octogenarian years would be justified in resting on their laurels. Glass, however has returned to playing his earlier piano music, releasing a new recording, Philip Glass Solo (Orange Mountain) of older pieces such as Mad Rush, Metamorphosis, and Truman Sleeps. Below is the video for Opening.
Read moreBest of 2021 – Happy 80th Birthday Wadada Leo Smith! Wadada Leo Smith turns eighty today, and Sequenza 21 wishes him many more years of health, creative improvisation, and composing. Smith has been a driving force as a member of AACM for over five decades, a keen collaborator with jazz and concert musicians, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and a faculty member at CalArts and elsewhere. 2021 has been a prolific one in terms of record releases by the trumpeter and composer. He is joined by wind player Douglas Ewart and drummer Mike Reed on the Astral Spirits CD Sun
Read moreSteve Reich turns 80 today. I can’t think of a better way to fete the composer on record than DG’s recent reissue of the 1974 recording of Drumming. Performed by Reich and “Musicians,” it presents one of the seminal works in his catalog. Drumming rounded out the first “phase” of his career (sorry, couldn’t resist), and it was followed by pieces that explore intricate pitch relationships and, from the 1980s onward, an increased interest in historical context and dramatic narrative. The triple LP set also contains the vital works Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ and Six Pianos. A new piece by Reich will be unveiled
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