Princeton Symphony, Rossen Milanov, conductor Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University March 7, 2026 Published in Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey PRINCETON – Some regional professional orchestras play it safe, not straying far from Mozart and Beethoven and considering a Brahms symphony their most adventurous outing. Not so the Princeton Symphony. Last Saturday, they played two new works by Viet Cuong and Julian Grant, as well as the complete ballet version of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. Each composer in their own way dealt with a mélange of styles and multiple reference points. In Extra(ordinarily Fancy, Viet Cuong uses the baroque concerto style as a
Read moreThe Marian Consort Miller Theatre Early Music Series Church of Saint Mary the Virgin February 13, 2026 By Christian Carey NEW YORK – The Marian Consort are a highly-regarded vocal ensemble, specializing both in early music and recent repertoire. The former was on offer in their performance last Thursday as part of Miller Theatre’s Early Music Series. The program was titled “City of Echoes – Rome in the Sixteenth Century,” and all of the music was performed in the city during this time period. While the program included works from three generations of composers – those relatively contemporaneous to
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Choral Music, Composers, Concert review, Conductors, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, New York, Orchestras
Adés Conducts the New York Philharmonic David Geffen Hall January 24, 2026 Published in Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey NEW YORK – Thomas Adés is best known as a composer, but he is a talented conductor as well. Leading the New York Philharmonic in a program of recent works and a neglected early twentieth century piece, his approach was effusive and commanding, with a versatile and fluid gestural repertoire. The orchestra’s musicians always play at a high standard, but their performance on last Saturday’s concert was superlative, and given the challenges posed by the programmed pieces, all the more
Read moreAlice Sara Ott – “Odi et Amo/Krókódíll” Jóhannsson: Beauty (From “Blind Massage”) [Performed on Piano] Icelander Jóhann Jóhannsson was a gifted musician who left us too soon. Late last year, pianist Alice Sara Ott released two EPs on Deutsche Gramophon, entitled From Englabörn and Film Themes, on which she played excerpts from the composer’s film music. These and more of his music are part of the album project Piano Works, which will be released on March 6th. Although it may make one miss Jóhannsson even more, the excerpts are well chosen and well served by Ott’s poignant performances.
Read moreMusic for Guitars, Bass Clarinets & Contrabasses – Various Artists (Aural Terrains) Last month, I was pleased to have my music visit Cafe Oto for the first time, with Feier, a solo piece, performed on a contrabass clarinet. The venue is well known for presentations of experimental music of many kinds. Not all of the shows there are in circulation, but Cafe Oto has some releases for sale on their website. Others have been documented for the label Aural Terrains, including a new recording of a gig from 2023, made by a most heterogeneous grouping of instrumentalists: guitarists, bass clarinetists,
Read moreGérard Grisey – Vortex Temporum Ukho Ensemble Kyiv, Luigi Gaggero, conductor Self-released LP Composer Gérard Grisey (1946-1998) employed methods that often involved magnifying seemingly small details into overarching concepts. This is particularly true of spectrographic measurements taken of single pitches, such as the low E on a trombone, which revealed a series of overtones that he would use to craft harmonic systems for a number of pieces. This spectral approach, also employed by Tristan Murail, Hugues Dufourt, James Tenney, and others, was an important feature of French music, and later that in other countries, from the 1970s onward.
Read moreElliott Carter’s String Quartet No. 1, by Laura Emmery, Cambridge Elements, Music Since 1945, Cambridge University Press. Laura Emmery has done a great deal of analytical research on the music of Elliott Carter, and her book on his string quartets is a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning how he composes. Emmery’s latest publication is part of Cambridge University Press’s Elements series, one of several slender and specific books that each deal with a particular topic. Here, it is Elliott Carter’s String Quartet No. 1, which was composed in 1950-’51 and is widely regarded as a watershed work
Read moreStile Antico Returns to Sing at St. Mary’s Church of Saint Mary the Virgin November 9, 2025 Published in Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey NEW YORK – The British choral group Stile Antico has been together for twenty years, and while they have premiered several new works, the ensemble specializes in repertoire from the Renaissance era. Indeed, this past Saturday on Miller Theatre’s Early Music series, at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in midtown Manhattan, the theme of their program was “The Golden Renaissance.” At St. Mary’s, Stile Antico presented works by noteworthy composers of the
Read moreErika Dohi is a pianist, vocalist, composer, and improviser. Her full length recording Myth of Tomorrow is out today, Friday, October 24th, via Switch Hit/Figure Eight. She collaborates with Metropolis Ensemble on several of the album’s songs, including the title track (previewed below). Vocoder plays a big role in her singing, and the instrumental component combines classical instrumentation, fluid synths, and programmed rhythms. Myth of Tomorrow by ERIKA DOHI
Read moreThe NY Philharmonic Celebrates Boulez’s Centenary Works by Bartók, Boulez, Debussy, and Stravinsky Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano New York Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Saturday, October 4, 2025 Saturday, October 11, 2025 NEW YORK – In October, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted the New York Philharmonic for two consecutive weeks. Both programs celebrated the centenary of the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez (1925-2016), who was Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 1971-1977. Boulez was a key figure of the post-WWII avant-garde and a proponent of serial music, then in its early stages. By the 1970s, Boulez was an internationally renowned conductor of
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