Lukas Foss – Symphony 1 Amy Porter, Flute; Nikki Chooi, Violin Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta, conductor Naxos American Classics Lukas Foss (1922-2009) was an omnivorous composer who, over the course of his career, went through multiple style periods. When he was a teenager, he studied with Hindemith at Yale and then made close contacts at the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood) with Serge Koussivitzky, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein (a lifelong friend and supporter). In the 1940s, his music resembled the Americana and neoclassical styles being pursued by a plethora of American composers. In Ode (1944, revised 1958)
Read moreThe Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director Carnegie Hall June 14, 2024 By Christian Carey for Sequenza 21 NEW YORK – In their last concert appearance this season at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, conducted by their Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, presented a program of music from two early twentieth century operas that both explore French folktales alongside one of the most famous nineteenth century opera overtures, based on a legend first promulgated by mariners in the eighteenth century. The latter, Richard Wagner’s Overture to the Flying Dutchman (1843), opened the concert. It has a memorable
Read moreVision Fest 2024 – William Parker Receives a Lifetime of Achievement Award On June 18th, luminary bassist, bandleader, poet, and composer William Parker will receive a Lifetime of Achievement Award at Vision Fest 2024. The Brooklyn series for ecstatic jazz and improvised music has often featured Parker in a variety of ensemble configurations and in memorable solo performances. He will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 18th, with a plethora of events (below) and performances that will also be livestreamed (tickets). There is more to celebrate. On Friday, June 21st, AUM Fidelity is releasing two recordings featuring Parker. William Parker and
Read moreComposer, vocalist, and instrumentalist Caroline Shaw rejoins Sō Percussion for Rectangles and Circumstance, a new full length recording out today on Nonesuch. To celebrate the release, a video for the lead-off single, “Sing On,” has been released on YouTube today. Rectangles and Circumstance combines imaginative percussion writing with abundant electronics and Shaw’s pop-adjacent singing. Shaw takes on an assured and distinctive role. Her voice is sometimes treated to make it nearly unrecognizable. Elsewhere, her singing is presented in its natural, fetchingly lyrical guise. Sō has developed a sound world that befits Shaw’s heterogeneous compositions, using a plethora of pitched percussion, drums, and electronics. Whether
Read moreThe Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Thomas Cunningham, Director The Victoria Requiem Church of the Blessed Sacrament May 18, 2024 By Christian Carey for Sequenza 21 NEW YORK – The Manhattan Choral Ensemble is an auditioned forty-voice group. Among them are enthusiastic amateurs, professional singers who want to work with Director Thomas Cunningham, who is a dynamic musician and imaginative programmer, and singers from music-adjacent pursuits, notably musical theater. A diverse group to be sure, but they sing beautifully together. The main offering on their May concert program was by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), his Requiem Mass, published in
Read moreKyle Bruckmann of rivers New Focus Recordings Oboist, composer, and electronic musician Kyle Bruckmann is a dedicated advocate for contemporary concert music. One of the founding members of Splinter Reeds, he currently plays in a number of ensembles in the San Francisco Bay area, including sfSound, San Francisco Contemporary Players, and the Stockton Symphony. Bruckann teaches oboe and contemporary music at University of the Pacific. On his latest recording, Bruckmann programs a number of pieces that incorporate wildly challenging extended techniques and, in some, electronics. Bruckmann’s own Proximity, Affect features the latter, as well as deconstructed instruments.
Read moreOne of Sequenza 21’s friends is the “Diasporic Soprano” Candice Hoyes. A versatile vocalist and songwriter, she sings everything from opera to jazz to pop adjacent new music. Her new single, “In the Upper Room (For Mary Winnifred)” for soprano, piano, and bass is out today and available on Bandcamp. Mary Winnifred was Hoyes’s grandmother and a mentor figure for her. In the Upper Room (for Mary Winnifred) by Candice Hoyes The song is part of the inaugural Lincoln Center Social Sculpture Projects “Sadah Espii Proctor’s adrift: the bayou project, curated by the incredible Joyous Pierce,” which can be viewed April 26
Read moreCarl Philip Emanuel Bach Symphonies from Berlin to Hamburg Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Mayumi Hirasaki and Georg Kallweit, concertmasters Harmonia Mundi Carl Philip Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) was the middle of Johann Sebastian Bach’s three surviving sons. His music occupies the period between the baroque and classical, often called the galant or rococo style. It truly is a transitional era, with the development of the orchestra, symphony, and a move toward more homophonic textures. Several recordings of his works have recently been issued, and it is nice to see this talented composer having a moment. Akademie für Alte
Read moreSaturday, March 30th: Kafka Fragments at Tenri On Saturday at 8 PM, Kafka-Fragmente by György Kurtág will be performed at Tenri Cultural Institute (43A West 13th Street,New York NY), by soprano Susan Narucki and violinist Curtis Macomber (tickets). Earlier this week, they performed it at another venue also abundantly supportive of contemporary classical music, Buffalo University. Kafka-Fragmente is based on aphoristic texts by Franz Kafka from his diaries and correspondence. As is his practice, Kurtág brought the composition together gradually, collecting fragments over time and completing the piece in 1985. At seventy minutes in duration, until his opera Fin
Read moreKinds of ~Nois ~Nois, Kinds of Kings Bright Shiny Things The Bright Shiny Things recording Kinds of ~Nois is the result of a six-year long collaboration between the saxophone quartet ~Nois (Julian Velasco, soprano; Hunter Bockes, alto; Jordan Lulloff, tenor; János Csontos, baritone) and the composer collective Kinds of Kings (Shelley Washington, Maria Kaoutzani, and Gemma Peacocke). The recorded works are generally in a complexly post-minimal style, but each composer has their own distinctive voice. ~Nois’s rich ensemble tone and dexterous rhythms serve the music quite well. One can readily hear that a lot of preparation was put into
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