Composer/keyboardist/producer Elodie Lauten creates operas, music for dance and theatre, orchestral, chamber and instrumental music. Not a household name, she is however widely recognized by historians as a leading figure of post-minimalism and a force on the new music scene, with 20 releases on a number of labels.
Her opera Waking in New York, Portrait of Allen Ginsberg was presented by the New York City Opera (2004 VOX and Friends) in May 2004, after being released on 4Tay, following three well-received productions. OrfReo, a new opera for Baroque ensemble was premiered at Merkin Hall by the Queen's Chamber Band, whose New Music Alive CD (released on Capstone in 2004) includes Lauten's The Architect. The Orfreo CD was released in December 2004 on Studio 21. In September 2004 Lauten was composer-in-residence at Hope College, MI. Lauten's Symphony 2001, was premiered in February 2003 by the SEM Orchestra in New York. In 1999, Lauten's Deus ex Machina Cycle for voices and Baroque ensemble (4Tay) received strong critical acclaim in the US and Europe. Lauten's Variations On The Orange Cycle (Lovely Music, 1998) was included in Chamber Music America's list of 100 best works of the 20th century.
Born in Paris, France, she was classically trained as a pianist since age 7. She received a Master's in composition from New York University where she studied Western composition with Dinu Ghezzo and Indian classical music with Ahkmal Parwez. Daughter of jazz pianist/drummer Errol Parker, she is also a fluent improviser. She became an American citizen in 1984 and has lived in New York since the early seventies
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Thursday, July 07, 2005
Not for Sale
How can we escape the constant pressure to market ourselves?
We are subjected to the business model of the creator selling their wares, like craftspeople in a flea market - having our wares displayed on the internet as virtual reality, if not in real life.
The selling drive is more worrisome when it takes over the way music is presented. Everything is viewed in terms of sales potential. Club owners are only concerned about how many people you will ‘draw’. As a result, acts having the largest number of available friends willing to spend money on drinks and going out, will get the most exposure. As for orchestras and large organizations, they are primarily concerned with keeping their subscribers, and it drives them towards a conservative approach. But marketing a program should be the work of advertisers. Let them do their job, and let us do ours… separately!
The moment that a concern with sales or generally with the effect a piece of music will potentially have, a form of corruption sets in. It can be very subtle, and even affect the way a project is presented or re-designed for a particular target. I am still calling this compromise.
posted by Elodie Lauten
4:01 PM
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