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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Saturday, November 19, 2005
Big Time Woman at NYCO
Big time composer Rachel Portman from England is mostly known for her film scores. She received an Academy Award for Emma in 1996. She contributed musical scores to The Manchurian Candidate, Mona Lisa Smile, The Legend of Bagger Vance, to name only a few of her Hollywood credits.
And now – right now, through November 20 at the New York City Opera, her opera based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) is being performed, in a production directed by Francesca Zambello. That is a not to miss, as Portman is the is the only female composer represented this season at NYCO - and one is more than most.
Recently the ACO performed an adventurous orchestral piece by Eve Beglarian. Tod Machover just had a premiere in Kalamazoo, so I am not too embarrassed to say my own orchestral premiere will take place at SUNY-Fredonia on November 30, up in the cold Buffalo area, with a piece called Strange Attractors (the title reflects my teeming interest in chaos theory, as befits the kind of times I've had this year, but coincidentally, just yesterday, I found a science fiction novel with the same title), and then I'll be off to Boston to see some new faces.
And as far as Thanksgiving, a happy one to you all, but for me it's thanks but no thanks. How do I hate the holidays! They act as a painful reminder of the tyranny of the dollar. Notably, Major Bloomberg intervened in resolving the dispute between Radio City and their orchestra (they had to use tape for the last couple of weeks) and now the schlockmeisters can shine - actually, there is one touring orchestra for Eastern Europe that creatively combines a kind of Boston Pops set up with some live electric guitar, with guitarists sporting long hair and tuxedos. I dread to hear the material, though. Do I sound cranky? I have had a horrific year -with the exception of the freedom I enjoy in this blog space. Thank you, heartfully, Sequenza21!
posted by Elodie Lauten
5:04 PM
Monday, November 14, 2005
State Your Purpose
About a century ago, the idea of art for art’s sake was a hot debate. Here and now in the US, it seems that music and art have to have some kind of purpose. Any grant application is required to address the ‘community’ issue. Should music serve the community beyond various levels of entertainment-enlightainment? Does a piece have to have an actual subject matter that addresses community issues? Or involve participants that are meaningful to a community?
In the days of Bach, a piece was commissioned by the church or the aristocracy for the purpose of worship or celebration. It did have a built-in social purpose. Romanticism focused on the individual, and brought about a change of purpose: in fact, a piece would stand on its own as a means of expression for the composer. In the 20th century in the US, music has been a factor of social evolution. As African American music gradually dominated popular music, racial integration took place, and as White kids listened to the blues, rock music was born. For a while, it served as a factor of liberation, although not women’s… I remember the days of all-girl bands – a necessity when the guys wouldn’t let us play the guitars with them. Unfortunately, those same rock tunes that spelled revolution are now aired as background to television commercials - time has eroded their edge.
To charge a music event with definite community content promotes timidity and leans towards hackneyed formulas. Aren’t artists doing enough for the community by pioneering iffy neighborhoods and turning them into valued real estate, only to be kicked out a few years later? Isn’t that enough community service? Can’t we have a little leeway here, when it comes to content?
posted by Elodie Lauten
8:12 AM
DMP’s Socialist Uptown
This week, I was perusing the program for Downtown Music Productions, with its new home at St Mark's Church (10th St and Second Avenue) on Sunday afternoons. DMP twice received an ASCAP award for adventurous programming and it is unique in New York for its unexpected associations. ‘Downtown’ actually is a misnomer, because true-to-form ‘downtown’ composers are not often featured in this eclectic program. A lot of straightforward classical music is presented, like Aaron Copland, French composers (Fauré, Darius Milhaud, Eric Satie) but also women classics that no one else performs, like Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, all blended with Chinese music, uptown women Mary Carol Warwick, Joyce Hope Suskind, Rebecca Clarke and Lera Auerbach, and Laura Wolfe, blues singer-songwriter turned composer, with subjects like satire and ecology, programs for children and the elderly and DMP's annual Benson AIDS Series at Trinity Church on December 1 (1PM), featuring works by Robert Chesley, Lee Gannon, Chris DeBlasio, and Kevin Oldham, performed by Marshall Coid, countertenor, David Eggar, cello and Mimi Stern-Wolfe, piano.
posted by Elodie Lauten
8:10 AM
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