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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Sunday, February 26, 2006
Downtown in deep cover
Sometimes I think the word ‘downtown’ is doomed because it has the prefix ‘down’ - obviously, it is preferable to go up than to go down... And lately, I find that the only downtowners who are going up are uptown transfers, i.e. people who used to do downtown but have somehow managed to get the uptown gigs. So where are the real downtowners right now?
There are several issues that preclude the development of a creative music scene:
- the prevalence of commercialism
- an atmosphere of conservatism and timidity in the arts
- as in other professions, age discrimination – limited opportunities are shuffled off to the youngsters, never mind those who spent their lifetimes making new music and really have something to say;
- the cost of performing: between the mailings, the telephone calls, the transportation costs, the performers' fees, any concert, even at a very small scale, has a price tag - and people don’t even buy CDs at concerts any more;
-composers are pitted against one another for scanty opportunities, instead of uniting towards the common good;
-audiences are lacking – small events used to attract 30 people, but not any more: due to the rising cost of everything, you quickly find that those same people don’t go out as often and it is much more difficult to draw an audience without a major publicity effort
-a general preference for screen entertainment and internet activities versus live music
- a tremendous resistance to acknowledging downtown music – Kyle Gann often complains that when he writes about downtown music, he gets inundated with nasty responses. What is it about downtown music that can trigger such reactions? It is being perceived as threatening?
Right now, it seems that we’ve all taken deep cover - maybe the downtown scene is fading away - hopefully, only to be rediscovered 25 years from now as an important movement like Dadaism in art and literature.
What can we do? I would like to propose an event – at least a panel discussion –focusing on downtown music … and its virtual happenings.
posted by Elodie Lauten
8:52 AM
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