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 05, 2006
The Future of the Music Business
The Future of the Music Business, a book by Steve Gordon, published by BackBeat Books, San Francisco (2005), provides an excellent update on copyright legislation, and assesses the opportunities offered by the new digital technologies. The author, by way of interviews with various artists and entrepreneurs, encourages the sale of music over the internet and provides this interesting statistic from TowerGroup: in 2003, internet transactions for media, internet publishing services and digital music totaled $1.9 billion; it is estimated that this market will grow to $11.5 billion by 2009. With this in mind, we should all set up web sites to sell our tracks at 99 cents each.
However, I question whether classical music is really part of this potential boom. All the artists represented or described in the book are in the mainstream. For example, there is a lengthy interview with Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, one of the main online distributors of digital music, but as a classical composer, my experience with CD Baby has been quite different from what is described. My CD Waking in New York is currently available through CD Baby, but since 2003, only one copy was officially sold. This lack of sales could have several explanations: a) CD Baby is not where the classical music audience shops; b) the sample tracks available for free download may have somehow replaced the need to buy the actual CD and actually encourage piracy.
I would like to find a book about “the future of the classical music business”, which seems to be an entirely different beast.
posted by Elodie Lauten
5:05 PM
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