Concoct Sonance
Amos Elkana was one of the composers I found/heard/met almost a decade ago on the original grand experiment in social music-sharing, MP3.com. With an obsidian-like hardness, sheen and edge, his…
Xenakis on a Raft or Steven and Doug Go Boating
Not a short order in a Greek coffee shop but the first American open-air performance of Iannis Xenakis’ Persephassa (1969), a thunderous work for six percussionists, including founding member of…
Werewolves of San Francisco
Putting a musical program together is always a challenge, but it’s one thing on paper, and another live, in front of people. The San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra’s Silence of…
It’s official: BoaC’s a Rock Band! (Video)
Who’s the first (ahem) “downtown contemporary classical ensemble” to be added to the videogame Rock Band? Bang on a Can All Stars host their annual Marathon this Sunday (6/26) at…
Houston Mixtape #2: Huey Long and The Ink Spots Museum
Photo of The Ink Spots Museum by Chris Becker Being a recent transplant to Houston, Texas, I am only just beginning to take in the breadth and variety of the…
Powerhouse Pianists
The final American Modern Ensemble concerts of the season are happening this Thursday and Friday (June 24 and 25, 8pm) at Faust Harrison Pianos. Stephen Gosling and Blair McMillen will…
Parker from Orpheus to WQXR
For the past eight years, Graham Parker has been the Executive Director of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Now, he’s going to work for New York’s classical music radio station. It was…
It Ain’t Necessarily (Just) So
I’m still reveling in the memory of So Percussion’s appearance with the Orchestra of the League of Composers last week. And here’s a new recording of music of another sort…
When a Berio Sequenza is your warm-up piece…
Robert Dick in Recital Institute and Festival of Contemporary Performance Mannes College of Music (New School University) June 17, 2010 Robert Dick was a name we heard in graduate school,…
Happy Birthday Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Igor Stravinsky’s birthday is today. Check out this recording of Stravinsky’s own Greeting Prelude, which was played on the occasion of Louis Andriessen’s 70th birthday by Reinbert de Leeuw and…