Author: Jerry Bowles

Contemporary Classical

Let’s Play “Name That Hungarian!”

Okay, kiddies, I have four pairs of tickets to give away to Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle at Avery Fisher Hall on March 18.  The performance is part of the New York Philharmonic’s Hungarian Echoes Festival led by the estimable Finnish hockey star Esa-Pekka Salonen.  The problem is that Sequenza 21 readers are all such a bunch of smart asses that I can never come up with a question that stumps anyone for more than 30 seconds so that means the first person who reads this probably wins.

So, here’s what we’re going to do this time.  Today, we’re giving away one pair each to the two people who come up with the best questions related to the topic of Hungarian music.  Go to the Festival page, read what it’s about and then come back and leave the toughest question you can think of.  Tonight, I’ll consult with a live Hungarian and pick two of the questions as winners.  We’ll have another contest tomorrow to answer them and give away another couple of pairs.

Sok szerencsét!

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

In the Year of the Chewable Ambien Tab…

…it behooves all composers and musicians to participate in a little supply-side bonhomie, if you know what I mean.  I’m talking self-promotion, growing your personal brand, reaching out and touching people who can do you some good.

You’re in luck.  The next Chamber Music America First Tuesdays  workshop (which is next Tuesday) features music journalists Nate Chinen and Steve Smith who will give you the real skinny on  how artists and presenters can attract print-media attention for concerts and CD releases.

The particulars:

Workshop Title: Meet the Music Press
Speakers: Music journalists Nate Chinen and Steve Smith
When: Tuesday, March 1; 3:00–5:00 P.M.
Where:  Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th St., New York City
Cost:  The workshop is free to registrants
RSVP: Seating is limited, and reservations are required. To reserve, contact Caitlin Murphy, program assistant, CMA, cmurphy@chamber-music.org, (212) 242-2022, x16.

Says in the press release that Chinen and Smith will cover such questions as:

  • How do you approach editors at newspapers and magazines?
  • How do you maximize the chances that your event will appear in a “Listings” section?
  • What persuades an editor to assign a feature story on a particular artist, ensemble, or event?
  • How do I take advantage of the blogosphere and social media to attract press attention?

Nate Chinen writes about jazz and pop for the New York Times and is a columnist for JazzTimes.   Steve Smith is the music editor of Time Out New York and writes regularly on classical/contemporary music for The New York Times and is one of the nicest people alive.

And since I’m up from my nap, if you’re not a regular reader of  our other online publication Chamber Musician Today, you should be.  You learn a lot of interesting stuff like Ten Signs That You Have Just Written a Mahler Symphony.

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Snow Twofers for Metropolis Tonight at LPR

Hi Jerry,

Hope you are well, Happy New Year!

Because of the snow, we’ve set up a 2 for 1 ticket code and private link for your readers to our concert tonight…please feel free to offer it up if you like:

http://lepoissonrouge.inticketing.com/private/

The code is:  2for1

Tonight’s concert, Hallucinations, is at LPR at 8PM (7PM doors) featuring an electro-acoustic remix by Ricardo Romaneiro of John Corigliano’s Three Hallucinations based on his Academy Award-nominated film score to “Altered States,” paired with new works by Du Yun, Gity Razaz, Enrico Chapela, and Ricardo Romaneiro.

John, Ricardo, and Enrico’s works are in surround sound (6.1!!!) and we’ve been having a blast in rehearsals — should be an awesome show. More details here: http://metropolisensemble.org/concerts/2011/hallucinations/

All best,

Andrew

http://www.metropolisensemble.org

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Totally Off-Topic Alert: My 9 Favorite American Movies of 2010

1.  The Social Network – The story of a socially-retarded Harvard teen-aged geek who screws over his best friend and a pair of very large, wealthy, well-connected  blue-blooded twin brothers to create Facebook and become the world’s youngest billionaire is an epic tale that derives much of its power from the fact that it is basically true.  Brilliant acting and pacing, with a script that is remarkably fair and leaves you with the impression that Mark Zuckerberg may be a poster boy for Asperger’s Syndrome but he is also the only guy in the room who could have pulled it off.  The Citizen Kane of the “friend me” generation.
2.  Never Let Me Go – I must confess that until a couple of weeks ago I had not heard of this brilliantly understated adaptation of Kanzuo Ishiguro’s (Remains of the Day) dystopian novel about three friends—two girls and boy–who grow up together and become romantically involved in what seems to be an idyllic English boarding school.  What we, and they, gradually learn is that they are DNA-created clones whose destiny is to become vital organ donors for the citizens of a country that has convinced itself that they are not human but mere spare parts.  I found it both chilling and emotionally wrenching.
3.  Greenberg – Ben Stiller as a 40-something slacker who begins to realize that he is no longer young and that most of his troubles just might stem from his own immaturity and self-absorption.  Like many Gen Xers wedged between the all-consuming narcissism of their boomer parents and the scary self-confidence of Gen Yers (think Mark Zuckerberg), his character is still avoiding responsibility and waiting for the big break that will never come.  With the aid of a dose of healthy confrontation from his only remaining friend, an inexplicable—even to him—attraction to a ditzy but good-hearted 25-year-old blonde (played wonderfully by an actress named Greta Gerwig), and a sick dog, he begins making baby steps toward maturity.  The dialogue and performances are precisely on target.  Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, who did The Squid and the Whale.
4. Life During Wartime – Todd Solendz’ follow-up to Happiness (1998), his dark and unforgettable masterpiece of family dysfunction on an epic scale.  Many of the same characters are back although some are played by different actors but if they have spent any time in therapy it hasn’t helped.  Solendz’s movies make you uncomfortable not simply because they deal with such happy subjects as pedophilia and sexual humiliation but also because you never sure whether what you’re seeing is meant to be very black humor or some sort of warped Greek tragedy.  Paul Reubens, Pee Wee Herman to his fans, makes a very un-Pee Wee-like appearance as an unhappy ghost and Ally Sheedy scorches the screen with a brief turn as the prickly sister who is miserable because she “gave up her poetry” to write screenplays and now lives in a beach house in Malibu with her boy friend “Keanu.”
5.  Please Give – A very New York-film about liberal guilt and waiting for the old lady next door to die so you can buy her place and knock down the wall and expand your condo.  The incredible actress Elizabeth Keener plays an unhappy for no particular reason antiques dealer who with her husband buys stuff from the heirs of people who have just died (who seldom know how much its worth and just want to get rid of it quickly anyway) and resells it for a profit.  Subtle and beautifully done.
6.  City Island – A second-string NY Times reviewer who had apparently never heard of Moliere doomed this one with a snippy review (inspiring about 400 nasty comments on the Times web site) but I thought Andy Garcia was hysterical as a corrections officer who lives with his wife and two kids in the curiously dislocated New England fishing village at the top of the Bronx called City Island.  One week he brings home a studly young prisoner on furlough ostensibly to help him build a shed in the backyard.  The awfully well-behaved con is his son by a premarital relationship and although he tells the kid he doesn’t quite get around to telling his perfect wife, played by Julianna Marguiles.  She is already suspicious of him sneaking out to “poker games” a couple of nights a week when, in fact, he’s taking acting lessons.  Things really go farcical when she spots Andy with a pretty girl who is scene partner from acting class and decides to get even by putting some moves on the sweaty young dude in the backyard who knows what she doesn’t.  Everything works out in the end, of course, and you don’t even need to know about the daughter who has dropped out of college and earning money as a pole dancer or the teenage son who likes to watch fat women eat doughnuts on the Internet.   I never liked Andy Garcia in anything before this but his “audition” for Martin Scorsese is fall-down funny and  I would pay money to watch Julianna Marguiles lick stamps for an hour.
7.  Rabbit Hole – Familiar premise of couple torn apart by the death of a child but superb writing by David Lindsay-Abaire (who wrote the play on which it is based) and excellent performances by Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckart, Miles Teller and especially Dianne Wiest, as the Nicole character’s mother make this a memorable effort.   Especially touching and well-handled is Nicole’s need to seek out and befriend the suffering teenager who couldn’t stop fast enough when her son chased his dog into the street.
8.  The Kids Are All Right – Annette Benning will probably get an Oscar for her portrayal of the butch half of a lesbian couple (the other half played by Julianne Moore) who each have a child from the same sperm donor.  The fun begins when the kids, now grown, and each an exact copy of their different mothers decide to track down the sperm donor, played by Mark Ruffalo, and he begins to form “fatherly” attachments to the kids.  Not to mention a sexual attraction to one of the lesbian mothers.  Not really a comedy although it’s listed in that category but it is educational:  I don’t think I knew before that lesbians like male porn movies.  I love the little Australian girl with the Polish name who plays the daughter.  Somebody might want to tell Julianne Moore that maybe it’s time to start not taking her clothes off in movies.
9. Winter’s Bone – This year’s Indie darling is set among the new generation of mountain folk of the Ozarks who apparently have all traded in their elders’ moonshine stills for meth labs and are happily cooking up cheap drugs for middle Americans who enjoy being stupid and having their teeth fall out.    Ree Dolly (yep, that’s the character’s name—played with enormous conviction by a young actress named Jennifer Lawrence), is a teenager with a heap of troubles.  See, Pa’s gone missing and mommy ain’t regular and so the responsibility for taking care of her siblings—a girl about nine and a boy about 12—has fallen upon poor Ree.  If she can’t find Pa and get him to make the back payments, or prove he’s dead and collect the insurance money, the county’s going to seize the family farm and they’ll be homeless.   Her only ally is her drug-addled and not very reliable uncle, played by John Hawke, (the guy who played the shopkeeper who was sweet on Trixie the Whore in Deadwood).   Turns out, Pa had been seen talking to the law and the other dealers know exactly where his remains are but are understandably not anxious for them to be found.  Finally, though, the hardy women folk take pity on poor Ree and solve her problem.   My problem with the film is that this is a culture I know a lot about (everybody in it looks like one of my uncles or first cousins) so the little wrong details annoyed me.  For example, when she’s showing her brother how to skin a squirrel she does it all wrong and, anyway, a 12-year-boy in that culture would have skinned dozens of squirrels by that age.  And the mountain mommas I know wouldn’t have taken Ree out on a nighttime boat ride so she could fish daddy up from under the big log and saw off his hands with a chainsaw to prove that he was dead.  They would have sawed them off themselves and left them in a nice plastic bag on her porch.  Mountain people are very neighborly that way.
by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Big Up to Adventurous Programmers from CMA/ASCAP

The CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming will be presented at the 33rd Chamber Music America National Conference on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at the Westin New York at Times Square (207 W. 43rd Street) in New York City.  Frances Richard, vice president and director of concert music, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), will present the awards during a ceremony that begins at 5 p.m.

Established jointly by Chamber Music America and ASCAP, the annual awards recognize U.S.-based professional ensembles and presenters for distinctive programming of new music composed in the past 25 years. The recipients were chosen by an independent panel of judges, who evaluated the applicants on the basis their programming of recent works and innovations in attracting audiences to new music performances.

The three ensembles and five presenters to be honored are:

Ensembles

The California E.A.R. Unit—based in Castaic, CA—receives the award in the category of ensembles specializing in contemporary music. Founded in 1981, the E.A.R. Unit is a composer/performer collective, presenting new works and commissions in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere in the region. Its 2009-2010 season featured works by Linda Catlin Smith, Linda Bouchard, and John Luther Adams, as well as compositions by ensemble members.

The Voxare String Quartet, based in New York City, receives the award for ensembles that perform mixed repertory. The group has explored the lineage of American quartet repertoire by performing works by Ned Rorem, David Del Tredici, Daron Hagen, and others, alongside works by European masters. The group performs in both traditional and alternative venues.

The John Escreet Project will receive the award for jazz ensembles. The past season prominently featured Brooklyn, NY pianist John Escreet’s CMA New Jazz Works commission, Explorations in Speech, which takes the rhythms and pitches of informal speech as a compositional starting point. Various samples of recorded speech are juxtaposed and sometimes superimposed—and used as the basis for musical improvisation.

Presenters

Baltimore’s Contemporary Museum Mobtown Modern Music Series receives the large contemporary presenter award. The museum introduced the series in 2007 to promote new music in its home city. Recent events included a performance, in conjunction with a FAX exhibition, of Die FaxMachine, by artistic director Brian Sacawa; a composer-portrait concert of works by Baltimore-based Alexandra Gardner; and Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night.

Southern California’s Ojai Music Festival receives the award in the mixed-repertory small presenters category. Founded in 1947 as a laboratory for such giants as Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, and Elliott Carter, the festival continues its tradition of innovation under composer/music director George Benjamin and artistic director Thomas Morris. Last season’s programming included pairings of Purcell Fantasias with classical Indian ragas, and Frank Zappa with Edgard Varèse.

The Jazz Gallery, in New York City, receives the award for large presenters specializing in jazz. The organization was cited for its commissioning series and composer workshops with Steve Coleman, as well as for its Thursday night Debut Series featuring premieres of such emerging composers as Ambrose Akinmusire, Ben Wendel, Jen Shyu, Sachal Vasandani, and Amir ElSaffar.

Milwaukee’s Present Music receives the award for small presenters specializing in contemporary music. Artistic director Kevin Stalheim reaches into the community with new music, co-teaching a course with a local music critic; local film students produce composer/artist interviews for the series’ website; visiting artists conduct master classes with a youth symphony; and the annual Thanksgiving concert features the Bucks Native American Singing and Drumming Group.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center of College Park, MD, receives the award in the category of large-scale presenters of mixed repertoire.  The center’s last season featured works it co-commissioned from Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Paul Dresher, Daniel Kelly, and others, as well as performances by Kronos Quartet and Joshua Redman. The center’s Creative Dialogues series with artists and scholars, its pre- and post-performance activities, and artist residencies, as well as its “You’re the Critic” e-surveys, engage audiences on a regular basis.

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Free Party! Help Metropolis Ensemble Celebrate Its Grammy Nomination

Just got a note from Andrew Cyr inviting Sequenza21 readers (and maybe some other less distinguished people) to a free party at Le Possion Rouge tomorrow night to celebrate the Metropolis Ensemble’s Grammy nomination for its Naxos recording of Avner Dorman’s Mandolin Concerto (Avi Avital (soloist) and Andrew Cyr (conductor) with Metropolis Ensemble). Avi, Andrew and the Metropolis crew will perform a few sets during the evening, including the Mandolin Concerto and, maybe, Andrew says, even “a Balkan music jam.” Not only is admission free but the first two drinks are on the house. The party start @7 and lasts until everyone goes home. What’s not to like?

The Red Possum (as I like to call it) is located at 158 Bleecker Street (a sacred place for those of us old to have caught Thelonious Monk on stage there in a different lifetime.)

And,  speaking of parties, the funniest classical CD review I have ever read is on page one of our sister ship today.

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Hey, Kids. It’s Ask a Conductor Day

That’s right. Anything you want to ask a famous (or maybe not so famous) conductor is now possible thanks to the miracle of Twitter. To participate, simply think of a question and pose it on Twitter. For more information or to ask a question, visit #askthemusician and choose a conductor; questions must be 140 characters or less and must include the hash tag #askaconductor and the conductor’s Twitter handle.

#askaconductor in 5 simple steps

Step 1: Think of a question

Step 2: Log in to Twitter

Step 3: Pose your question today. Just remember to stick to 140 characters or less and be sure to include the hash tag #askaconductor.

Step 4: Wait for the conductor to answer!

For a list of conductors who have signed up to participate so far, visit #askthemusicians.

Here’s what’s shakin’ so far:

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

If you’ve maxed out on football and turkey…

…surf over to our sister ship, Chamber Musician Today, and check out today’s menu.  We have the latest installment in violinist Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi’s remarkable continuing memoirs of growing up as an almost child prodigy driven by the dreams of a needy and demanding mother.  Her story is as riveting as it is painful.  Alison Lowell, aka oboetoast, has a piece about what you can learn from negative critiques (as in when a teacher you respect says “Oh, no,  I don’t think you’re conservatory material.”)   On a lighter note, Elaine Fine tells you where you can find the free sheet music for  Oh Vere Iss Mine Leedle Tog Gone and Other Funny Sings for Ukelele and Andy Hollanbeck (with a little help from me in the comments) ponders Christmas music that isn’t quite as crappy as the usual fare.  We’re hoping  you’ll add some suggestions to the comments.

If you register at CMT, you can blog there directly when you feel like it or add your existing blog, post musical events to the calendar, create a profile to promote yourself or your group, and generally make yourself taller and more attractive.   I launched the site as a lark a couple of months ago and it’s already built a decent-sized, loyal following.  I have no idea what to do with it next–maybe find a sponsor?  I’d like to give it to the Chamber Music America folks (with some strings attached) but haven’t been able to get anyone there to talk to me.  Anybody got an idea?

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Wastin’ Away Again

As some of you know, I have a few “commercial” (or, at least, I hope they will be someday) websites on pretty conventional topics–i.e., human resources, commercial real estate, commie politics, and so on.  Most of the writing that passes through them is “serious” and short on humor.  Maybe, that’s why I found this musical gem from a real estate blogger named John Reeder to be unexpectedly hilarious and insightful:

Collectively we’re idiots.  As individuals we might be smart, but collectively we’re idiots.

Don’t believe me?  I offer Exhibit A: The career of Jimmy Buffett.  His music is terrible.  You would never listen to it if you were by yourself.  But play Jimmy Buffett in a gathering of eight or more people and try to count how many people don’t sing along – like idiots.  That’s because collectively we are idiots.  We’re the kind of idiots who put on Hawaiian shirts and celebrate the music of a guy who pretty clearly ran out of lyrics after Margaritaville.

Hey, I need some CD reviewers for Chamber Musician Today and we could use another reviewer for Sequenza21. No money but free CDs. Don’t say you’ll do it and have me send you 50 CDs and I never hear from you again which has happened more than once over the past several years. In fact, only three or four people have actually been consistent contributors so think hard before you say “yes.” If you still want to do, send me an e-mail (preferably signed in blood if you can figure out a way to do it) and I’ll send you stuff to get started.

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Leonard Bernstein’s Son Remembers

Today is the 20th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s death.  He would be 92 if he were still alive.  His son, Alexander, has written a nice tribute published at dot429 this morning:

It seems impossible that twenty years have passed since my father (Leonard Bernstein) died.  Or perhaps, I should write, I haven’t seen my father for twenty years!  Sometimes I feel as though he is on tour again and will be back at any time now…

My father traveled a great deal. When he was home, though, he was really home.   As a composer, he didn’t have an office to go to like the other dads. He would stay up very late working and then wake up very late. He would always be there when we came home from school, ready to play (or at least not minding if we played quietly in his studio while he worked). In the summertime we had him all day long for swimming, tennis, sailing, or just eating six ears of corn apiece. Sometimes he would play something for us as soon as he finished writing it and would ask our opinions. Undoubtedly, it was always “terrific” because he had such faith in his work and played with such joy and energy.  You can read the rest here.

by Jerry Bowles