Author: Jerry Bowles

Concerts, Contemporary Classical

Living Composers Wanted

Okay, listen up. This is important. The American Music Center (AMC) and American Composers Forum (ACF) have teamed up with Columbia University’s Research Center for Arts and Culture to conduct the first major study of living composers. Since many Sequenza21 readers are, in fact, living and do write music, that means you. The study, they say, aims to gather important data to guide their efforts in better serving and advocating for composers of all styles and backgrounds.

If you are a composer, you can be a part of this important research by filling out the online survey at the link below. Should take about 20 minutes of your time. Says here that your participation will broaden the study’s reach and provide a better understanding of current trends in the field. Hie thee thither (but wait until about 2 pm eastern because that’s when the link goes live. )

The link is here.

by Jerry Bowles
Classical Music, Contemporary Classical

Oh, Canada

Last week, the CBC  announced that the CBC Radio Orchestra, a fixture in Canadian musical life for 70 years,  would give its final concert in November.   This is a sign that:

1) Classical music has failed to engage the attention of younger listeners and has become irrelevant to the lives of most people.  This is mainly the fault of dreary programming and unimaginative presentation by unenlightened gatekeepers;

2) Yet another depressing sign that Canada is becoming more like the United States–a pop culturized, winner-take-all society in which competition for attention is fueled solely by ratings and money.  

3) Something else?

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Bruce Almighty

I must confess that I had never heard of pianist Bruce Levingston until he called me a couple of weeks ago. That is clearly an oversight on my part since a couple of minutes of googling reveals him to be a man of considerable resources, owner of a celebrity-stuffed Rolodex and impeccable taste–a kind of latter day combination of Paul Sacher and Peter Duchin.  Which would explain, of course, why he’s been under my radar for so long.

Levingston is the force behind the Premiere Commission, Inc., a non-profit organization that, as the name implies, supports the commissioning and first performances of new works. The organization was founded in 2001 with the support of composers William Bolcom and George Perle,  Morey Ritt, and arts patrons Richard Goldman, Michael Kempner, George Plimpton and David Rockefeller.

So far, the group has commissioned works by more than 30 composers, including Milton Babbitt, Angelo Badalamenti, Gordon Beeferman, Lisa Bielawa, William Bolcom, Regina Carter, Justine Chen, John Corigliano, Sebastian Currier, Curtis Curtis-Smith, David Del Tredici, Paul Festa, Philip Glass, Daron Hagen, Wendell Harrington, Zhou Long, Paul Moravec, John Patitucci, Lenny Pickett, Peter Quanz, Wolfgang Rihm, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Paul Schoenfield, Jonathan Sheffer, Hollis Taylor, Gregg Wramage, Charles Wuorinen and Chen Yi.   Glass’ A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close (see photo) is among the best-known of those commissions.

On Monday April 14, Levingston will emerge from his digs at the Chelsea Hotel (where he has lived long enough to have shared an elevator with Virgil Thompson) to perform a program called Points of Departure, a special solo concert at Zankel Hall that explores the unique artistic relationships between four of the most prominent composers of today and four of the most influential composers of the past. The concert includes world premieres of Pulitzer Prize-winner Charles Wuorinen’s Heart Shadow (inspired by Salman Rushdie and Claude Debussy) and 2007 Grawemeyer Award-winner Sebastian Currier’s Departures and Arrivals (inspired by Scarlatti and Liszt), as well as the New York premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Brahmsliebewaltzer (inspired by Brahms). The program also includes  works of Brahms, Scarlatti, Debussy, Liszt and Pärt.  Program and ticket sales are here.
 

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Going to Carolina in My Mind

After Austrian born composer and conductor Peter Paul Fuchs died about a year ago in North Carolina our English home Pliable wrote two short tributes to him On An Overgrown Path with John McLaughlin Williams. Fuchs’ widow saw the tributes and supplied Bob with previously unpublished biographical material and photos.
 
To mark the first anniversary of Fuchs’ passing, Pliable published a new profile at On An Overgrown Path and on Wikipedia (which had no entry for him) using this material. 

And here’s some good news:  Scott Unrein has revived his Nonpop Music podcast and blog.  We alll know Brian Eno but how many of you knew there was a Roger Eno?

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

Do We Have a Reviewer on Board?

Anybody up for seeing, and reviewing the New York debut of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project on April 1st at the 10th Annual MATA Festival? They’re doing Lisa Bielawa’s Double Violin Concerto, On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis by Ken Ueno (throat singer), The Conscious Sleepwalker Loops by Alejandro Rutty, MATA’s first orchestral commission, and Clades by Derek Hurst

I can get you a pair.

by Jerry Bowles
Contemporary Classical

But If So, To What Extent?

Dear Sequenza21 folks,

I enjoy your site immensely.  It is really a wealth of information and opinions – a kind of lively gathering of the diverse personalities that inhabit contemporary music.

I am a musicology grad student and I am working on a project this semester about classical music on the internet – the way new technologies affect how the music is disseminated, received, perceived, etc. – and the ways new and changing audiences are interacting with the music.

I am not sure who responds to emails at this address, but I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me.

Basically, I was interested to find out a little bit about the history of Sequenza21 – how it came together and its stages of development.

Also, I would love to hear any thoughts about the place of a site like Sequenza21 in the world of contemporary classical music:  What is the significance of the kind of community it fosters?
Does it help to reach new audiences – is it an effective means of promotion – or does its main value lie elsewhere?

Does it have some role in altering the perception of contemporary classical music in contemporary society?

…or any other thoughts.

I am sure everyone involved with the site is extremely busy.  Please do not feel pressured to reply if you simply do not have the time.  I would, however, truly appreciate any information and thoughts you could offer.

Many Thanks,
Will Boone

JB Note:  So, what do we think?

by Jerry Bowles