Pianos East and West, tuned and retuned
We may have missed the first volleys of southern California’s MicroFest — concerts devoted to tunings other than our standard, boring old 12 steps to the octave — but there’s…
La Commedia or, my dinner with Louis
Thursday, April 15 marked the New York premiere of Louis Andriessen’s latest opera, La Commedia at Carnegie Hall. I was lucky enough to make it up to New York for…
NYPO’s Contact! at Symphony Space
The New York Philharmonic has made significant strides to renew its commitment to contemporary classical music this season. Curated by composer-in-residence Magnus Lindberg and conducted by music director Alan Gilbert,…
Music inspired by World War II
There are many compositions dealing with the horrors of World War II. Some of them, like Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, have little to do with the war–Penderecki…
Sequenza21 Concert in Peru? ¿Por que no?
Caught up with our old amigo Marco Antonio Mazzini on Skype the other night and discovered that he has been touring the U.S. with his Belgian group, Thelema Trio, promoting…
Dillon’s baby comes home
Fresh off its German premiere, composer and S21 blogger Lawrence Dillon‘s newest string quartet begins making its rounds of the U.S. this week, under the completely able fingers and bows…
Happy Geburtstag Helmut!
Helmut Lachenmann, 75 years old this year. How does the news strike us? If a composer in Europe, a better than 60%-70% chance that this is an important milestone. If…
Composing and Listening Out Loud
Saturday, March 27th at 7:30pm CDT, anyone in driving range of Birmingham, Alabama should be paying UAB’s Hulsey Recital Hall (950 13th Street South) a visit. Back last year, Meet…
Out Today: Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión
For those who think that DG’s days of deluxe packaging are over, one only need check out one of today’s releases, Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión segun San Marcos to realize…
Opera Vista: let the battle begin
Spring has definitely sprung down here in Houston; everything that looked dead just a few weeks ago is sprouting all kinds of new growth. And that goes for opera as…