It may be old news to some of regular music blog readers, but I think some of the tips by conductor Kenneth Woods – Oh no! More tips…. Now it’s the poor composers…. might be of interest to S21 readers. The rehearsal tips alone are something every composer should memorize. The notation tips, might be controversial, but they’re what I have been doing since I got our of grad school. Always using Italian for instructions, notating as simply as possible, etc. His story about the recent composer in residence process as seen through an arts community was also fascinating. Thanks
Read moreOK, here’s an idea I’ve been working on for a few days… it attempts to combine ALL the projects/ideas into one. What it attempts to do is this: 1. Empower and pay performers – get them excited to be involved 2. Be easily replicable across cities 3. Keep the concert experience short and not too much setup 4. Produce a CD in the process 5. Auto-generate a podcast when combined with interviews 6. Do NOT commission composers – pay performers well – develop some loyalty in the process 7. Combine the ‘variety show’ aspect of the miniatures concert (Miniaturist Ensemble/60×60/Analog
Read moreYet another one, via Carson Cooman: Elias Tanenbaum, composer, teacher and long-time New Rochelle resident died on Thursday after a long illness. He composed over 140 works in all idioms, including music for concert, jazz, theater, television, ballet and electronic and computer music. His music has been performed extensively throughout this country, Europe and Japan and recordings of his music can be found on Albany, New World, MMC and other labels. Mr. Tanenbaum was the Founding Director of the Electronic Computer Music Studio at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and he was a member of the
Read moreSteve Peters quietly came to Seattle in 2004, after running the non-profit performance organization Nonsequitur out of Albuquerque for 15 years. After a stint at Jackstraw he was finally ready to get back to what he does best (besides making his own wonderful music/sound-art): creating an inviting and flexible space and then filling it up with vital performances. Very soon after its inaugaration this year, the Chapel became probably the premiere initmate space in Seattle for catching new music. An actual chapel in the beautiful, old Good Shepherd Center (a former home for young girls), tucked into a great park
Read moreGiven the inexplicable stature of our little S21 community, it occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that we should do something useful. I’ve chatted with a few of the regulars and gotten some good ideas but I thought I would open up the discussion to everybody. Here’s what we have so far: 1) another Sequenza21 concert like the very successful one we had a couple of years ago. We’d raise a little money from readers and I would shake down…ur, trade a few record companies some free advertising for dollars. My feeling is that if we go the concert route, we
Read moreHonest, I swear this is Sequenza21, not the obituaries. But this is otherwise (and unfairly) likely to pass unnoticed in our usual music-blog land: Henri Chopin, one of the pioneering figures in sound poetry, passed away in France on January 3rd. Born in 1922, he was one of the great explorers of a poetry that favored supremacy of the voice — in all its manifestations — over the “tyranny” of the word. An early adopter of tape recorders and the same electronic studios European composers were at work in, and for many years an active publisher of magazines that disseminated many of the
Read moreState of Affairs is a call-in discussion program on Louisville’s NPR affiliate, 89.3 WFPL (kind of like Talk of the Nation), Weekdays at 11am (EST) Tomorrow’s topic is NEW MUSIC. I will be a guest along with Marc Satterwhite, professor of composition at the University of Louisville. Marc also coordinates the Grawemeyer Award. Joining by phone will be Peter Lieberson, latest Grawemeyer winner. It’s a call in show, so if you have a comment or question give us a yell (I don’t know the number, but it will be announced throughout the program). “But Daniel, I don’t live in Louisville.”
Read moreRemember how last year’s music Pulitzer was awarded to Ornette Coleman’s “Sound Grammar” even though the album wasn’t entered into the competition? I argued at the time that by awarding the prize to a composer who hadn’t entered, the Pulitzer committee had essentially voided the requested $50 “handling fee.” This is significant because the number of people who apply for the prize each year is quite small–last year there were only 129 entries for the music prize. Presumably what happens is that only people who think that they write in the right style and have the right connections and national profile bother
Read moreNaxos has a spate of exciting releases coming out, including recordings of works by Carter, Wuorinen, Coates, and Hersch, all of which will be covered in subsequent columns. Today’s posting focuses on their recently released new music sampler. Various Artists Sonic Rebellion Naxos WWW.Naxos.com Want to familiarize yourself or your loved ones with modern classical music, but not sure where to begin? Sonic Rebellion, a compilation of excerpts from Naxos recordings, is an excellent single disc starter kit. The CD features composers in most of the main stylistic idioms prevalent in recent times: modernism, minimalism, aleatory, neo-romanticism, and even electronic
Read moreI am not, generally speaking, a big fan of movie music although the ability to produce useful art on demand appeals to my lifetime hack sensibilities. I don’t think Bernard Hermann and Miklos Rozsa are overlooked concert hall geniuses who might have been among the greats had they not traded their souls for big houses in Beverly Hills. They are what they are. Writing for films is a craft, not an art, but it is a demanding craft that not every composer–even a great one–can do. In Andre Previn’s memoirs of his Hollywood years (which is called No Minor Chords because Irving Thalberg once degreed
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