Harry Somers A Midwinter Night’s Dream Canadian Music Centre 12306 Any one considering an opera suitable for young people may want to consider Harry Somers’ A Midwinter Night’s Dream. The story takes place in very-north America, near the Artic circle, and tells the story of a bored young man who slips into a dream, thinking he is dead. The libretto, by Tim Wynne-Jones, shows a fusion of cultures, combining folklore and present-day ideas (like Star Wars and Miami Vice). The score is atmospheric. Using a piano and percussion, along with a children’s chorus, the textures move the text (and I
Read more…Will just have to wait… Since, in just a little over a week, this nearly-lifelong Northwesterner will have left Seattle and be stumbling around our new home: Yep, Houston, Texas! My wife has an incredibly sweet job waiting at the Houston Chronicle, and I’m happy to play Mister tag-along. As to music, I’ve done the “virtual” scope-out of the big and small institutions, ensembles, and universities. You all know me, though; I’ll be poking around in the cracks, looking for the really interesting folk. As to its out-of-the-way “podunkiness”, I might have to remind a few of you that while you were distracted
Read moreIt’s minimalist week in the Center of the Universe, highlighted on Friday night by the John Adams 60th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall. Adams will be conducting the American Composers Orchestra in performances of My Father Knew Charles Ives, The Wound-Dresser (with bass-baritone Eric Owens) and the Violin Concerto, with Leila Josefowicz doing the honors. Meanwhile, also on Friday, in a nearby universe, Michael Riesman, Music Director of the Philip Glass Ensemble and concert pianist, will be performing the world premiere of his marvelous new transcription for solo piano of Glass’ score to the 1931 classic horror film, Dracula. The gothic walls of the Orensanz
Read moreRudolph Dunbar (right), who died in 1988, was the first black musician to conduct the Berlin and London Philharmonic Orchestras, he wrote a best selling book on the clarinet, was an acclaimed jazz musician, and a contemporary composer. Yet today he isn’t even mentioned in the standard music reference books, and is only remembered as a black activist – why? Read about the mystery of Rudolph Dunbar over On An Overgrown Path. Photo – University of Massachusetts
Read moreStarting Wednesday night, the ICE is going to be all over town like it’s no one else’s business. Among the considerable damage they’re rendering is our own Evan Johnson’s piece Supplement for clarinet and electronics. Gareth Davis will be doing the honors at Rosenberg+Kaufman Fine Art this Friday. The folks at Linked Musicians have been recognized as an “Official Honouree” by the “Webby” awards. Membership to Linked Musicians, which is free, enables you to find jobs, bands, and just generally link up with others dedicated to live music. And they tell me a Webby is a big deal. So —
Read moreArchitect Jean Nouvel has won a competition to design the new Philharmonie de Paris building at Parc de La Villette in the French capital. The 2,400 seat auditorium is due to open in 2012. Sure looks like Boulez has some influence on the design. Check out the Flash show at the architect’s web site.
Read moreIt seems somehow fitting after a week of inexplicable madness that Julia Wolfe’s My Beautiful Scream will get its New York premiere tomorrow night when the Kronos Quartet joins the Brooklyn Philharmonic for a concert called Kronos+Cosmos. Wolfe describes My Beautiful Scream as a kind of non-concerto for string quartet. The work is a gradual unfolding and unraveling of a slow motion scream: the quartet aspect of the music is quiet and fine while the orchestra aspect is violent and menacing. Co-commissioned by the Orchestre Philharmoniue de Radio France, the Basel Sinfonietta, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, My Beautiful Scream was originally premiered in February
Read moreOur regular listen to and look at living, breathing composers and performers that you may not know yet, but I know you should… And can, right here and now, since they’re nice enough to offer so much good listening online: Gilbert Artman and Urban Sax (France) Urban Sax is a long-running ensemble / musical extravaganza founded by the French musician Gilbert Artman. It was was formed in 1973, when Artman organized a concert by a group of eight saxophonists at a classical music festival in the south of France. In subsequent years, the number of players grew to 12, 20,
Read moreCNN: Internet Radio Broadcasters Dealt Setback Full story here. Oy.
Read moreOur pal Frank Oteri has written a contribution for Take A Friend to the Orchestra, and it’s up today. Frank describes taking his friend Joe Ornstein to the ACO concert at Zankel Hall a few weeks ago. Ornstein is smart and funny and pulls no punches–it’s a good read. “People who go to the three-B concerts are snobs generally speaking. And if they aren’t, I don’t know what the hell they’re doing there.” I actually met Joe at that concert and we had a lovely chat during intermission. My own essay on the structural differences between the popular music experience and
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