I have the following CDs available for review: Philip Corner – Extreme Positions – The Barton Workshop Stirling Newberry – Xaos and Capricorn -Two string quartets on each. (Steve Hicken not eligible since he wrote the intro) Terry Riley – In C – Ars Nova – First version with voices Da Capo package (3 CDs) – Langgard, Pettersson, Romantic Trombone Concertos Huang Ruo – Chamber Concerto Cyle – ICE John Adams – Complete Piano Music Recipients must accept (and review) a second CD of my choosing. Serious inquiries only.
Read moreThe University of Louisville descended on to New York City this week for a big event, and I don’t mean the Big East tournament (well, they did that also and lost). Musicians from the School of Music, the symphony orchestra and wind symphony, filled Carnegie Hall with music from Grawemeyer-winning composers and the 2007 Grawemeyer winner. To begin the concert, the University of Louisville Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kimcherie Lloyd, presented two very distinct works by Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994) and Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960). Fanfare for Louisville by Lutoslawski surrounded the concert stage with brass, winds and percussion in
Read moreTired of playing with yourself? Well, you don’t have to anymore. Take a look at e-jamming, a web site that lets you hook up with other musicians online to write, rehearse, record and play together in real-time. Who is Nico Mulhy and should I care?
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: Christopher Hopkins (b.1957 — US) Christopher Hopkins is an assistant professor of music composition at Iowa State University of Science and Technology, where he teaches courses in composition, music technology, sound synthesis and orchestration. He is director of the Lipa Festival of Contemporary Music. As a composer he works in both experimental and traditional forms, with special interests in electroacoustic
Read moreSebastian Currier has won the 2007 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for “Static,” a six-movement piece for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Currier, who teaches at Columbia University, studied at the Manhattan and Julliard schools of music. His winning work was commissioned by Copland House of Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., for its resident ensemble, Music from Copland House, with funds from Meet the Composer, a national organization supporting new works by composers. The ensemble premiered the piece at Columbia’s Miller Theatre in February 2005 and recorded it for Koch International Classics. Frank has details over at NewMusicBox. And
Read moreAny musical work which has a long. complex, and– dare I say it? –troubled history — can’t help but raise a red flag. Is the artist wrestling with something alive and kicking, or is he or she merely tinkering? Lou Harrsion’s “gay opera” Young Caesar, which began as a 1969 commission from the group Encounters, was first staged as a puppet opera for vocalists and 5 instrumentalists. A subsequent version, for 11 instrumentalists, onstage singers, and full chorus, followed, and this one, performed by the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus in 1988, was roundly criticized, though the performers, some of whom
Read moreLet’s go to the old mailbag and see what’s happening in the exciting world of new music. Ah, here’s something. Our friends at the American Music Center are launching Counterstream Radio, a showcase for new music by U.S. composers, on March 16 at 3 p.m. EST. To mark the official station launch, Counterstream Radio will broadcast an exclusive conversation between Meredith Monk and Björk. No word on who gets to wear the chicken suit. Actually, the station is streaming right now so you don’t have to wait until the 16th to try it out. Any chance of getting a popup player
Read moreProps to our amigo Tom Steenland who has been producing great avant-garde recordings on his Starkland label from Boulder for many years now. It isn’t every day that a CD from a small label makes the New York Times but Phillip Bimstein’s Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica caught the attention of Steve Smith, who has livened up the Times immeasurably since he started writing over there. Steve reviewed it yesterday, opining that “… the irresistible charm of Mr. Bimstein’s music has less to do with technology than with his uncanny knack for finding the music of everyday life.” If you prefer, Tom has prepared a
Read moreBeth Anderson is hosting Women’s Work 2007, a series of three Wednesday concerts in March at Greenwich House Arts. The dates are March 14, 21 and 28 and the venue is the Renee Weiler Concert Hall at Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street, New York City (between Seventh Avenue South and Bedford St.). Beth has pulled together a terrific package of recent chamber instrumental and vocal music by prominent contemporary women composers from Asia, the U.S. and Europe, and how their work has been influenced by folk music, poetry and even new technology. To do our part, the crack Sequenza21 team
Read moreBased mainly on my accidental success in building such a lively, tight knit and fun little community here, I am now getting a few paying gigs from people who want to know how to build “social networks.” I’m not sure it is possible to duplicate the level of passion and involvement that we get here (because you’re all so damned weird) but I’m willing to giving it a shot for paying customers to cover my Starbucks nut. As part of my research, I’ve been playing around with Ning, which is Marc Andreessen’s latest venture. Ning is basically WordPress for social networks–a
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