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A Tribute to Robert Muczynski
Published on 2012-05-25 04:00:43
Two years ago today composer Robert Muczynski passed away. He left behind a strong output of mostly chamber works and solo piano pieces of tremendous vitality and presence. Muczynski is one of those 20th century composers who are under-performed and under-appreciated because they not fit into the worlds of minimalism, serialism, or experiments in new [...] > read more
Announcing our partnership with the Huffington Post
Published on 2012-05-24 07:00:43
As of today, the Huffington Post started reposting selected articles from I Care if You Listen. The first one is an opinion post—and one of our top articles—written by R. Andrew Lee, Performers as Co-Composers. This in an important step for I Care if You Listen and I have to thank our readers for their [...] > read more
Hanging out with Florent Ghys | Hang #5
Published on 2012-05-23 07:00:41
Fifth installment in our Hang video series: Florent Ghys. Florent Ghys is a composer and upright bass player from Bordeaux, France. He studied ethno-musicology with a focus on Arabic contemporary music in Université de Bordeaux 3, and classical contrabass in Paris with Thierry Barbé. He is currently a graduate student at New York University, studying composition [...] > read more
Thresholds – the healing power of music
Published on 2012-05-22 07:00:27
Saturday night at St. Paul the Apostle on Manhattan’s west side, the Schola Cantorum on Hudson (SCH) brought the audience their season’s final concert, Thresholds, based on the theme of healing. As artistic director and founder Dr. Deborah Simpkin King states in the program, this “theme was chosen in honor and commemoration of those lost, [...] > read more
Solid Performance of New Compositions by Prism Saxophone Quartet
Published on 2012-05-20 14:00:07
Prism Saxophone Quartet gave a solid performance of new works by Curtis Institute students and faculty in NYC at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church on May 10th. The church seemed the ideal setting to display the quartet’s sound, with gorgeous sonorities, jarring dissonances, and stratospheric intensities filling the room. Prism Quartet is one of those [...] > read more
Erdem Helvacioğlu, Eleven Short Stories
Published on 2012-05-18 03:30:39
Let’s play a word association game. If I say, “prepared piano,” many of you might think “John Cage.” Yes, John Cage was a pioneer for prepared piano, and yes, Sonatas and Interludes becomes an almost inevitable comparison when discussing any prepared piano composition, but I only mention Cage because I don’t want you to think about [...] > read more
The Sinking of the Titanic: Gavin Bryars Ensemble @ Barbican
Published on 2012-05-17 07:00:28
Just over one hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic. The tragedy was immortalized with emotional intensity and delicate musical sensitivity in The Sinking of the Titanic, written by British composer Gavin Bryars, and performed by him and his Ensemble at the Barbican on April 15. Bryars is recognised as a diverse musician and [...] > read more
SFCMP Zone 5: in which discussing a plan leads to some confusion
Published on 2012-05-16 07:00:18
Artistic director Steven Schick and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (SFCMP) concluded their fortieth season with a program featuring a broad mix of new music. Everything from pure electronics to solo viola was represented. One is struck by both the diversity of programming and the highly polished performance presented by SFCMP. Unfortunately I missed [...] > read more
Brooklyn Village at Roulette, by the Brooklyn Philharmonic (Est. 1857)
Published on 2012-05-14 07:00:35
Last March, and for two nights only, Brooklyn Village was performed in Downtown Brooklyn. Advertised as a “multimedia spectacular,” the show took the audience on a time travel to honor the cultural heritage of Downtown Brooklyn, and showcased the trifecta of what some people call Brooklyn’s cultural renaissance: the newly “rebooted” Brooklyn Phil, the Brooklyn [...] > read more
Kronos Quartet with Rula Jebreal, Marjane Satrapi, and Tony Kushner @ the Metropolitan Museum
Published on 2012-05-11 07:00:05
One would think that music and spoken word are two of the most complimentary art forms. They seem like they should be a perfect match; next to music, spoken word is the medium most reliant on pitch and rhythm, not to mention abstract concepts like cadence, consonance and dissonance. But the combination is a risky [...] > read more
5 questions to Lynn Bechtold (violinist, member of Zentripetal Duo)
Published on 2012-05-10 07:00:18
With three more concerts to go, the 26th season of North River Music at Greenwich House Music is not over yet! We asked 5 questions to Lynn Bechtold, violinist and member of Zentripetal Duo performing tonight on Barrow Street… Sometimes, musicians fall in love with the geometry of a piece and decide to start an ensemble (I believe [...] > read more
Composers Inc: Season Finale at Old First Presbyterian Church
Published on 2012-05-09 07:00:57
The concluding concert in Composers Inc.’s season took place on April 24 at San Francisco’s Old First Presbyterian Church. Unusually for such an off day, the audience was quite sizable, and included all six composers whose music was being performed that night. The concert began with Eric Chasalow’s set of songs using texts by Anne Sexton, called [...] > read more
Aeolus Quartet, Many-Sided Music
Published on 2012-05-07 07:00:14
You might credit Leonard Berstein for inspiring this CD, who described the “many-sidedness” of American music in his Young People’s Concert: What is American Music?. He believed that American folk music, despite its youth, “is probably the richest in the world, and all of it is American in spirit, whether it’s jazz, or square-dance tunes, [...] > read more
Fazil Say at the Met Museum
Published on 2012-05-05 03:00:29
Throughout his career, much ink has been spilled concerning Fazil Say’s place at a cultural crossroads. Born and raised in Turkey, Say’s work as an interpreter has run from Bach and Mozart to Bartok and Gershwin, while as a composer his work blends European classicism with Turkish elements, as well as an occasionally jazzy aesthetic. [...] > read more
5 questions to Experiments in Opera (composers collective: Jason Cady, Aaron Siegel, and Matthew Welch)
Published on 2012-05-03 07:00:01
On Thursday, May 10 and Friday, May 11 at 8pm, Experiments in Opera, the new collective founded by composers Jason Cady, Aaron Siegel, and Matthew Welch, will present its Spring Series at Roulette in Brooklyn: four new operas will be heard in workshop performances over the two evenings. Jason, Aaron, and Matthew (as well as Lynn Levy and Dave Ruder [...] > read more
Sabaneev’s Tumultuous Piano Trios Finally Get Their Day in Court
Published on 2012-05-02 07:00:26
There are rare moments in history when political and social upheaval come together with artistic innovation to produce music that is both emotionally charged and brazenly experimental. Unfortunately, Western art music for the most part missed its chance at the last such possible moment (the 1960s), standing aside (with a few exceptions) from the struggles [...] > read more
The Traces of Sound: Aisha Orazbayeva @ Kings Place
Published on 2012-05-01 07:00:33
Violinist Aisha Orazbayeva presented a compelling programme of contemporary violin works on April 23 at Kings Place, London. It was great to hear her live after reviewing her recording for Nonclassical which showed her to be a violinist of strong interpretative abilities and tonal control. Such skills permit a breadth of expression for repertoire that needs [...] > read more
Kickin’ It Old School: Brooklyn Rider’s 7 Steps
Published on 2012-04-30 03:30:02
The versatile Brooklyn Rider String Quartet is one of a number of chamber groups seeking to take the classical tradition out of its well-worn ruts, give it a fresh perspective, infuse it with the new and emerging, and bring it to new audiences. Its latest endeavor in that regard is something seemingly counter-intuitive: recording Beethoven’s [...] > read more
Highlights of the 2012-2013 season at the Met Museum
Published on 2012-04-28 09:00:43
As this season was drawing to an end, the Metropolitan Museum was announcing the next, a couple of weeks ago, in the beautiful Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. Curated by Limor Tomer, this new season will feature some edgy shows, some new music performed on historical instruments from the Sau Wing Lam Collection, and a year-long partnership with [...] > read more
Third Annual New Music Bake Sale at Roulette
Published on 2012-04-27 07:00:16
On Sunday, March 11, 2012 the Third Annual New Music Bake Sale took place at Roulette in Brooklyn: great music, nice people, and tons of baked goods. We were happy to modestly sponsor the event, and also had a table there. In between two handshakes, we let the camera roll. Here it is… Watch this [...] > read more
Redshift: Kinetic Music (with storm) at Salle Pianos
Published on 2012-04-24 07:00:47
The small audience who braved a rare San Francisco thunderstorm to get to Redshift’s concert on April 12 was rewarded for their trip by an evening filled with mostly minimalist-influenced music, wine, and cookies. Redshift, a bi-coastal ensemble whose website says they are based in New York and San Francisco, consists of Jeff Anderle (clarinet), Rose [...] > read more
Guitar Plus: David Leisner and Jon Klibonoff at Symphony Space
Published on 2012-04-23 11:00:42
Classical guitar is a pain in the ass. The way you’re meant to sit: weird/humiliating. The disparity between left and right hand technique: completely frustrating. Reading guitar music at sight: laughably annoying. And, perhaps most maddening: trying to project to a point at which an audience can actually hear you once you get all those other things [...] > read more
DYGONG – The E·Sessions
Published on 2012-04-20 03:00:54
Question: When is a group not a group? Answer: Don’t ask DYGONG. - CD Liner Notes The CD arrived in an unassuming package, along with other CDs to review. I couldn’t help but to pick this out of the stack and begin listening. Perhaps it was the odd-looking cover. Perhaps the even more bizarre photographs [...] > read more
5 questions to David Coll (Composer)
Published on 2012-04-19 07:00:26
MATA 2012 is happening right now for the first time at Roulette, and we wanted to take the time to talk to one of the composers featured on the April 20th concert SIGNS AND SIGNALS: David Coll. David has studied at the University of Illinois, IRCAM in Paris (Cursus and Cursus 2), and at the University [...] > read more
JACK Quartet · In the Dark
Published on 2012-04-18 07:00:51
I used to be able to count the number of profound, live musical experiences I’ve had on one hand. It began with the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin performing an arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, op. 70. The second movement was perfection, and the violin/cello duet therein left me with an indelible memory of the event. The [...] > read more
French Pieces’s Names – Pelléas et Mélisande
Published on 2012-04-17 03:00:11
Yesterday, somebody Googled Pelleas et Melisande Pronunciation and landed on I Care if You Listen. I felt so bad that the audio file was not yet available that I immediately prepared this post, the second exception to the French Composers’s Names series… The MP3 below features the only pronunciation of the title of Debussy’s opera I’ve [...] > read more
Colin Stetson at Glasslands Gallery
Published on 2012-04-16 07:00:32
Many musicians have tried to bring the avant-garde to the masses, and despite their best efforts, something fails to catch with a larger audience. Sometimes there’s a band like Radiohead or Meshuggah, who become popular by speaking in the language of rock music but whose music is just as influenced by Schoenberg or Stockhausen as [...] > read more
Switchboard Music Festival 2012 at Brava Theater
Published on 2012-04-12 03:00:19
Sunday April first (no joke!) was the fifth annual Switchboard Music Festival. One of several new music festivals/marathon concerts in San Francisco, Switchboard features eight hours of mostly modern music. I had been really looking forward to hearing the first set with Danny Holt (piano and percussion at the same time), but due to the [...] > read more
Music from Copland House and Music from China, part of the Ecstatic Music Festival @ Merkin Hall
Published on 2012-04-11 03:00:08
Chinese composers, writing in the second half of the twentieth century, faced a problem: how to write new music in a foreign style (European art music) that is still characteristic of the composer’s culture? That exact same issue was faced by American composers in the first half. To make matters worse, the classical tradition is [...] > read more
Performers as Co-Composers
Published on 2012-04-10 03:00:56
I am not a governess who treats the composer like a child and tells him what he should compose. I try to understand what he has written down. I look at the composer like a father, and I look at his music with loving but critical eyes. - Alfred Brendel, 13 September 2005, Interview with [...] > read more
Jonny Greenwood and Penderecki (Nonesuch)
Published on 2012-04-09 02:00:15
I really want to like Jonny Greenwood’s compositional career. Radiohead were the first band I loved, and I think that they helped shape my musical tastes and aesthetics more than most composers. I recall excitedly pre-ordering Greenwood’s first classical foray, the soundtrack to the film Bodysong, as soon as I found out about it back [...] > read more
5 questions to David Bloom (conductor, co-artistic director of Contemporaneous)
Published on 2012-04-08 00:37:45
Contemporaneous’ bio states that the ensemble is “dedicated to performing the most exciting music that […] captures the spirit of the present moment.” Do you mean it in an Epicurean way, or just the Zeitgeist? What’s going on in the world—musical or not—that echoes with you these days? One thing that resonates with me and [...] > read more
The Body Electric: New Zealand composers at Kings Place, London
Published on 2012-04-06 07:00:16
“A younger generation of New Zealand composers … have abandoned the country’s Romantic search for musical representations of landscape, and instead are reflecting upon increasingly personal engagements with concepts of space, memory and body” writes the curator of “The Body Electric”, Michael Norris. Kings Place is currently hosting a week of events exploring New Zealand [...] > read more
De Profundis: The Deep End – Yale in New York closes season with music for low instruments
Published on 2012-04-05 07:00:50
Bassoon, trombone, tuba, double bass, cello – in many musical textures, low voices are employed as a harmonic foundation, while a violin or soprano steals the spotlight and carries a melody. On April 1st at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Yale students, alumni and faculty demonstrated what instruments with low registers can do on their own. [...] > read more
The Mountain Goats and Anonymous 4: voices from the past, words for the present
Published on 2012-04-04 07:00:24
Ask a fan of The Mountain Goats what they listen for in the music of John Darnielle and there’s a very good chance their first answer will be words – inventive, potent words that bud to life and stamp their impression on the mind in tune after each brief tune. Ask a fan of Anonymous [...] > read more
Hanging out with Aisha Orazbayeva | Hang #4
Published on 2012-04-03 07:00:49
Her name might ring a bell since Steven Berryman reviewed her first CD last year for I Care if You Listen… Aisha Orazbayeva is a Kazakh-born violinist that is making a solid name for herself in the new classical music world. Aisha was in town for a professional development workshop and a series of concerts at [...] > read more
Chris Thile and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, at Galapagos and Carnegie Hall
Published on 2012-04-02 08:00:52
More than anything else, words like natural and effortless come to mind when listening to Chris Thile’s music. Not that it looks effortless as he spasms during his improvisations, or paces about making excited gestures at the other musicians when laying out. And there’s certainly nothing effortless about the work that goes into becoming a [...] > read more
Philip Glass at 75 at Carnegie Hall
Published on 2012-04-01 16:00:38
It is not everyday that an American icon turns 75. Of course, Elliott Carter turned 103 last December and that’s probably a bigger deal, but still, how exciting to be able to attend the US premiere of Philip Glass’ latest symphony on his 75th birthday? Now how could Carnegie make it even more special? They [...] > read more
Grand Opening: The Debut of Hotel Elefant @ The DiMenna Center for Classical Music
Published on 2012-03-30 08:00:04
The Norman S. Benzaquen Hall at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music has the appearance of a spruced up practice room, a tall, raw space with instruments piled in the corner. This was no less effective of an environment for Hotel Elefant, a group overflowing with young, dedicated musicians (seventeen in all) who have banded [...] > read more
Our Spring 2012 Mixtape is out!
Published on 2012-03-29 09:16:51
We are really excited to announce that our Spring 2012 mixtape is out! Some wonderful artists agreed to be featured: Crash Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider, Loney Dear, Thad Anderson, Lawton Hall, Young Magic, Ben Russell, and David Crowell. As always, the mixtape is free to download. Find it here! > read more
Jean-Guihen Queyras and Ensemble Resonanz, reconciling the classical and modern in Amsterdam
Published on 2012-03-28 08:00:33
Jean-Guihen Queyras and Ensemble Resonanz lit up the Ij Haven last night in Amsterdam’s Muzikgebouw aan’t Ij. There was a twinkling view of the harbor through this great glass house, and the Ensemble matched this crystalline vision with a lush dynamic ebb and flow in the treatment of the four pieces programmed. With floors of [...] > read more
Piano: Inside/Out – Zubin Kanga @ Kings Place, London
Published on 2012-03-27 08:00:37
I always find it interesting to read discussions on the validity of extended techniques and less conventional methods of sound production; perhaps occasionally – and naively – considered to be ‘gimmicks’, repertoire that exploits a broader pallette of sound production can offer insights not only in the possibilities of writing for particular instruments but also [...] > read more
Time of My Life by Adrian Knight
Published on 2012-03-26 08:00:39
Twitter has surprised me. I initially was one of the skeptics, assuming that the 140 character limit would lead to a further degradation of the English language and perpetuate the epidemic that is our declining attention span. I joined at the request of my wife almost three years ago and, much to my dismay, realized [...] > read more
American Mavericks Finale in San Francisco
Published on 2012-03-24 04:00:54
The final concert of the San Francisco Symphony’s Mavericks festival began with Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood, a classic example of first-generation minimalism. Performed from memory by members of the San Francisco Symphony’s percussion section (Jack Van Geem, Raymond Froelich, David Herbert, Tom Hemphill, and James Lee Wyatt III), the piece’s slowly adapting [...] > read more
Modern Music: Brad Mehldau, Kevin Hays & Patrick Zimmerli (Nonesuch)
Published on 2012-03-23 08:00:59
Placing the pianist Brad Mehldau into a particular genre or category seems tricky; being defined as a jazz pianist seems limited for his output and extensive work since the 1990s, including curation of Jazz series at the Wigmore Hall here in London. The recent release from Nonesuch Records of ‘Modern Music’ yet again shows the [...] > read more
American Mavericks continued: Adams and Bates premieres with Feldman and Varèse
Published on 2012-03-22 08:00:01
In keeping with the idea of the Mavericks Festival presenting “new classics,” the entire first half of the program for the fourth concert of the Mavericks Festival series with the San Francisco Symphony had never been performed before. Two substantial new works premiered on this concert, both of which by composers fast becoming household names. [...] > read more
Returnings: Eve Egoyan performs the last piano works of Ann Southam
Published on 2012-03-21 08:00:22
Ann Southam, who passed away at the age of 73 in 2010, was one of Canada’s foremost composers. Before becoming a composer, she studied visual art (she designed the cover art for this album). She then spent years working primarily with electroacoustic music, and many years working with New Dance Group of Canada (later renamed [...] > read more
5 questions to David T. Little (composer, executive director of MATA)
Published on 2012-03-20 16:29:08
From the Brooklyn Phil website: Over two nights at Roulette Theater in Brooklyn (509 Atlantic Avenue near Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217), 800 audience members will be propelled into a musically immersive social event examining linkages between the 19th century and our own time that trace the development of Brooklyn from a small village to [...] > read more
Hits & Misses at Zankel Hall
Published on 2012-03-20 08:00:26
Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is in residence at Carnegie Hall this season, and this past Monday night was a chance to hear three of her chamber works for strings alongside several pieces by young composers at Zankel Hall. The concert was part of a Young Artists Workshop, and featured some impressive young string players giving [...] > read more
Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar: A Masterpiece of Modern Opera
Published on 2012-03-19 08:00:54
On March 3rd, NYC new music hotspot The Kitchen packed the house for the final performance of the world-premiere production of Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt by Brooklyn-based composer, Missy Mazzoli and presented by Beth Morrison Projects. Song from the Uproar is a visually and aurally ravishing chamber opera [...] > read more
2012 PARMA Recordings Student Composer Competition
Published on 2012-03-16 15:06:32
PARMA Recordings, the parent company of the Navona, Big Round, Ravello, and Capstone Records label imprints is launching a new initiative that is rare among record labels: a student composer competition—the first in what will be a series of annual competitions for student composers. Ten winners will be selected by an award-winning panel of three independent [...] > read more
Gene Pritsker’s Chamber Opera, “William James’ Varieties of Religious Experience” at Le Poisson Rouge, with Zentripetal Duo, The International Street Cannibals, and Greg Baker
Published on 2012-03-16 08:58:49
Gene Pritsker is a musician who understands the importance of frequent experimentation when devising new approaches to music. He has authored over four hundred compositions, dizzying in their stylistic range and audacious in their scope. Orchestral works, rock songs, chamber operas, electronic soundscapes… Pritsker seems to look at all music as one genre, in which [...] > read more
American Mavericks: Chamber music by Partch, Cowell, Riley and Subotnick
Published on 2012-03-15 09:33:02
The third concert in the San Francisco Symphony’s American Marvericks series (fourth if the new Harrison documentary counts as a concert) was a very interesting program. Walking into the hall to our seats, the audience was greeted by the sight of a grand piano in the middle of a collection of some of the strangest [...] > read more
Roomful of Teeth and Glasser at Merkin Hall
Published on 2012-03-14 08:00:02
On Saturday, February 25th, Roomful of Teeth gave an exciting concert on the Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall. But just who is this group with a fantastic name and what sets them apart from other vocal ensembles? In an interview with WBUR (Boston’s NPR news station), Caleb Burhans, a composer who has written for [...] > read more
WANTED: a labyrinth, an abstraction, an escape from the spiritual void in the post-empire age
Published on 2012-03-13 04:30:09
Three composers – each aiming to create modern music in which form has been replaced by “structures” – are featured on this Aurora CD of piano music performed by Håkon Austbø. When does one listen to atonal music? In the morning while sipping coffee over a NY Times detailing the latest fabricated Iranian “threat”? Perhaps [...] > read more
David Lang at Carnegie Hall
Published on 2012-03-12 08:00:34
2012 is an important year for Bang on a Can and it looks like it will be paved with a series of exciting events. It started with the release of Big Beautiful Dark and Scary, a great double CD that was initially downloadable for free through January, in exchange of a BOAC memory. Field Recordings, [...] > read more
I Care if You Listen in a few figures… [infographic]
Published on 2012-03-10 19:59:00
In preparation of tomorrow’s 3rd New Music Bake Sale, I created an infographic and thought I should share it with you… Thank you for reading our posts, watching our videos, and for interacting with us on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Yeah, we care if you read too. > read more
5 questions to John Schneider
Published on 2012-03-09 13:30:19
PARTCH, a unique ensemble specializing in the music and instruments of the iconoclastic composer Harry Partch plays in the American Mavericks Festival this Sunday, March 11 at 2:00pm at Davies Symphony Hall. We asked 5 questions to John Schneider, member of PARTCH. In the pantheon of American Mavericks, how performed/recognized is Partch’s music? Partch is more [...] > read more
Dead American Mavericks, but sides of them rarely seen…
Published on 2012-03-09 07:00:49
The San Francisco Symphony’s Centennial Season has featured many interesting events, notably lengthening the travel itineraries for six of the top Orchestras nationwide for San Francisco stops to celebrate its big year. However, a homegrown element of the celebratory Centennial has been a re-birth of Michael Tilson Thomas’ American Mavericks festival, which last ran in [...] > read more
AbsoLUTEly New: Jozef van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch @ Le Poisson Rouge
Published on 2012-03-08 07:00:13
In a museum, 1,000 years from now, beside the wing of long extinct animals that contains the taxidermied visages of the African elephant and Rush Limbaugh, will stand the Hall of Ancient Musical Instruments. It’s there that one will find the harmonium, slide whistle, Keytar, and (fingers crossed) various auto-tuning devices. And perhaps, however difficult [...] > read more
Artistry that Runs in the Blood
Published on 2012-03-07 07:00:40
Pianist Ursula Oppens and the Jack String Quartet provided insightful performances of music by two outstanding American-born composers – Conlon Nancarrow and Charles Wuorinen – at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC this past Sunday. This was some of the most intriguing music I’ve heard live in some time – the kind that takes some time [...] > read more
Nick Zammuto and Jason Treuting with Janus, Daisy Press, and Grey McMurray @ Ecstatic Music Festival
Published on 2012-03-05 07:00:49
Frank Zappa famously asked, “Does humor belong in music?”. He asked this question using an absurdist concert film, and answered it quite profoundly (I’m paraphrasing): of course it does, if music is supposed to be a reflection of human emotional life. Music persists in human society because of its ability to communicate complex emotions directly [...] > read more
Handwritten vs. digitally engraved scores, an opinion post by R. Andrew Lee
Published on 2012-03-03 03:30:01
Earlier this week, a tweet by R. Andrew Lee (a wonderful New Music pianist that you should really discover) caught my attention: Were I a composer, I would definitely use computers, but as a performer, I am starting to prefer handwritten scores. — Andy Lee (@andyleedma) February 27, 2012 A fascinating conversation ensued and I [...] > read more
5 questions to Danya Katok (Soprano)
Published on 2012-03-02 07:00:26
You have one of the most interesting repertoire lists I have ever seen. Your operatic roles move across several fachs, from lyric coloratura to full lyric, and in the song repertoire, there seems to be everything from the standards (for both soprano and mezzo!), to countless new works. So, I’m sorry, but I have to [...] > read more
Sonic Art Saxophone Quartet’s new album of works by Glass and Nyman
Published on 2012-03-01 08:59:34
There are two multi-movement works by Philip Glass and one by Michael Nyman on the new album released by the Sonic Art Saxophone Quartet. Taken as complete wholes, none of the three is outstanding, though there are individual movements within them that are very powerful. The “Mishima” quartet is actually an adaptation for saxophones of [...] > read more
yMusic, Richard Reed Parry and Son Lux at Merkin Hall
Published on 2012-02-29 11:22:34
For a vegetarian, going to a vegetarian restaurant (or an allergen free restaurant for someone suffering from food allergies, etc.) brings a relief that is rarely experienced by omnivores: it feels safe. Everything on the menu is OK, whatever the name of the entree is, how obscure the list of ingredients looks, or exotic the [...] > read more
Austin TX Offers New Sounds at the Gershwin Hotel
Published on 2012-02-27 07:30:44
The Fast Forward Austin new music festival brought the noise to NYC with a concert February 23rd at the Contagious Sounds Series. The Bel Cuore Saxophone Quartet proved itself as an ensemble with a broad sound palette, a down to earth stage presence, and tremendous communication and spontaneity. Their selections highlighted the numerous qualities of [...] > read more
5 questions to Joan La Barbara (composer, performer, educator)
Published on 2012-02-25 15:05:09
This weekend’s Ne(xt)works’ Music Without Dance—a multi-event festival focusing on recent and historical musical works originally created to be heard with choreographed movement—was the perfect excuse to interview Joan La Barbara and talk about dance, as well as Phase Two of Storefront Diva… Your name is usually associated with a life-long relationship with voice but you [...] > read more
Arvo Pärt Spans the Millenial Divide with Timeless Gems (Naxos)
Published on 2012-02-25 03:30:30
Pärt Piano Music by Naxos features pianist Ralph van Raat interpreting the Estonian composer’s music spanning over four decades. This retrospective takes us on a stylistic journey that is truly millennial in scope, while remaining reverent in spirit. The first of the Zwei Sonatinen, Op. 1 (1958), shares much of the language of Pärt’s elder [...] > read more
Hanging out with Timothy Andres | Hang #3
Published on 2012-02-24 09:15:26
For this Hang #3, Timothy Andres welcomed us in his Brooklyn apartment. We talked about his Nonesuch album (Shy and Mighty), about popular music, typefaces and fresh mozzarella. Here is the interview: Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte. And here is a beautiful recording of Timothy playing At the River (2011) dedicated [...] > read more
5 question to Nicole Lizee (Composer)
Published on 2012-02-23 03:30:33
In Death to Kosmische you have the string quartet use a stylophone and an omnichord. In the past you’ve used an Atari 2600 games console. Is your fascination with the sound of these old electronic instruments, or with the technology, or both? Both. My fascination with old electronics stems from my childhood. My father is an electronics collector/retailer/repairman and our house [...] > read more
Crouch End Festival Chorus/David Temple: Barbican, London
Published on 2012-02-22 07:30:17
The Crouch End Festival Chorus, directed by David Temple, has established itself as a leading chorus with work that spans classical and popular idioms and a great deal of recording. Recent work includes Noel Gallagher’s new solo album, television and film scores and the concert at the Barbican this evening demonstrates the Chorus’ dedication to [...] > read more
Claire Chase releases Terrestre on New Focus Recordings
Published on 2012-02-21 08:22:27
On her new album Terrestre, Claire Chase achieves every woodwind player’s fantasy: playing with a perfect response, solid tone, and in total command of her instrument. Her selection of some of the most difficult music composed for flute in the recent past and present demonstrates her technical prowess and determination to present her instrument’s capacity [...] > read more
Premiere Commission 10th anniversary concert at Le Poisson Rouge
Published on 2012-02-20 11:10:16
The Premiere Commission 10th Anniversary Concert at Le Poisson Rouge, February 13th, 2012, featured one New York premiere and three world premieres, as well as more established pieces. Unlike some contemporary classical concerts, this evening at LPR featured a small array of instruments, including only piano, string quartet (the very “hot” Brooklyn Rider), soprano, and, [...] > read more
A Far Cry, Slow Six and This Will Destroy You at Ecstatic Music Festival
Published on 2012-02-17 09:25:25
Music is often colorfully compared to alchemy. Both arts involve the careful meeting of scientific logic and emotive, mystical chaos. The musician takes sounds that can be expressed mathematically, orders them in a way that can be analyzed logically, and produces something that, hopefully, will elicit some kind of emotional, intellectual, or spiritual reaction from [...] > read more
Hanging out with Leah Kardos at Steinway Hall | Hang #2
Published on 2012-02-15 07:30:51
Leah Kardos was in town this week and I am so happy I got to hang out with her (and her friend Liz). The location I picked to meet and record her solo piano performance was the Henry Z. Steinway room at Steinway Hall (thank you!). The rest is here: Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with [...] > read more
Sxip Shirey and Angélica Negrón at Ecstatic Music Festival
Published on 2012-02-14 07:00:15
The length of an usual article on this blog would probably not be enough to merely list the different instruments crowded on to the stage at the concert that Sxip (pronounced “Skip”) Shirey and Angélica Negrón presented as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival 2012 on Tuesday, February 7 at Merkin Hall. The two headliners of this [...] > read more
5 Questions to Ben Bunch (Artist)
Published on 2012-02-13 10:15:47
Your third solo show, “Twenty-first Century Freemasonry”, opened on January 21 at The Proposition. What is the idea behind the title? The title for the show is about looking for patterns inside complex systems. It is a good way to describe how I work in the studio. I start with a general impression and I [...] > read more
Indie-Classical Guitars: Music for 1, 2, 3, and 4 guitars at LPR
Published on 2012-02-10 11:10:07
On January 26, I spent the evening at Le Poisson Rouge for a show called Indie-Classical Guitars: Music for 1,2,3 and 4 Guitars, tasked with providing an “indie rocker’s” perspective on this crossover-type event . My first reaction to the title was mixed. “Indie” and “Classical” are both somewhat loaded terms. After seeing the show, [...] > read more
Jherek Bischoff and the Wordless Music Orchestra open the 2012 Ecstatic Music Festival
Published on 2012-02-08 17:13:22
This year’s edition of Ecstatic Music Festival just started and even if it won’t feature Judd Greenstein’s—it’s curator—dream lineup, it’s still pretty awesome. Indeed 150 performers and composers will collaborate on 11 shows to give us a vivid snapshot of the indie, or post-classical scene: Sxip Shirey, Angélica Negrón, Nick Zammuto, Jason Treuting, Janus Trio, [...] > read more
Kronos Quartet’s Early Music at the Barbican, London
Published on 2012-02-07 08:30:00
The Kronos Quartet completed their week-long residence with the Barbican Centre in London with a typically audacious and varied programme in Wilton’s Music Hall, a kitchy and historic venue in East London which says it is “the oldest surviving Grand Music Hall in the world”. Kronos were in a more light-hearted mood than they had [...] > read more
James Noyes’ Imaginings at Our Saviour’s Atonement
Published on 2012-02-06 03:30:22
James Noyes’ music is a joyful balance of tradition and progress. I attended his recital at Our Saviour’s Atonement, a gorgeous-yet-intimate local church seemingly hidden at the upper edge of Manhattan, equidistant from Broadway and a sudden, staggering cliff face. The room, with a colossal pipe organ as its centerpiece, was an appropriately sacred space [...] > read more
5 questions to Judd Greenstein (Composer)
Published on 2012-02-03 12:50:29
As the 2012 edition of the Ecstatic Music Festival is about to start, we asked 5 questions to Judd Greenstein, composer, curator of the festival, and co-director of New Amsterdam Records/New Amsterdam Presents. Oh, there’s a bonus question too… Where did the need for another New Music festival in NY come from? Very few festivals, or [...] > read more
A folk-inspired evening with Bridget Kibbey at Le Poisson Rouge
Published on 2012-02-02 08:51:16
“Who’s ever been to a harp recital?” A couple of hands were shyly raised. “And who’s ever been to a harp recital in a club?” Bridget Kibbey had, in a few words, set the tone for the evening. Kibbey is one of the most talented harpists of her generation and her friendly, solar personality was [...] > read more