American Masters Photographed by Betty Freeman: John Adams and Morton Feldman
John Adams & Morton Feldman
Theodore Presser Company Enters the Digital Age of Music Publishing
Tom and Arnold Broido Photo courtesy of Theodore Presser Co. The Theodore Presser Company recently gave a glimpse of what music publishing in the 21st century will look like. By teaming up with a CD-ROM company called CD Sheet Music, the company recently began publishing sheet music as PDF files on CD-ROM disks. This means… Read more »
Daniel Steiner Named NEC President
Daniel Steiner Photo by Paul Foley Daniel Steiner was recently named President of the New England Conservatory of Music by Board Chairman David W. Scudder. Steiner has been serving as Acting President since July 1999. The appointment concludes a year-long search by a Presidential Search Committee and follows its recommendation. “In little less than a… Read more »
What are the most important concerns for philanthropy in new music? Catherine Wichterman
Catherine Wichterman Photo courtesy of Catherine Wichterman “Support Nurturing and Nourishing Relationships” During my time at Meet the Composer and now at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, I have taken the view that the most effective funding of new music (or any other art form for that matter) addresses the connections between artists and the… Read more »
Michael Kaiser Appointed President of Kennedy Center
Michael Kaiser Photo courtesy of Cornhill Publications Limited The Kennedy Center announced on July 19 that Michael Kaiser has been named to replace Lawrence J. Wilker as president of the national center for the performing arts. His is slated to begin his new post in February 2001. Kaiser, 47, is currently the executive director of… Read more »
What are the most important concerns for philanthropy in new music? Gayle Morgan
Gayle Morgan Photo courtesy of Gayle Morgan “Is There Too Much New Music?” Last year the Cary Trust offered its biennial program of grants to assist New York City music institutions in commissioning new music. We received 117 applications to the program and after an extensive review of the projects by independent consultants, we made… Read more »
Maybe it is all Rock 'n Roll
Young musicians and listeners today are increasingly sophisticated and open-eared. They don’t care much about what music is called. They care about how it sounds.
Hovhaness' submission to the AMC Biographical Survey (1949)
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Composer Alan Hovhaness Dies at 89
Alan Hovhaness Photo courtesy of C.F. Peters Alan Hovhaness, a prolific composer who melded Western and Asian musical genres, died in Seattle on June 21, 2000. He was 89 and had suffered from a severe stomach ailment for the last three years. Hovhaness was born in Somerville, MA, on March 8, 1911 to Haroutiun Hovhaness… Read more »
Where do you think that your music fits on the classical-popular divide? Why? John Shiurba
John Shiurba Photo courtesy John Shiurba Ahh, the great divide, oh to be forever clumsily straddling the great divide. My music not only exists precisely on that divide, but seems to be more or less about being there. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard comments like your stuff is too rock for… Read more »
Where do you think that your music fits on the classical-popular divide? Why? Erik Hoversten
Erik Hoversten Photo courtesy Erik Hoversten Despite the “classical” training we may have, all of us in Threnody Ensemble spent our formative years playing in bands. The music we make now is inextricably linked to popular music. But because we record for a “new music” label and write pieces that surpass a certain threshold of… Read more »
Where do you think that your music fits on the classical-popular divide? Why? Neil Haverstick
Neil Haverstick Ever since I was a young boy, stylistic classifications in music have meant absolutely nothing to me. At a young age, some of my favorite pieces were Ravel‘s Bolero, “Peggy Sue” (Buddy Holly), “El Paso” (Marty Robbins), “In The Mood” (Glenn Miller), “Charley Brown” (The Coasters), and Air On A G String (Bach).… Read more »
Where do you think that your music fits on the classical-popular divide? Why? Diamanda Galas
Diamanda Galas Photo by Tom Pitts I think it is, indeed, difficult to locate my music; and I have seen it under pop, opera, new music, new electronic music, blues, satanic music, noise, gothic, black metal, world music, and lysergic vampire vocals (in San Francisco). What unites all the music in the mind of its… Read more »
Where do you think that your music fits on the classical-popular divide? Why? David Borden
David Borden (right) with Keith Emerson (left) Photo by Vivian Lee The classification of genres in the arts is, I suppose, necessary for both critics and historians. Mostly though, I find that marketing, the need to sell, more than anything encourages this subdividing into minute categories. Just go to the MP3 site and you’ll see… Read more »
American Contraband: Alternative Rock and American Experimental Music
Jason Gross and Steve Smith Photo by Melissa Richard Much as it might bewilder major record companies and fundamentalist critics, rock isn’t only background music for TV commercials and cherished momentos for teenybopper spend-a-thons. It’s a lot more (and a lot less). About five years after Elvis started strumming “That’s Alright Mama” for Sam Philips,… Read more »
Soundtracks: July 2000
More probably than any component of NewMusicBox, SoundTracks inevitably reflects the diversity and ultimately uncategorizability of the music being created by American composers. Whereas each issue of NewMusicBox looks at a specific, albeit different, aspect of American music, SoundTracks always aims to be a reflection of what is being released on CD right now without… Read more »
Between Rock and Harder Places?
When classmates told me that the Clash were revolutionaries, I told them to check out pieces like Fontana Mix or It’s Gonna Rain and hear what revolution really sounded like.
Where do you think that your music fits on the classical-popular divide? Why?
Diamanda Galas “…I think my performances, as independent as they may be from each other, allow me to reside, musically, under my own name…” Neil Haverstick “Ever since I was a young boy, stylistic classifications in music have meant absolutely nothing to me…” Erik Hoversten “…The most innovative music, after all, does not fit into… Read more »
Gary Lucas: Ignoring Genre Divisions
Guitarist Gary Lucas has been one of the most in-demand in the realm of experimental rock for decades. Perhaps best known for his stint with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Lucas was also the electric guitarist for the European premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. Lucas talks about Beefheart and Lenny as well as his numerous fascinating solo projects.
Gideon Waldrop, Composer and Former Juilliard Dean, Dies at 80
Gideon Waldrop, a composer and administrator, who served as dean of the Juilliard School of Music for 24 years and was president of the Manhattan School of Music for nearly three years, died on May 19 at his home in Manhattan.
Rewriting History: Alternative Pulitzers
Reading through the list of Pulitzers, I’m struck by the rather orthodox view of American musical history it suggests.
Has Winning the Pulitzer Made a Difference? Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in Music
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Photo by Andrew Sacks It’s a shame that my teacher Roger Sessions‘s work was not recognized with a Pulitzer until he was in his 80s. I was very lucky in that when I received the award I was young enough to get a good kick out of it and felt that I… Read more »
Has Winning the Pulitzer Made a Difference? Charles Wuorinen, Winner of the 1970 Pulitzer Prize in Music
Charles Wuorinen Photo by Bob Adler It’s hard to tell what the Pulitzer meant to my career. The only direct result of receiving the prize that I’m aware of came in the form of a modest commission for a string quartet from the Fine Arts Quartet, who (I believe) had formed the habit of requesting… Read more »
