An Impression of Overwhelming Sameness
For change to have meaning, an element must remain fixed, and often the most hyperactive music conveys no motion at all.
Sounds Heard: Joseph Byrd—NYC 1960-1963
An undogmatic, uncommitted, exploratory spirit is one of Joseph Byrd’s chief virtues as an artist. Although it’s easy to see how this same quality makes him difficult to pin down in our increasingly soundbyte-based world.
The Names on the Ceiling
Before I ever got interested in classical music, it baffled me that dead composers were more of a draw than living ones, but perhaps that’s why classical music doesn’t capture the interest of more of the general public.
And the Winner Is: 55th Annual Grammys Awarded
Here are a few classical, jazz, and composition awardees whose statuette pick-ups you might have missed.
ZOFO Champions New Piano-Four-Hands Rep in San Francisco
A unique instrumentation hasn’t stopped other new music ensembles from creating repertoires for themselves, and ZOFO seems to be on that path, too. With outstanding musicians like Eva-Maria Zimmermann and Keisuke Nakagoshi championing piano-four-hands, perhaps more composers will be encouraged to take up the cause.
Igor's Hand
When one looks at the actual handwriting of a 31-year-old Russian composer who had not yet achieved his place in the mythos of our musical heritage, it not only allows us to see the piece and the man writing it in a more normal, grounded manner but it allows us to see ourselves and our own work in a context that is ultimately more healthy and realistic than before.
New England's Prospect: Movietone
“Brando Noir,” the concert mounted on January 29 by the New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation department, bounced in and out of sync with the cinematic dynamic.
Making Space
One of the best parts of traveling around to interview composers for NewMusicBox is often having the opportunity to see their living spaces. It’s always interesting, and in many cases surprising to see the spaces that composers create for themselves. But I wonder if the spaces in which we feel the most comfortable are always the best for composing?
5 American Women Composers Commissioned by American Pianists Association
The American Pianists Association has commissioned works for solo piano from five American women composers: Lisa Bielawa, Margaret Brouwer, Gabriela Lena Frank, Missy Mazzoli, and Sarah Kirkland Snider.
Is It Dangerous?
Can any kind of music actually be dangerous? This rhetorical question has an obvious answer: it cannot kill you, but something in it scares enough people that the famously oppressive regimes of, say, the Taliban, Stalinist Russia, Maoist China (during the Cultural Revolution), the pre-Reformation Catholic Church, or that tiny town in Footloose all felt that certain music should be duly restricted.
Games Played: Proteus
Ed Key’s visual design only tells half the story. David Kanaga’s sound design—or “music design” as he calls it—is incredibly dynamic and layered, with samples culled from an overwhelming number of sources.
Yo-Yo Ma Awarded $100,000 Vilcek Prize
The Vilcek Prize for the Arts, this year focusing on the field of contemporary music, has been awarded to cellist Yo-Yo Ma. James Abrahart, Samuel Bazawule, and Tigran were named the winners of the three Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music, each receiving a $35,000 cash award.
Cold Play
The lure of live performances of Steve Reich’s Tehillim and The Desert Music was enough to convince me to board yet another airplane (less than 12 hours after I returned home from France) and brave the weather in Winnipeg where it was -34°C which equals -29°F!
Scratch That: The Agony and the Ecstasy
I know, I know. You’re probably right to be skeptical. But still: the Super Bowl is one of planet Earth’s most massively successful entertainment events, each and every year. We could probably learn a thing or two.
eighth blackbird: Shifted During Flight
“I didn’t expect it to be so charming…” I heard the above quote in the foyer during the intermission of the first of two concerts scheduled during their residency with Texas Performing Arts, and I’m inclined to agree.
More Media Matters (Part 2)
Learning music has been shown to be important to the development of our minds and bodies. What music is addressing issues of culture deprived curricula in education?
Matana Roberts: Creative Defiance
If there is any way to distill the wide-ranging artistry of Matana Roberts, it might be to focus on the ways in which she eludes definitions. The Chicago-raised composer, improviser, and alto saxophonist offers a friendly yet confidant smile as she explains, “Basically, I don’t like being told what to do, or who I am, or what I am by other people. I prefer to make those statements myself.”
Composer Assistance Program Awards $33,118
27 composers received support for premieres and first performances of their work, spanning from April of 2012 to October of 2013.
New England's Prospect: Object Oriented
One of the passing revelations of the Callithumpian Consort’s concert in Jordan Hall on Saturday, January 26, was that exactly where along the absolute/programmatic continuum a piece is situated can, in fact, make or break the piece.
Other Hats
I’ve recently taken over directorship of a music ensemble in the Washington, D.C. area, and it’s remarkable how many relics of the composing world appear totally transformed when donning the “hat” of artistic director. So far, one of the most interesting things about this new role has been the way it tends to shed light on certain composer habits.
Blogging MIDEM 2013: Part 4 – Global Mobile
Although the final day of MIDEM was something of a ghost town, as per tradition, there were still several worthwhile panels on the schedule as well as interesting people to talk with in the exhibition area.
Scratch That: He Said, She Said
Record shopping, event listings, and a consideration of some of the more serious issues we’ll be facing down the road.
Blogging MIDEM 2013: Part 3 - Ephemeral Playback
There’s something that is somehow intriguing about making the listening experience so precious at a time when it is so devalued. And in the midst of Monday’s marathon information overload on steroids, learning about a new app that will only allow you to play a song one time seemed downright appealing.
Sounds Heard: Marcus Fischer—On Shore
On Shore brings together aspects of the electronic music world that are not so easy to combine well, and manages to do so in a cliché-free environment.
