There are no typical divas in Object Collection’s operas, no heroines or heroes in the traditional sense. This is opera that, while distinguishing itself as such, takes into account the cross-pollination of media and art forms following the radical aesthetic transformations that began over half a century ago.
This loudness war should make us question the nature of our music and how we can compete within an amplified society.
Reading Michael Nyman’s book Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond changed the life of Slovak composer Daniel Matej and served as a blueprint for a contemporary music festival he programmed for 20 years which prominently featured American composers.
One-time Philip Glass Ensemble saxophonist Dickie Landry’s own music from the 1970s, which is finally available again in a re-issue both on CD and LP, is a fascinating amalgam of minimalism, free jazz, and psychedelia that shows the omnivorousness of the music of Downtown Manhattan in its heyday.
By Frank J. Oteri
Croatian President Ivo Josipović still actively composes music—no excuses not to make time to compose for any of us who have to maintain day jobs in order to earn a living!
By Ratzo B. Harris
I disagree that jazz, in the big-picture sense, has retired to an art music niche; this is an illusion that the American Musical Culture Machine has perpetrated in order to maximize profits for a select few.
On April 3, the Switchboard Music Festival was back with their fourth marathon concert, one of the most hotly anticipated events on the Bay Area’s spring calendar, and with excellent reason.
By Rob Deemer
It is only through supporting one another that our art form will continue to thrive and grow.
By Dan Visconti
Language sadly often removes us from the direct perception of reality.
By Alexandra Gardner
I am reminded that it is nearly impossible to make anything that isn’t affected by the filters of our personal experience; that somehow reflects our “genealogy of ideas.”
In a year or two, the world’s attention will have moved away from the urgent questions raised by Fukushima. Therefore I feel that far from showing disrespect, the nature of this cantata and the spirit in which it was created make it a powerful means to show and magnify precisely the deep respect and attention we need at this moment.
By Colin Holter
I’m moved to look a little harder for composer gatherings in the future; what could be better than three days of listening to and talking about contemporary music with a community of brilliant artists from all over the world? Nothing, is what.
The ASCAP Foundation has announced prizes of approximately $45,000 for 30 composers under the age of 30; an additional 19 received honorable mention.
With the new Innova double-cd Outerborough by violinist and composer Todd Reynolds, the listener is invited to browse inside one musician’s varied logbook of musical experiences, both internal and external.
By David Smooke
Writing a 40-minute composition during the school year has spurred an effort of which I would have previously though myself incapable.
By Frank J. Oteri
If you get the references in Richard Strauss’s Capriccio, it is almost as post-modern as Public Enemy.
By Rob Deemer
When it comes to process, I have seen two camps of composers emerge: the architects and the chefs; “Architect” composers tend to emphasize pre-planning of the overall structure of the work first whereas “Chef” composers tend to focus on the material first.
Formal remarks are set to begin at 5:45 p.m. EDT. Use the stream’s chat window or Twitter (hashtag #newmusicUSA) to send us your questions.
By Ratzo B. Harris
Does Arturo O’Farrill jump farther out of “tradition” than, say, Cecil Taylor when playing the blues?
Composer/librettist Stephen Schwartz and lead soprano Lauren Flanigan describe how they came to work together on Séance on a Wet Afternoon. Read the interview…
There is an exceptional quality of emotional immediacy in Lee Hoiby’s music that can be disarming to some, but that never fails to move even the most jaded listener.
By Dan Visconti
In approaching such complex and far-ranging concepts as artistic influence, genre cross-pollination, and the manner in which technology both aided and modified much of Schoenberg’s inherited artistic vision, the Washington, DC-based Verge Ensemble has opted to let the listeners form their own perspective rather than trying to advance a particular thesis—turning the concert experience into a way for listeners to draw some of their own conclusions.
By Alexandra Gardner
The very American question, “So, what do you do?” at least on the East Coast, is usually the first question asked when meeting new people.
By Colin Holter
Davidson’s claim that young
composers should align themselves against a kind of music is
superficial, of course, but only because it doesn’t ask them to be
ambitious enough.
