Aaron Jay Kernis Photo by Daniel Vogel, courtesy G. Schirmer, Inc. Between visiting Tower, Music Boulevard on the Web and BMG Music Service (this is not paid advertising) I’ve recently seen about 6 recordings pass into my consciousness, but only briefly so far , since as I’m busily composing at the moment and can’t listen… Read more »
Laura Kuhn Photo by Betty Freeman NewMusicBox is terrific, but I confess that what I’m listening to right now doesn’t really qualify as new American music: both CDs available of Dulce Pontes, entitled Caminhos and Lagrimas, and both extraordinarily beautiful. American audiences may only be familiar with her work from the film “Primal Fear” (Ed… Read more »
I buy records for at least five reasons: professionally (I want to hear people I haven’t heard before, or I want to hear recordings that people I trust are talking about); I buy them for my children (records they want and records I think they might like); I buy them to hear musician friends when… Read more »
Steve Smith photo by Andrew Kochera New music has always had a tough time finding a home to call its own. Faced with a lack of performances by mainstream classical performing groups, as we learned here last month, many composers and other devotees of the avant-garde took it upon themselves to found their own ensembles… Read more »
Last month, when we launched NewMusicBox we featured information about 56 new CDs of American music issued since January 1999. For our second issue, we feature yet another 40! The year is not yet half over and already there are almost 100 new recordings of American music floating around. And the range this month is… Read more »
The sad reality of being unable to hear a large amount of American repertoire or new music of any national origin in the concert hall or on the radio is countered by the ecstatic joy of being able to hear anything you want if you’ve got it in your record collection.
Robert Hurwitz “I buy them to hear musician friends when they forget to send me a copy of their latest album…” Laura Kuhn “…I confess that what I’m listening to right now doesn’t really qualify as new American music…” Aaron Jay Kernis “I’ve always felt it important to hear as much new music in concert… Read more »
One of the original “indie-classical” labels, San Francisco-based New Albion Records defined the West Coast Sound and helped to launch the careers of John Adams, John Luther Adams, Ingram Marshall, Paul Dresher, Stephen Scott, Chen Yi, Sarah Cahill, David Tanenbaum, Margaret Lang Tan, and many others. New Albion’s founder Foster Reed explains the label’s philosophy.
Jessica Lustig Photo courtesy of Jessica Lustig When I attend new music events I feel a sense of adventure and hope. The adventure comes when I’m not sure what the music will sound like. The hope is that I may be lucky enough to be among the first to hear a work that will make… Read more »
Eugene V. Carr Photo courtesy of CultureFinder Former Executive Director, American Symphony Orchestra & President, CultureFinder (The Online Address for the Arts) Whenever I go to a modern dance performance I’m usually thrilled by the air of expectation in the house. People are eagerly waiting to see what their favorite dancers and choreographers are up… Read more »
George Steel Photo courtesy of George Steel Conductor and Artistic Director, Miller Theater (Columbia University) The Elements of Style: What attracts me to a new music concert Free drinks: A concert is a celebration. It should feel like one. Any gesture of hospitality is always a lure. Unapologetic programming: Nothing makes a program more drab… Read more »
Ken Smith photo by Melissa Richard For a composer, the urge to assume creative control in your own musical matters is as American as…well, Aaron Copland. But whether your frame of reference is literally the Copland-Sessions Concerts of Contemporary Music, a four-season project from 1929-1932 where American composers first took charge of bringing their music… Read more »
Frank J. Oteri Photo by Melissa Richard In 1939, six American composers joined forces to create the American Music Center, the first-ever information center devoted to the promulgation of new music. For many years, the American Music Center served as the only repository of scores and recordings of a diverse array of repertoire. This effort… Read more »
What makes you attend a music event? George Steel “Free drinks: A concert is a celebration. It should feel like one…” Eugene V. Carr “Whenever I go to a modern dance performance I’m usually thrilled by the air of expectation…” Dean Stein “…The history buff in me wants to hear what writers and composers have… Read more »
For the premiere issue of NewMusicBox (May 1999), the three founders of Bang on a Can–Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, and David Lang–met at ASCAP for a lengthy conversation with Frank J. Oteri, Richard Kessler, and Fran Richard about the current state of new music.
Dean Stein Photo © Peter Schaaf Executive Director, Chamber Music America I’ve always been a bit of a history buff — not so much academically as romantically. For example, I love the theater and try to see the off-off, off and Broadway productions that crowd a typical New York season – experimental works, revivals, classics,… Read more »
Former editor of Symphony magazineCurrently an executive with R.R. Donnelley & Sons, a board member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and of the American Music Center For several years, while I was on the editorial staff of Symphony magazine, it was my honor and anguish to edit the late great Ralph Black, a man whose… Read more »
Two major American maverick composers talk via telephone about creating music without compromise, the impending end of the 20th century, and how to develop new audiences for new music in the future.
Composer and American Composers Forum co-founder Libby Larsen talks about how she came to music, taking charge of her own path as a composer, and how to be a good musical citizen.
Saxophonist, composer, band leader, and one-time Miles Davis sideman Dave Liebman talks about the changing directions in jazz during his four decades involved in the scene.
Paul Kellogg, then artistic director of both Glimmerglass and New York City Opera describes how these opera companies “show people that there is life beyond Bohème, Carmen, and Traviata.”
Baritone Thomas Hampson describes his unending fascination with American art songs.
In this 1998 interview, which was the blueprint for “In The First Person” (and subsequently “Cover”) on NewMusicBox, Steve Reich reflects on the changes in the music scene that had occurred over the past thirty years. “Thirty years ago I had just returned to New York City from San Francisco. […] At that time, everybody was under the influence of music that was not ‘pulsitile,’ [not with a regular beat]. You can’t tap your foot to either Boulez or John Cage.”
