A Horse Race Might Be What We Need
We should be celebrating Michel van der Aa’s Grawemeyer win—a massive achievement—but we can use that celebration to reevaluate our own place in the world as well. If we’re really going to think about why the Grawemeyer does not have much recognition outside of the new music community, there are several questions that need to be raised.
Nov 30, 2012
Caroline Shaw: Yes, a Composer, but Perhaps not a Baker!
Caroline Shaw’s compositions are central to her musical identity and, in recent years, she has been venturing far beyond works that she has created for her own performance.
Mar 01, 2015
Eye on the Prize
The ubiquity of instantaneous information transmission via social media means that sooner or later we will inevitably lose the race for being the first media outlet to announce the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, but we’re still in it until we do. Come back at 3:00 p.m.
Apr 15, 2013
Making Conservatories Less Conservative
What American Conservatories Do To Spark Interest in New American Music.
Dec 01, 1999
Meditations on a Post-Literate Musical Future
John Halle Photo by Kathleen Cea Over the past decade or so, a consensus has emerged which attributes the long standing crisis in what used to be called contemporary music to a failure by composers to embrace those vernacular styles which have popular currency and economic viability. Recently the Pulitzer board decided to broaden the… Read more »
Aug 01, 2004
He Said, She Said: Zhou Long and Chen Yi
HE SAID, SHE SAID: Chen Yi and Zhou Long talk about how they’ve come to blend Chinese and Western classical compositional philosophies and sonorities as well as how they interact with each other as composers and spouses.
Aug 01, 2006
Charles Wuorinen: Art and Entertainment
Charles Wuorinen’s diatribes are still as polemical as ever, but he brings a passion and conviction to all of his arguments, and his remarkably prolific six-decade output as a composer is artistically and intellectually rich as well as often entertaining.
Jul 01, 2007
Tania León: What it Means to be an American Composer
Although raised in Cuba, Tania León was born into a family that had roots from all different parts of the globe. Since arriving in the United States, where she has been based since 1967, she has come to realize that her own multicultural heritage is what makes her a quintessentially American composer.
Aug 01, 1999
New Music News Wire
The National Endowment for the Arts names seven New Jazz Masters; Richard Wernick and Michael Harrison are honored by the Classical Recording Foundation; and Paul Moravec receive the Lawrenceville Medal.
Oct 12, 2006
Ornette Coleman: Freedom of Expression
Freedom guides how Ornette Coleman has been making his music for over a half a century, and it’s also how he leads his life.
Oct 01, 2007
Lend Me a Pick Ax: The Slow Dismantling of the Compositional Gender Divide
Women have made tremendous strides toward parity with their male colleagues in the field of composition, but we’re not all the way home just yet.
May 14, 2008
Secret Santa
By Frank J. Oteri
I thought it would be fun to compile a list (feel free to add to it) of things that I don’t have because they don’t exist—namely, recordings of important musical works and/or performances that somehow, despite the seeming infinite supply of audio recordings, still have not been released.
Dec 20, 2010
Andrew Norman Joins Opera Philadelphia as Third Composer in Residence
Opera Philadelphia, in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group in New York, has announced that composer Andrew Norman has been selected as its third composer in residence. Norman was chosen from over 100 applicants for the position and now has the opportunity to follow a personalized development track focused on the advancement of his career as an operatic composer.
Sep 23, 2013
The 2000 Man—What Century Was This Anyway?
If you don’t know what Y2K is, be thankful, even though it inspired some interesting music.
May 05, 2014
Michael Torke: Life After the Ceremony of Innocence
Before turning 30, Michael Torke had become a towering figure in the new music community. He was signed by a major publisher, had an exclusive record contract on a major label, and was the de-facto composer-in-residence for New York City Ballet. In his early 40s, he went totally DIY both self-publishing and running his own boutique record label. Now in his mid-50s, Torke claims to feel “disconnected from everything” but he remains at the top of his form as a composer.
Nov 01, 2016
Sounds Heard: William Schuman—A Free Song, Finally!
The mind boggles that it has taken nearly 70 years—and a year after the William Schuman centenary in 2010—for there to be a commercially available recording of Schuman’s A Free Song, the first composition to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music back in 1943. Yet this summer has seen the release of not one, but two “world premiere recordings” of A Free Song, both from groups based in Illinois.
Aug 16, 2011
Determining a Different Outcome
Paul Elwood confesses that he used to become jealous, mildly enraged, or depressed by the accomplishments of others until he realized how pointless it was to hold his own creative experiences up against those of others. “I’m composing every day, teaching, playing gigs, and staging concerts. Our successes are self-defined and they can’t be narrowly conceived….Forty years later, I’m still doing it. I consider that to be a successful career in spite of never winning (or being nominated for) a Pulitzer, never placing in the Walnut Valley National Banjo Competition, and never being named teacher of the year.”
Oct 25, 2018
Looking For Red, White and Blue Between Bach, Beethoven And Brahms: Can American Music Be Found at American Music Festivals?
Mic Holwin photo by Lost In Brooklyn Studio Music festivals in America take on added pleasure in the summer, when a concertgoer can claim a spot on the lawn surrounding a stage, spread out a quilt handed down from an aunt in Pennsylvania, uncork a bottle of California Zinfandel, slice some Vermont Cheddar and Wisconsin… Read more »
Jul 01, 1999
Red Tape: The Difficulties Orchestra Composers Have Obtaining Recordings of their Works
As American orchestras perform an increasing number of premieres each season, it is all the more difficult to obtain that elusive second performance. A major roadblock toward that goal is the frequent inability of composers—and their publishers and agents—to secure recordings of concert performances for use in promoting new works.
Jun 01, 2003
George Crumb Named Musical America Composer of the Year
The Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts has announced this year’s 2004 Award recipients. Among them, George Crumb has been named Composer of the Year and composer/trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has been named Musician of the Year. Other winners are: Joseph Flummerfelt, Conductor of the Year; Susan Graham, Vocalist of the Year; Philharmonic Baroque… Read more »
