Making Conservatories Less Conservative
What American Conservatories Do To Spark Interest in New American Music.
Dec 01, 1999
How did your education shape your attitudes about music? Annie Gosfield, Composer
Annie Gosfield Photo by Nola Lopez I was taught the importance of creativity and individual expression early in life at a progressive elementary school that had classes for children in music and theater improvisation. As a teenager, private study with jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer taught me to bring my own interpretation to any music that… Read more »
Dec 01, 1999
How did your education shape your attitudes about music? Amy Rhodes, Director of Artist Management, Fine Arts Management
Amy Rhodes Photo courtesy Fine Arts Management My traditional education did not really affect the way I think about music. In fact, I went to college and majored in Asian Studies and International Relations because I think I unconsciously needed to get away from music for a while. I learned about classical music completely at… Read more »
Dec 01, 1999
How did your education shape your attitudes about music? Elliott Sharp, Composer
Elliott Sharp Photo courtesy Elliott Sharp As a young child, I loved the music of Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, began piano lessons at age 6 and was performing by 7 1/2, but at a price: the pressures of practice from parents and teacher plus a rigid and uninteresting approach to the general knowledge of music killed… Read more »
Dec 01, 1999
How did your education shape your attitudes about music? Joshua Cody, Composer and Director of the Sospeso Ensemble
Joshua Cody Photo courtesy Sospeso Ensemble I studied with several very gifted composers at Northwestern University, where I was also able to study some literature and philosophy. I’ll always feel uneducated-learning is an ongoing process. Of course the deeper one’s knowledge of the repertory and of the history of music, the more opportunity for depth… Read more »
Dec 01, 1999
“Some People Think He’s God”: Ken Smith Remembers Paul Bowles
Although he was a success as both composer and author, as a recluse Paul Bowles was a total failure. After fleeing New York for Morocco in 1947, he and his wife Jane continued to entertain a seemingly endless parade of visitors in his adopted country. Even in the 1990s, after Betolucci’s film of The Sheltering… Read more »
Dec 01, 1999
Paul Bowles meets with Ken Smith and Frank J. Oteri
Frank J. Oteri and Ken Smith with Paul Bowles Photo by Melissa Richard January 1, 1998 Tangier, Morocco KEN SMITH: I’d like to talk a bit about your life in New York, the days when you were writing for the New York Herald-Tribune. PAUL BOWLES: It was years… KEN SMITH: The years, then, that you… Read more »
Dec 01, 1999
A “Virtual Séance” with the Founders of the American Music Center
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the American Music Center, the history of the AMC is here presented exclusively in the words of its six founders–Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Otto Luening, Quincy Porter, Marion Bauer, and Harrison Kerr–culled from archival interviews, books and letters and then shuffled and re-organized to emulate a conversation.
Nov 01, 1999
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center Samuel Adler Composer; Professor Emeritus, Eastman School of Music; Professor of Composition, The Juilliard School “…I handed Hanson’s letter to Copland who opened it immediately. His face brightened, and yet there were tears in his eyes as he read the letter…” John Duffy Composer; Founder… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
The 60th Anniversary of the American Music Center
Frank J. Oteri Photo by Melissa Richard November is an important month here at the American Music Center. Sixty years ago this month, the dreams of Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Otto Luening, Quincy Porter, Marion Bauer and Harrison Kerr became a reality and the American Music Center was born. To celebrate the occasion, we have… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Soundtracks: November 1999
There are over 60 American composers featured in this month’s round-up of new recordings, which is a wonderful way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the American Music Center this month! And, as always, the range of composers shows an astonishing array of diversity. Perhaps the most momentous release this month is the long-awaiting 10-CD… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Help! New Music Service Organizations Answer the Call
Karissa Krenz photo by Melissa Richard Music abounds more than ever these days. On any given night you can hear any type of music in the concert hall, on the web, on the radio (and of course, on your stereo). One might think that in these technologically-advanced days, it is easy for a composer to… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center Samuel Adler, Composer; Professor Emeritus, Eastman School of Music; Professor of Composition, The Juilliard School
Samuel Adler photo by Katherine Cumming Courtesy of Samuel Adler In a 1926 speech, Aaron Copland said of Howard Hanson: “Hanson and Sowerby’s sympathies and natural proclivities make them heirs of older men such as Hadley and Shepherd. Their facility in writing and their eclectic style produce a kind of palatable music that cannot be… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center John Duffy, Composer; Founder and Former Executive Director of Meet The Composer
John Duffy photo by Jay K. Hoffman courtesy of John Duffy The AMC was a rich haven for me during my student days. How glad I was to be there as it was the only place to see and study scores by living American composers. It was there that I first encountered Aaron Copland, which… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center Sylvia Goldstein, Former Senior Vice-President, Boosey & Hawkes
Sylvia Goldstein photo by NewMusicBox Sylvia Goldstein own music in the repertoire, Aaron Copland always had time for others. One incident involving the program for a concert he was to conduct at Carnegie Hall comes to mind. The composer of a listed symphony was unknown to me or others in the office. When asked about… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center Patrick Hardish, Composer; Co-Director, Composers Concordance
Patrick Hardish photo by Barry Cohen Courtesy of Patrick Hardish Otto Luening was a great mentor and influence as well as being a close personal friend. He was important to my development as a composer and on the progress of our organization, the Composers Concordance. I got to know Otto in July 1980 at Bennington… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Personal Anecdotes About the Founders of the American Music Center Vivian Perlis, Director, Oral History of American Music, Yale University
Vivian Perlis photo by NewMusicBox While working with Aaron Copland’s papers that were filed in the basement of his house in Peekskill, New York, I came upon six assignment books for Rubin Goldmark, the celebrated composition teacher in Manhattan. Copland was astonished to see things he had not looked at for over sixty years. “Holy… Read more »
Nov 01, 1999
Tod Machover: Technology and the Future of New Music
Tod Machover shares some of the extraordinary new musical interfaces he has been creating at the MIT Media Lab and explains how and why these new technologies will redefine music in the 21st century.
Oct 01, 1999
What role, if any, do you think technology will play in the composition and performance of your music in the next 25 years?
Morton Subotnick “More and more I am ONLY using a computer…” William Duckworth “…some of us are already beginning to develop new virtual instruments and to conceive of ways to facilitate live performances on line…” Pamela Z “Each time I have introduced a new tool into my arsenal, it has resulted in new ideas and… Read more »
Oct 01, 1999
Technology and the Future of Music
Anyone pursuing music, either as a composer, a performer or a listener, cannot escape technology.
