by Charles Noble on June 6, 2009
Stanley Drucker retires after 60 years in NY Phil [NYTimes]
Marin Alsop re-ups for 5 more years in Baltimore [Baltimore Sun]
Young audiences overrated? [Washington Post]
$1 million to Detroit Symphony [Detroit Free Press]
by Charles Noble on May 8, 2009
This week’s soprano soloist, Karina Gauvin.
Photo credit: Michael Slobodian
Two of the three works that we’re performing on this weekend’s classical subscription concerts feature the juxtaposition of words and music. And they couldn’t be more different.
The first work is Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. It’s one of my favorite pieces of all time, and never [...]
Here’s a fairly common thing that happens when one does a gig where parts are produced under a tight deadline: misprints, wrong clefs, mis-transpositions, etc. Here’s a chart with the before on the left, the after on the right – looks a little different, right? Glad I wrote a lot of theory/orchestration exercises in undergrad [...]
Stewie “plays” the french horn.
Stewie plays the banjo.
Lois and Brian keep the rhythm – funny if you’ve ever taught a music lesson.
by Charles Noble on April 29, 2009 · 1 comment
Some very sad news from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, whose Principal trombonist, Steven Witser, died of a heart attack at the age of 48 on Monday night.
The Ying Quartet is losing its first violinist, resulting in a quartet that will not be all siblings.
The Baltimore Symphony musicians have given $1 million in voluntary wage/benefit [...]
by Charles Noble on April 17, 2009
fEARnoMUSIC 21st-century classical ensemble and video curators HELSINQI media studio
Present:
Parallaxis: Music and Moving Pictures: A live concert of 20th/21st-century classical music performed with original video/film
by contemporary artists — silent-movie style.
Friday, April 17
8 PM
Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church
2828 SE Stephens St
Portland OR 97214
(between Hawthorne & Division)
Tickets:
Online at www.artixpdx.pdx or at the door:
• $20 general admission
• $15 [...]
A friend sent this along to me last night as I was finishing up a previous blog posting, and I took the time to read it instead of just passing it over with good intentions. I’m so glad I did. There is so much in the business of producing music that is stressful, disheartening, political, [...]
by Charles Noble on March 6, 2009
Two Several news items from this week:
Cincinnati Symphony & Pops Put Recordings On Hold
Telarc Label to Suspend Producing Recordings
Classical Music Thrives in Virtual ‘Second Life’
Musicians: Radio Stations Should Pay Us Royalties
Free Streaming Audio: Fighting Piracy?
by Charles Noble on January 26, 2009
Carlos Kalmar – Photo: Oregon Symphony
In case you missed it, the Oregonian ran a story about our music director Carlos Kalmar taking part in a brain study at OHSU. It involved Kalmar being put into an MRI machine, then listening to a movement of Dvorak’s Sixth Symphony (which he was rehearsing that week) while being [...]
by Charles Noble on January 17, 2009 · 1 comment
I opened my email box today to find that Arts Scatter had awarded my blog the Premios Dardo Award (along with other fine local blogs), which comes with the following stipulations:
Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog [...]
by Charles Noble on December 16, 2008 · 1 comment
Sometimes one is reminded, as a professional musician, that the act of making music and presenting it to the public isn’t merely an exercise in entertainment.
Music is entertainment that can often be transformational, regardless of its seriousness of intent.
A great string quartet can give you intimate insight into the greatest works of our greatest compositional [...]
by Charles Noble on August 2, 2008 · 1 comment
I was reading a great collection of diary entries and columns by the great Bob “Bobke” Roll, who had a career racing both road bikes and mountain bikes in the 80’s to the early 90’s. He was also a training partner for a young upstart Lance Armstrong as he made his comeback from cancer.
As I [...]
by Charles Noble on April 25, 2008
As part of our partnership with different communities each year, our education department includes what is called the instrument petting zoo. Â No, it’s not a bunch of instruments in a fenced in area, with children walking around them petting them with timid hands. Â
What it is in actuality is a chance for kids to get [...]
by Charles Noble on April 5, 2008
Click the thumbnail image above to enlarge this cool score – find more info here.