landscape and dance: the halprin collaboration June 24, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : chamber music, contemporary, music, portland, 1 comment so far
Tuesday morning Heather and I went to Pettygrove Park, and small urban oasis set in a 70’s urban renewal zone largely characterized by monolithic, concrete apartment blocks. It is one of three plazas in the area designed by renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, along with the Keller Fountain (formerly the Forecourt Fountain) and the Lovejoy Fountain. We went there, instruments in hand, to check out the acoustics of the site for a planned installation of music and dance for the 2008 PICA TBA Festival (Festival of Time-Based Art). (more…)
wordless music in pdx April 17, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, chamber music, contemporary, music, popular music, 1 comment so farWordless Music, a group that promotes cross-pollination amongst popular and classical music genres (to put it rather grotesquely) is presenting two concerts in Portland this week, on Thursday (tonight) the 17th and Friday the 18th of April, with the Friday concert featuring the Portland contemporary music ensemble Third Angle.
Here is what they are about, in their own words:
The Wordless Music Series is devoted to the idea that the sound worlds of classical and contemporary instrumental music – in genres such as indie rock, free jazz, and electronic music – share more in common than conventional thinking might suggest. To illustrate the continuity between these worlds, the series will pair rock and electronic musicians in an intimate concert setting with more traditionally understood classical and chamber music performers. In so doing, the series will bring together audiences and introduce listeners of both classical and contemporary music to composers they might not otherwise encounter, for a completely new concert experience.
Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
Here are the particulars, lifted from their press release:
On Thursday, April 17, Stars of the Lid will perform with a string quartet and projections, on a program opened by electronic composer and Ghostly recording artist Christopher Willits. Also appearing will be members of Portland’s Classical Revolution PDX, to perform Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C minor and Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel for piano and viola.
The two-day kickoff event continues on Friday, April 18, at the Old Church, where Portland native and Wordless Music favorite Eluvium will make his second appearance for the series, on a program with local new-music ensemble Third Angle, which will perform chamber music by Chen Yi, Zoltan Kodály, and Portland composers Tomas Svoboda and David Schiff. Tickets to both inaugural Portland Wordless Music events can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com and local Jackpot Records stores.
world music April 5, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, fun, music, add a comment
Click the thumbnail image above to enlarge this cool score - find more info here.
fEARnoMUSIC concert tonight March 7, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : chamber music, composition, contemporary, music, add a commentIf you’re not set on what you’re going to do this Friday evening, why not go hear some spankin’ new music played to the hilt by some of the finest musicians around? (more…)
kernis to spend two-week residency in Seattle March 4, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, music, the orchestra world, youth orchestras, add a commentThe Gathering Note reports that composer Aaron Jay Kernis will be in residence with the Seattle Symphony for two weeks in an upcoming season (not yet specified).
This enthusiasm was on full display Sunday. In a surprise for the audience and I am sure a surprise for the orchestra, Aaron Jay Kernis, whose Too Hot Toccata [written in 1996] started the program, took the podium to conduct his own work. Kernis reveled to the audience that he was in town hammering out the specifics of a two week residency with the Seattle Symphony and sat in on the Sunday’s rehearsal. According to Radcliffe, while the band went through the piece, Kernis gradually began inserting himself until Radcliffe suggested he conduct the piece. Kernis did just that.
He was in Seattle this past weekend conducting his own piece Too Hot Toccata with the Seattle Youth Symphony.
The Oregon Symphony will perform the Toccata on its 2008-2009 classical series.
interview with grammy winning flutist February 15, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, music, recordings, add a commentDavid Stabler has a short Q&A with Molly Barth, who was a founding member of the new music ensemble eighth blackbird which just won a Grammy award last week. Click here to read it.
real “new” music February 12, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, music, the orchestra world, add a commentI’ve been pondering Ron Blessinger’s thoughts on the 2008-2009 season programming at the OSO, and the more I think about it, the more I wish there were not only works by living composers, but that there were works which have received their first performances at least since 1995. Why 1995? Because this is my blog, that’s why. (more…)
grammy for eighth blackbird February 10, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, music, recordings, add a comment
At tonight’s Grammy Awards, new music ensemble eighth blackbird won the Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance - that means (I’d assume) that Wilsonville resident, Willamette faculty, and member of fEARnoMUSIC (as well as frequent OSO substitute), flutist Molly Barth will soon have her very own Grammy sitting on her mantel at home! Congrats to her and the rest of the ensemble on a well-deserved win!
Purchase at: Amazon.com | cduniverse.com | Arkivemusic.com | iTunes
music, life, death February 6, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : composition, contemporary, music, add a commentA memorable post from composer Daron Hagen relating a composition lesson with David Diamond at Juilliard.
My favorite bit: (more…)
more adams February 3, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : appreciation/criticism, contemporary, music, summer festivals, the orchestra world, add a commentIf you enjoyed last night’s first run of the Adams, word is you can come back with your ticket stub from last night in hand and get in to see the piece again tonight. Judging from the response of the audience last night, there may be more than a few takers. It’s good to hear a relatively contemporary piece get such a strong audience response. All the press about how difficult a piece it is surely didn’t hurt, either.
Here’s a clip of OSO violinist Shin-young Kwon playing the cadenza from the third movement, Roadrunner, recorded live at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the summer of 2002. Click here to hear the whole performance.
