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Mario Abney – XRIJF 2012
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Shane Endsley – XRIJF 2012Category: Classical Music
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at 100
2013 is the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and 2013 will see more than 270 performances of this iconic work of the early 20th century. Donald Rosenberg, long-time music critic and reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has written a fascinating article about the Rite in this month’s Symphony magazine.
Read More →Sir Colin Davis Remembered
Due to the tumult of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the world all but overlooked the passing of Sir Colin Davis, one of the great conductors of the 20thcentury, who died at age 85 one day before that terrible event took place. To list his resumé as the music director and guest conductor of
Read More →Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Musical DNA
Roland Tapley, Alfred Krips, Harry Dickson, George Zazofsky, Clarence Knudsen, Laszlo Nagy, Eugene Lehner, George Humphrey, Misha Nieland, Henry Portnoi, John Barwicki, James Pappoutsakis, Pasquale Cardillo, Bernard Zighera, Charlie Smith. What do these 15 men have in common? They were all musicians in the Boston Symphony who, with some 80 of their colleagues, performed the
Read More →Getting to Know Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the new Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra who lives in Montreal, has been garnering lots of positive press, especially after his triumphant debut with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall on October 23 performing Verdi’s Requiem. He held the silence at the conclusion of the work for many, many seconds – so many that
Read More →Gerald Elias: Violinist, Author & Blogger
Jerry Elias, former violinist with the Boston and Utah Symphonies and author of four murder mysteries with a blind violin pedagogue as the protagonist, has agreed to be an occasional blogger for Polyphonic. In addition to writing mysteries Jerry has much to say about classical music, performance practise, playing violin, and much more. His fourth
Read More →Improving Parts (and Scores) for Orchestral Musicians
After many wonderful years of horn playing with most (if not all) of the major orchestras in the UK, and touring all over the world with them, and others it was time to hang up my ‘hooter’ and think of something else to do. I have had an interest in computers and music typesetting for
Read More →Breaking Up with Beethoven
Go out to hear an orchestra concert tonight and chances are the orchestra will be playing Beethoven. The most recent Orchestra Repertoire Report, from ’09 – ’10, details that 137 orchestras in America performed Beethoven’s music 457 times that season. His ninth, seventh, and fifth symphonies were ranked first, second and third respectively among the
Read More →Kim Kashkashian, Violist Extraordinaire
As I’m sure most of you know, violist Kim Kashkashian won the Grammy for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” for her album Kurtag and Ligeti of works by Hungarian composers Gyorgy Kurtag and Gyorgy Ligeti. When the announcement was made, a huge buzz went through the viola world — both because a violist had won the solo
Read More →Fingerings
Perhaps my most intense pet peeve about playing in an orchestra has to do with fingerings. When one has to share a part with someone else, one expects a bit of respect. But, unfortunately, that often doesn’t happen — I have known stand partners to write fingerings over almost every note in the part. To
Read More →Big Tent Thinking
History is filled with people who have tried to define art. They have all been wrong, and there is no reason to suspect we are any better at it than they were. Changes to what experts call “Art” happen all the time. There was a time when people questioned whether photography constituted fine art. Some
Read More →New York Times Sunday Dialogue: Is Classical Music Dying?
About ten days ago, Les Dreyer, a retired violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, had his letter to the editor published in the New York Times. Evidently his writing generated some interest—in fact, enough interest to be featured, along with 12 or so others in “Reader’s Reactions.” Mr. Dreyer’s letter is the focus of this
Read More →Beyond Prestige
In the American system, the arts are funded mostly through indirect subsidies. Our government’s tax policies toward charitable giving elicit billions of dollars in contributions annually. The beauty of this system is that it not only allows the citizens to determine which not-for-profits benefit a civil society, but also it does not require the government
Read More →Who’s Afraid of Popular Culture?
A recent missed opportunity for orchestras in New York City came in late October in the form of Comic Con. The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. Comic Con is an event that brings more than 100,000 people
Read More →Hartford Symphony & Chorale on Chinese Television
I visited SymphonyNOW this morning, the League’s news website, and was pleased to see a video featuring my music director, Carolyn Kuan. I’m a violist with the Hartford Symphony in Connecticut. For our opening concert set last week, we performed four concerts of Beethoven’s Ninth paired with the Yellow River Cantata, written by Xian Xinghai
Read More →Gold in them thar toobs?
Think “orchestral institutions” as “artists” in this article and some interesting questions emerge: Are we finally entering the age of the digital cultural entrepreneur (DCE)? That is, has it now become possible for a gifted artist or writer to control the reins of his or her career from a laptop, scheduling gigs, selling books or
Read More →When’s it OK to ask musicians to work for free?
For sure it’s not when the person asking has raised $1.2 million for her new album but doesn’t want to pay back-up musicians on the road. Fortunately for all concerned, she (very grudgingly) changed her mind after considerable public outcry. Many AFM locals had a prohibition in their bylaws about members working for free, at
Read More →Composer’s Corner with Jake Runestad
It is a pleasure to be a guest blogger on Polyphonic.org and I am excited to share a behind-the-scenes look at my latest project: Dreams of the Fallen, an exciting new work for orchestra, chorus, and solo piano commissioned by a consortium of orchestras, private sector donors, and acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Biegel – a champion of
Read More →Unleashed
I am sure we’ve all had evenings when we arrive home from work exhausted and brain-dead, not having the energy or concentration to do anything more than switch on the TV and go semi-conscious. And of course, sleep comes pretty … Continue reading →
Guest Bloggers: Quartetutopia by Nicholas Kitchen
[Nick Kitchen is the founding first violinist of the Borromeo Quartet, ensemble in residence at NEC. In addition to receiving the Artist Diploma from NEC, the quartet has gone on to win the 2007 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Lincoln Center's … Continue reading →
“Mr. Kreizsky, meet Mr. Woodsky”
Yakov Kreitzberg, the Russian-born, American-trained conductor was Music Director and Artistic Director of the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and outgoing Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Chamber … Continue reading →
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