Laura and I went to the ballroom today and figured out the lighting and where each group will go, just the general layout. The projector would be cool, but it is kind of in the way in the dead center of the ballroom, what do you guys think? Should we still use it?
We now have my string quartet (Bootleg), The Dells, Jennifer Peacock, Brad Harris and DePauwcapella. Yay! Any other comments or concerns?
Monday, December 3, 2012
Posters/flyers printed!!!!!
The posters as well as the mini-flyers have been printed, and some have already been distributed in the GCPA and UB, as well as my floor in Lucy. Please let me know about additional areas where you'd like to see them placed and/or if you would like to offer your help (*googly eyes*).
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Reading for W 11/28 and F 11/30
For Friday:
In Monday's class I mentioned the introductory essay in Alex Ross's book Listen to This. Turns out that this long (and fascinating!) chapter originally appeared as a standalone essay in The New Yorker, where Alex is the classical music critic. It's available here (that's the link for the printable version, which I suggest you print and/or save as a PDF; if you don't have a Mac and don't have a utility to save as PDF, email me), and we will start discussing it in Friday's class (and online before then).
In the article, Alex repeatedly mentions Leonard Bernstein's recorded analysis of Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony. We don't have it in the Music Library but it is available as a download for 99 cents from Amazon (on iTunes you have to download the entire album; on Amazon you get the entire album for $8.99, or can download the 5 tracks for $0.99 each--go figure). You haven't had to buy any texts for this course, and you might really enjoy this.
For tomorrow (Wednesday):
Events: We've been talking about your "event" and until it takes place a lot of energy will be going into making it true event. In a happy coincidence, our old friend Greg Sandow just wrote a blog post called Concerts as events. So let's read and discuss that some.
The Developing Future:
Some links to look through fairly quickly:
Alarm Will Sound and The Metropolis Ensemble are two groups based in New York, each playing lots new music, with young, enthusiastic followings. I'm reminded of one of the letters in the New York Times discussion that said the way to introduce young people to classical music is with new music (coming out of the classical tradition), rather than the 18th- and 19th-century "great masters." And I can say that the performances I've been to by both ensembles (which in my own experience have all been at [le] poisson rouge0 feel like events. The Metropolis Ensemble has such a big following that they sometimes do the same show on two nights at LPR.
Bridget Kibbey is a young harpist with a great career going; she plays in the Metropolis Ensemble among other things. As you look at her bio (on the "about" page), notice how many musical projects and teaching activities she's involved in. She has what is called a project-based, portfolio career. Which is another way to say she's a very successful freelancer.
Another successful portfolio-career person is trumpeter C.J. Camerieri, who is a member of Alarm Will Sound as well as a driving force behind yMusic. Look CJ's bio, and the "About" page on the yMusic site--talk about how at least part of the future is no longer "classical OR pop" but "classical AND pop"!
Something's happening in music now that's not happened before, at least not to such an extent. Previously distinct genres are cross-fertilizing and producing offspring that are neither classical not pop nor world. They are a genuine mix, and a genre unto themselves. It's really different than a classical pops arrangement of a rock tune, or a jazz version of a classical something or other.
To sum up:
For Wednesday:
In Monday's class I mentioned the introductory essay in Alex Ross's book Listen to This. Turns out that this long (and fascinating!) chapter originally appeared as a standalone essay in The New Yorker, where Alex is the classical music critic. It's available here (that's the link for the printable version, which I suggest you print and/or save as a PDF; if you don't have a Mac and don't have a utility to save as PDF, email me), and we will start discussing it in Friday's class (and online before then).
In the article, Alex repeatedly mentions Leonard Bernstein's recorded analysis of Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony. We don't have it in the Music Library but it is available as a download for 99 cents from Amazon (on iTunes you have to download the entire album; on Amazon you get the entire album for $8.99, or can download the 5 tracks for $0.99 each--go figure). You haven't had to buy any texts for this course, and you might really enjoy this.
For tomorrow (Wednesday):
Events: We've been talking about your "event" and until it takes place a lot of energy will be going into making it true event. In a happy coincidence, our old friend Greg Sandow just wrote a blog post called Concerts as events. So let's read and discuss that some.
The Developing Future:
Some links to look through fairly quickly:
Alarm Will Sound and The Metropolis Ensemble are two groups based in New York, each playing lots new music, with young, enthusiastic followings. I'm reminded of one of the letters in the New York Times discussion that said the way to introduce young people to classical music is with new music (coming out of the classical tradition), rather than the 18th- and 19th-century "great masters." And I can say that the performances I've been to by both ensembles (which in my own experience have all been at [le] poisson rouge0 feel like events. The Metropolis Ensemble has such a big following that they sometimes do the same show on two nights at LPR.
Bridget Kibbey is a young harpist with a great career going; she plays in the Metropolis Ensemble among other things. As you look at her bio (on the "about" page), notice how many musical projects and teaching activities she's involved in. She has what is called a project-based, portfolio career. Which is another way to say she's a very successful freelancer.
Another successful portfolio-career person is trumpeter C.J. Camerieri, who is a member of Alarm Will Sound as well as a driving force behind yMusic. Look CJ's bio, and the "About" page on the yMusic site--talk about how at least part of the future is no longer "classical OR pop" but "classical AND pop"!
Something's happening in music now that's not happened before, at least not to such an extent. Previously distinct genres are cross-fertilizing and producing offspring that are neither classical not pop nor world. They are a genuine mix, and a genre unto themselves. It's really different than a classical pops arrangement of a rock tune, or a jazz version of a classical something or other.
To sum up:
For Wednesday:
- One short Sandow blog post.
- Three ensemble websites.
- Two musician websites.
For Friday:
- One very long but free article by Alex Ross to read and comment on.
- One 16-minute fascinating talk by Leonard Bernstein (talking with enthusiasm and intelligence about extraordinary music), highly recommended, that costs less than a dollar.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
For Monday 11/26: Some Fascinating Reading
Welcome back, and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving break.
Here are recently posted items quite relevant to our conversations about the future of classical music, including how to get an audience to concerts.
The first is Agora or Temple?, an essay by George Slade posted on the website of the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, who are currently locked out by management while contract negotiations are underway. A particular sore point with them is that the board of directors has raised $52 million dollars for a new lobby for the concert hall (that must be quite a lobby), while simultaneously asking the musicians to take very substantial cuts in salary and benefits. I'd be pissed, too.
Beyond that particular situation, I think we could call this essay "What's Wrong with Classical Music." Depending on which point of view you hold, it's either the situation Mr. Slade is complaining about or the point of view of Mr. Slade himself. As you read, it will be helpful to know that in Ancient Greee, an agora was a central meeting place. A temple, of course, is a temple, and I can't think of any piece I've ever read that more perfectly articulates the concert-hall-as-temple-of-high-art view than this.
As you know by now, one thing that is happening as classical music evolves is that there are more and more agora-like performance spaces as fewer people seem to be attracted to musical temples.
Meanwhile, the New York Times has posted a raft of letters on the subject Is Classical Music Dying? Each week, the Times publishes a letter online on an important topic and invites readers to respond; selected letters are published in Sunday's paper and even more are published online. The original letter is by a violinist who is retired from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He asserts:
Please post your responses here, and we'll spend part of class discussing both.
Here are recently posted items quite relevant to our conversations about the future of classical music, including how to get an audience to concerts.
The first is Agora or Temple?, an essay by George Slade posted on the website of the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, who are currently locked out by management while contract negotiations are underway. A particular sore point with them is that the board of directors has raised $52 million dollars for a new lobby for the concert hall (that must be quite a lobby), while simultaneously asking the musicians to take very substantial cuts in salary and benefits. I'd be pissed, too.
Beyond that particular situation, I think we could call this essay "What's Wrong with Classical Music." Depending on which point of view you hold, it's either the situation Mr. Slade is complaining about or the point of view of Mr. Slade himself. As you read, it will be helpful to know that in Ancient Greee, an agora was a central meeting place. A temple, of course, is a temple, and I can't think of any piece I've ever read that more perfectly articulates the concert-hall-as-temple-of-high-art view than this.
As you know by now, one thing that is happening as classical music evolves is that there are more and more agora-like performance spaces as fewer people seem to be attracted to musical temples.
Meanwhile, the New York Times has posted a raft of letters on the subject Is Classical Music Dying? Each week, the Times publishes a letter online on an important topic and invites readers to respond; selected letters are published in Sunday's paper and even more are published online. The original letter is by a violinist who is retired from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He asserts:
The future of classical music lies with the younger generation, which must be weaned away from the cacophony of rock and the neon glitter of “American Idol”-type TV shows. Instead of dragging children to concerts, where they squirm with boredom, rent some old movies featuring soundtracks of classical music.and as you can imagine, a number of younger writers take issue with the rock comment.
Please post your responses here, and we'll spend part of class discussing both.
Monday, November 19, 2012
The audience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqQnHETW_D0
Just an idea on audience performer participation. These guys are awesome at it.
Just an idea on audience performer participation. These guys are awesome at it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)