Of Music and Men (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that majority of the world's affairs are taken care by a clique of some kind. Even heads of state surround themselves with loyalists and cronies. Just think of the people in George W 's inner circle, most of who eventually became disgraced for a reason. Decisions by boards have been decided in advance by a small group of insiders; voting is but a rubber stamp. If...
AfriClassical (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
(Julius P. Williams, composer and conductor; Richard C. Alston, pianist) LincolnCenter.org Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater Join LonGar Ebony Symphony Orchestra (instrumentalists are classically trained Afro-Americans) and soloists on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 8:00 p.m. The orchestra will perform an exciting concert featuring Dr. Julius Williams , conductor and composer http://www.juliuspwilliams.com...
Song of a Reformed Headhunter (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
A basic and helpful introduction to music for someone like me, i.e., no music training beyond playing the pianica in primary school, and strumming the guitar round campfires in high school. In this book first written in the 1930s, Copland distinguishes between listening on a sensuous plane (mere enjoyment of the quality of sound) and on expressive and sheerly musical planes. While not slighting the...
AfriClassical (Free subscription) | 09/05/2009
[Top: Celeste Headlee; Bottom: A Festive Sunday With William Grant Still ; Symphony No. 3 ( Sunday Symphony ); Festive Overture ; Cover Photo, William Grant Still and Granddaughter Celeste c. 1972; Cambria CD-1060 (1996)] The composer Aaron Copland bequeathed much of his estate to the Copland Fund for Music, devoted to contemporary American music. In 2009 the Fund made two grants to White Pine Music...
Whatsonstage.com (Free subscription) | 08/27/2009
When Aaron Copland’s sole opera, The Tender Land, was first staged by the New York City Opera in 1954, it was criticised for being weak on plot and characterisation. But watching this MadCow Theatre Company production, presented here as part ...
post-gazette.com (Free subscription) | 08/25/2009
A belated Happy Birthday to conductor Leonard Slatkin, who turned 65 yesterday (Aug. 24). Principal guest conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, he also is now the music director of the Detroit Symphony. His concerts this fall with the PSO are (sorry for the ugly formatting). Sibelius 2 is one of my favorites, but the second program is more intriguing overall to me. Looking forward to hearing Leonard...
The Arts Blog (Free subscription) | 08/21/2009
Pacific Symphony Music director Carl St.Clair leads the orchestra in an all-American program, including music by Aaron Copland (including “Lincoln Portrait,” narrated by Kevin Deas and decorated with James Westwater’s photochoreography), Samuel Barber (the mournful “Adagio”) and John Williams. The great American symphony – Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, “From...
The Omniscient Mussel (Free subscription) | 07/01/2009
Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo. @sinclairmusic from Greenwood Lake, New York brought these three minutes of loveliness to Miss Mussel’s attention this morning via Twitter. The video is a stop motion representation of Aaron Copland’s Hoedown from the ballet Rodeo (1942) created by Eleanor Stewart as her final degree project at [...]
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