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Spring For Music at Carnegie Hall Featuring The Houston Symphony

In what is now one of the premiere spring events for classical music in the United States, Spring For Music brings together an impressive grouping of orchestras from across the nation and Canada for a series of performances, showcasing some of the greatest music ever created, at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall in New York City

Our very own Houston Symphony is kicking off the sophomore edition of this series on May …more…

Fenway Celebrates its 100th and Death Cab for Cutie Celebrates Orchestral Music

As I look back, April really has been an eventful month, particularly in the last couple of weeks. I’d be remissed if I didn’t take the time to highlight some of the events that makes Boston a vibrant community for classical music as well as everything from sports to pop culture. So, I thought I’d highlight a couple of instances where Classical music met not-so-classical events in a big way. …more…

Norman Scribner bids farewell to the DC Choral Arts Society

This month, celebrated conductor Maestro Norman Scribner retired from his post as artistic director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington D.C. after 46 years of leadership. The chorus, which is one of the largest and foremost choral organizations in the United States, was founded by Maestro Scribner himself.

Coming Attractions

Springtime in Seattle generally brings showers. They are very like the winter showers we’ve had, and the summer showers to come, but they are warmer than the winter version, and accompanied by budding trees and flowers. Spring is a welcome arrival. Sadly, it also means the end of the season for many of our music organizations. Seattle has a wealth of festivals, camps and workshops through the summer, but for …more…

A Slate of Premieres and a Glut of Beethoven.

May is promising to be a strong month for new music fans, led by the Bay Area’s regional orchestras.

Last Thursday, the Berkeley Symphony premiered Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Holy Sisters” with the San Francisco Girl’s Chorus and soprano Jessica Rivera.

On May 5 and 6th, the Walnut Creek’s California Symphony will premiere “Optima Vota” by it’s composer in residence, D.J. Sparr, who is completing his residency. Sharing the program is Beethoven’s 9th …more…

Have Snow Will Sing: Another Writer Looks at Minnesota’s Thriving Art Scene

I love Minnesota. Really I do.  Despite the first couple years of my life having been in sunny Puerto Rico, I somehow ended up developing a tolerance for our bitter cold weather. Granted, I am writing this in the middle of a gorgeous spring afternoon, so it’s easy to talk kindly of our climate at the moment.

It has crossed my mind in the past that our state’s frigidity is the very …more…

The Stars of Tomorrow… Today

While it remains to be seen who the future stars will be, there is no doubt that there are some remarkably talented young musicians in the Classical vein emerging around the world. The competition for the limited slots available on the world stage is fierce, in part because we seem to have gotten better and better at finding, training, and nurturing talented young people.

On one hand, this is sad because …more…

Composer Robert Sirota Commemorates Appleton Organ’s 30th Anniversary at the Met Museum

Composer Robert Sirota. Photo by Richard Frank; culled from the composer’s web site.

While the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City may be best recognized for its expansive collections of visual art and historical artifacts, musical instruments are also significant to the museum’s holdings. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the installation of one such instrument at the museum—the Thomas Appleton pipe organ—the Met’s Department of Musical Instruments …more…

N.O. Opera pairs ‘Pagliacci,’ ‘Carmina Burana’

While thousands of visitors to the city may be looking to hear the sounds of traditional and contemporary jazz, rock, blues or gospel in the tents of the annual Jazz Fest, there is a dedicated coterie of opera fans who will be heading this weekend to the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts.  They will be taking in the mounting of an opera and a special production of a …more…

Nine (Slightly Biased) Reasons to See the Alaska Chamber Singers This Weekend

The Alaska Chamber Singers are performing this Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, and it promises to be among the best classical music offerings in Anchorage this spring. Okay, okay, I admit that I may be *slightly* biased… I am, after all, one of the altos in the Chamber Singers. But, I stand by my superlative. ...more...

$20 Food Coupon to Celebrate Tanglewoods 75th Season!

As the Boston Marathon wrapped up earlier this week, I was reminded of how truly close we are to summer here in New England. And with that comes a real sense of community, especially when it comes to concert music. And just because the BSO’s season is winding down, doesn’t mean the whole scene is coming to a close. Of course, I’m talking about Tanglewood—one of the Northeast’s premier performing …more…

Classical Music at The Woodlands Pavilion

Being the summer home of the Houston Symphony, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion has become a go-to for those who prefer to enjoy their classical music in the fresh air and under the starry Texas skies.

Although it is not summer quite yet (forget the fact that it already feels like it), The Woodlands Pavilion is taking advantage of the unparalleled talents of our very own Houston Symphony, along with a …more…

Mozart ‘Requiem’ to bow here Thursday

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orcherstra (LPO) returns with a true classical program  this Thursday in New Orleans and Friday on the Northshore, April 19-20, with an ambitious night featuring the Wolfgang Mozart Requiem in D Minor, K 626, and the Ludwig von Beethoven Symphony No. 2. in D Major, Opus 36.

Soloists for the Mozart Requiem include two principals named Lattimore, who are not related. Grammy nominated soprano Jonita Lattimore will be …more…

Qualified Performing Artists: Tax Day Edition

One of the cruel realities of performing artists is while they often do not earn much, they have extremely complicated tax returns. This can involve a stack of 1099s, W2s, and filing in multiple states, royalties statements, and even international returns. Performing artists also have greater out-of-pocket expenses than the average worker, and one of the complicating factors in their tax return is how to divide deductions between schedule C …more…

Nearly Sold-Out Bacchic Orgy: Anchorage Symphony Season Finale

The Anchorage Symphony is playing their season finale this Saturday, and, as of this writing, there are only EIGHT TICKETS LEFT for this sweet concert. If you manage to get a ticket, lucky you. Expect intellectualism, sentimentality, and musical bacchanalia.

So what exactly is on the program? A new piece for our Celestial Soundtrack! The concert will open with Comet, a ten-minute tone poem by George Tsontakis, commissioned for this concert by the Symphony’s “Musica Nova” program. ...more...

How To Tango in D.C.

The tango is arguably one of the most popular dances worldwide.

According to music historian and ethnomusicologist Chris Goertzen, “Over a century after its gestation in the slums of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, the tango has become a global music…it is global in the most literal sense of geographic reach, flourishing in Buenos Aires and Tokyo, in Saigon and Durban, in small towns in Scandinavia and in the U.S.” (1)

Sergio Alessandro …more…

Jazz Concerto Premiere – An Interview With Lewis Porter

On April 19, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. in Paine Hall on the Harvard University campus, jazz pianist, composer, educator, and author, Lewis Porter’s Concerto for Saxophone will receive its world premiere with jazz icon Dave Liebman as the soloist (event site). Dr. Porter was kind enough to answer some questions about the piece and his collaborations with Liebman:

Your achievements as a scholar and educator are tremendous: You have been a …more…

Yale in New York Presents “De Profundis: The Deep End”

David Shifrin, Artistic Director of Yale in New York; photo culled from the Yale School of Music web site.

Too often in concert music, the bassoon, string bass, trombone and others on the lower end of the sonic spectrum are neglected as solo instruments. This premise is the driving force behind the “Yale in New York” series’ De Profundis: The Deep End led by Artistic Director David Shifrin on …more…

Joshua Bell to play Brahms with LPO

One of the world’s leading violin virtuosos, Joshua Bell, will perform with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) on Friday and Saturday nights in New Orleans. An Avery Fisher Prize Winner and Instrumental Musician of the Year recipient from 2010, Bell was recently named the music director of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Classical superstar Joshua Bell, who performs Friday and Saturday night with the LPO.

In most instances …more…

American Mavericks at Carnegie Hall: The California Contingent

On Thursday evening, March 29, New York City’s Carnegie Hall continues the final week of its American Mavericks series—which focuses on 17 singular composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, from Charles Ives to Morton Feldman to Steve Reich—with a decidedly West Coast focus.

"American Mavericks" Curator and Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; photo by Terrence McCarthy, culled from Carnegie Hall web site.

Series curator and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas will lead …more…

April Showers Bring…Spring Concerts?

As Spring rolls through, I’m finding that the streets of Boston are becoming more and more bustling with visitors and residents alike—a fact that is painfully apparent due to the lack of street parking. This can only mean that the weather is getting warmer and days brighter. And what better way to celebrate than with a night out to one of symphony area’s many classical performances. I thought I’d take …more…

So Percussion Releases John Cage “Bootleg Series”

So Percussion, from L to R: Swilinski, Treuting, Beach, and Quillen; photo by Janette Beckman, courtesy of Dot Dot Dot Music.

Today, March 27, marks the album release of Cage 100: The Bootleg Series by the contemporary classical ensemble So Percussion. As part of its celebration of the 100th anniversary of innovative avant-garde composer John Cage’s birth, the percussion quartet (comprised of Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Swilinsky, and …more…

Petrouchka and Beethoven at the Houston Symphony

With the new year comes fresh and exciting opportunities to experience the wonderful options for classical music lovers in Houston,Texas.

One of the most prominent and long-awaited performances of the spring is on April 13th-15th, when conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and pianist Jon Kimura Parker combine forces for a magnificent series of old school and new school sounds, as they tackle Beethoven, Schumann and Stravinsky in the Houston Symphony’s Petrouchka & Beethoven.

Quickly …more…

LPO busy with two nights of concerts

Just prior to next weekend’s major Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) concerts with renowned violinist Joshua Bell, the nation’s only major musician-run symphony orchestra presents two very different performances in as many nights.

Tonight’s “March Madness” performance features the return to the podium of artistic director Carlos Miguel Prieto. It has been nearly a month since he put the LPO through its musical paces with a program of Russian music.

As its title …more…

MTT and the San Francisco Symphony Bring Their “American Mavericks” Program to Southeast Michigan

Beginning this evening, the San Francisco Symphony will perform their multi-concert “American Mavericks Festival” series in Ann Arbor, which features an assortment of works by various pioneering American composers. This concert festival, having begun in San Francisco, and traveled to Chicago before coming to Ann Arbor, has received heaps of praise for its sold-out concerts.

This evening’s concert at Hill Auditorium features Orchestral Variations, Aaron Copland’s orchestration of his own 1930 Piano …more…