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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…

Within EarShot: BPO New Music Readings Present the “Concert-as-Rehearsal”

Image culled from the BPO web site.

The “Earshot and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra New Music Readings” on February 23, as previously reported, gave the assembled audience at Kleinhans Music Hall the rare opportunity to hear orchestral works-in-progress performed.

It’s fairly common to encounter a working rehearsal-as-concert, in which a renowned guest artist collaborates with the orchestra to perform a completed, often familiar composition in advance of the actual concert for a …more…

Centennial Favorites, New Creations Meet at the Avant Music Festival 2012

Composer Randy Gibson(foreground) performing "Apparitions of The Four Pillars, Avant Music Festival 2011; culled from Avant Media's photostream on Flickr.

Rather paradoxically, “new” and experimental classical music is as much about the past as it is about the present. By its very nature, creating art that is avant-garde now demands an intimate understanding of what was avant-garde then. The aptly named Avant Music Festival–now in its third year in New …more…

Saving Humanity One Dance At A Time

Pablo Malco, choreographer and director of The Hip Hop Symphony, the dance performance extravaganza hosted by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on January 29, 2012, tells us about how he got into dance, the making of The Hip Hop Symphony and the dance company turned foundation (www.pablomalcofoundation.org) that brings the art of dance into the community. ...more...

Happy Anniversary: Free Bang on a Can All-Stars Album through January 25

Few ensembles have been as integral to the propagation of new music both nationally and abroad as the Bang on a Can All-Stars. In addition to premiering compositions by Bang on a Can founding composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, the amplified sextet has interpreted the works of Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, and many others. ...more...

Holiday Music: An Alternative Playlist

In his November 30 blog post, entitled “The Trouble with the Familiar,” fellow Arts America writer Ken Williams lamented the extent to which our seemingly impenetrable focus on holiday music favorites blinds us to the merits of music that, for no lack of quality, is not as embedded in our listening traditions. ...more...

Anticipating Ecstatic: NYC Festival Announces Second Season

Just yesterday, it seems, New York was gearing up for October’s SONiC Festival, a celebration of 21st century music by composers under 40 years of age. Now, with November days dwindling and winter closing in, the city’s Ecstatic Music Festival has recently announced its second season of programming. ...more...