I CARE IF YOU LISTEN

Corigliano Stimulates the Mind in Fulcrum Point’s “Altered States”

Movie composer John Williams turned 81 in February, and no orchestra stepped up to celebrate the passing of his perfect nine square birthday. Perhaps they were all exhausted by the  Tanglewood celebration of his 80th last year. Williams may be America’s most successful movie composer; his music revels in the film’s narrative, loudly commenting on it, and telling the audience how to feel. But he hardly gives any deference to the thinking mind. At the other end of the genre, where artists come from outside of Hollywood and work within stifling budgets, a more challenging creative process occurs. The artistry such a process can yield was in full display on April 23, 2013, when Fulcrum Point New Music Project accompanied a screening of Ken Russell’s Altered States with a live performance of John Corigliano‘s stunning score at Chicago’s Harris Theater.

Composer John Corigliano (photo credit: johncorigliano.com)

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Dan Visconti: Lonesome Roads on Bridge Records

My first encounter with Dan Visconti’s music was courtesy of the Aeolus Quartet and their debut album, Many-Sided Music. Visconti’s Black Bend, which opens that CD, is a fantastic piece, at once evocative, virtuosic, and charming. Since my initial introduction a year ago, Visconti’s name seems to have become increasingly prevalent, and his latest award, the 2013-14 Samuel Barber Rome Prize, will only accelerate that trend. I was most excited, then, to receive the first full-length disc of his music, Lonesome Roads, from Bridge Records, and I am happy to report that it does not disappoint.

Dan Visconti

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Eve Egoyan Celebrates Ann Southam at Glenn Gould Studio

To celebrate the release of 5, a new album of posthumously discovered works by Ann Southam, the acclaimed pianist Eve Egoyan performed a solo recital at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Ontario, on Friday, April 19, 2013. The concert featured one work from the new album, Returnings II, as well as works by Taylan Susam, Piers Hellawell, Michael Finnissy, and Claude Vivier.

Pianist Eve Egoyan (photo credit: David Rokeby)

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This week: concerts in New York (May 13 – May 19, 2013)

New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) 25th Anniversary Celebration

The program will feature South American songs (“Odeon” by Nazareth, “Pra que discutir com Madame” by Haroldo Barbosa, “Carinhoso” by Pixinguinha); American popular song (“I’m Going to Make You Beautiful” by Maltby and Shire, “Just Like a Man” by Vernon Duke); and vocal music by Spanish, Russian, and German composers, ranging from Montsalvatge to Kurt Weill.

Monday, May 13 at 7:30 PM
Tickets: $25
DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 West 37th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues
..:: Website

Music for Guitar and Organ

The first half of the program will include solos and duos for acoustic guitar and portative organ (a miniature pipe organ), including the Concerto for Lute in F Major by Karl Ignaz Augustin Kohaut the Austrian lutenist and composer of Czech descent who is considered one of the last important composers for Baroque lute. The second half of the concert will offer new works and transcriptions featuring the weightier combination of electric guitar and organ. Performers: Mak Grgic, acoustic and electric guitar, and Paul Vasile, organ.
Tuesday, May 14 at 8 PM
Tickets $25, $20 Students/Seniors
Park Avenue Christian Church, 1010 Park Avenue at 85th Street, New York, NY
..:: Website

Original Music Workshop (OMW) presents Strings and Borders

Cornelius Dufallo – Photo by Jill Steinberg

Featuring experimental violinists Dr. Johannes Rosenberg (Australia), Cornelius Dufallo (US) and Mari Kimura (japan). The concert will begin with brief solo performances by Dufallo and Kimura, followed by a trio improvisation featuring them and Rosenberg. Rosenberg will also perform an approximately 40-minute set accompanied by video of his Great Fences of Australia project.

Wednesday, May 15 at 7:00 PM
Free but reservations must be made via email at rsvp@o-m-w.org.
The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WQXR, 44 Charlton Street, Manhattan
..:: Website
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5 Questions to Parlour Tapes+ (contemporary music recording label)

Chicago, the wellspring of collaborative artistic ventures like the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), eighth blackbird, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and Ensemble dal Niente, has done it again. A group of 20-something creative slashes — composer/cellist/producer Kyle Vegter, violinist/singer-songwriter/blogger Ellen McSweeney, composer/soprano Jenna Lyle, and composer/writer (and, full disclosure, ICIYL Contributing Editor) Andrew Tham — has banded together to create Parlour Tapes+, a contemporary music recording label and media collaborative. We spoke with the principals in advance of their public launch event “The Guilty Party” on Thursday, May 16, 2013.

How did Parlour Tapes+ get started and what are your ambitions?

Andrew: Parlour Tapes+ began with a discussion between Jenna and Kyle about the current state of Chicago’s new music scene. There’s an abundance of intriguing ensembles and composers here who have not been properly recorded. The idea of giving them a recording home has been on the tip of many tongues, but no one has pursued it. So Jenna and Kyle decided to pursue that and Ellen and I joined in.

Our first goal is to export what’s going on here in Chicago to the rest of the world. There’s a lot of buzz about what musical artists are doing here; we want to give the world clear evidence of this. Our broader ambition is to contribute to the perception of contemporary classical music in an interesting way and to pique new curiosity among the uninitiated.

Kyle: Also, we couldn’t be doing this without our caring and daring partner, High Concept Laboratories. They’re helping with administrative and promotional support, event production consultation, and so much more.

Jenna Lyle, Kyle Vegter, Andrew Tham, and Ellen McSweeney of Parlour Tapes+ (photo credit: Parlour Tapes+)

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Colloquial Opera: Jason Cady’s Happiness is the Problem

If  television’s IFC produced operas in addition to off-kilter films and quirky sitcoms, composer Jason Cady’s Happiness is the Problem might be a prominent member of the program lineup. Released on January 15 via composer Aaron Siegel’s LockStep Records, the opera boasts a decidedly eccentric plot: three unemployed roommates living Greenpoint, Brooklyn find an unconventional way to overcome their financial woes.

Jason Cady

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