I CARE IF YOU LISTEN

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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Group Theory by counter)induction

CDs are not live music. CDs have to compete for our attention in ways that concerts never do. They not only have to draw us away from the myriad attention-demanding devices that proliferate our lives but also have to hold that attention, even if peripherally, for an hour. What may work brilliantly in a performance setting may be challenging as a recording, and I fear that is the case with this CD. Here we have an award-winning, highly-lauded  ensemble performing wonderful music at an extremely high level on a debut CD that unfortunately falls flat. I have the strong sense that if I were to hear this music live I would be riveted, but at the end of the day Group Theory fails to hold my attention.

The group counter)induction was formed in 1998 and has seen its profile steadily increase over its lifespan. Three composers are listed in its ranks, alongside piano, violin, viola, cello, and clarinet, and that seems no small point. Performers often benefit greatly in working closely with composers, and the adeptness with which c)i tackles the music of both the resident and outside composers seems to be a result of this relationship. Moreover, composers often know what other composers are doing much better than performers, and this seems to have influenced their programming decisions over the years.

counter)induction

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