New Links

I’ve added some new links in the right hand column. You’ll find one to the Catholic Worker under “Religion and Spirituality”, and to the American Composers Forum under “Resources”.

(AMC + MTC) + ACF = NMUSA + ACF

Big news this morning about the American Music Center, Meet the Composer and American Composers Forum amalgamating their services and activities. Read about it here.

Upcoming in Philly and NYC

- March 18 – soprano Mary MacKenzie (of SongFusion) performs with Shuffle Concert this Friday, March 18 at Baruch College. It’s a nice idea – the audience picks the program on the spot!

-March 19 and 20 – Orchestra 2001 plays Hindemith, Berio and Roberto Sierra. Julianne Baird, soprano; Marcantonio Barone, piano, Lori Barnett, cello are featured. The performance on the 19th is at the Trinity Center in Center City, Philadelphia, on the 20th at Swarthmore College.

- March 22 – the Philadelphia chapter of the American Composers Forum presents a webcast interview with George Crumb at 7 PM. Audio trailer here.

- March 29 – Penn Contemporary Music presents violinist Maria Bachman and pianist Jon Klibonoff at Penn’s Amado Recital Hall in Irvine Auditorium, 34th and Spruce Street. Program includes Glass: Sonata No. 1; Paul Moravec: Three Pieces; George Rochberg: Sonata; and the first performance of a new work by Penn faculty composer Jay Reise, The Flight of the Red Sea Swallow. The Glass and Moravec works are Philadelphia premieres. The late George Rochberg was, of course, a long-time Penn faculty member, and he wrote his sonata for Bachman.

- April 12 – looking a little ahead, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra will perform Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony at the Kimmel Center, Christoph Eschenbach conducting, with Di Wu, piano and Thomas Bloch, ondes Martenot.

Soon in Philly and NYC

-The music of seven members of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Composers Forum – Efrain Amaya, Michael Djupstrom, Daniel Shapiro, Adam B. Silverman, Tony Solitro, Thomas Whitman, and Ya-Jhu Yang –  may be heard as part of a new music theater piece on the Decameron, tonight and through the weekend at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia.

- Network for New Music’s November 21 program is called Trade Winds from Tibet and presents music by Andrea Clearfield springing from her research gathering songs in Tibet; composers Eric Moe, Tony Solitro, Michael Djupstrom are also featured.

-The Contemporary Chamber Ensemble of SUNY Stony Brook presents its annual concert of premieres - Nov. 17 on campus, Nov, 18 at Merkin Concert Hall. New music by David Cutler, Leo Kraft, Laura Schwendinger, Daria Semegan and Ken Ueno.

- New York New Music Ensemble offers music of Eric Moe, Keeril Makan, Caroline Malonée, Kati Agócs, and Stephen Hartke, November 22 at Merkin.

Codex; New Voices

Upcoming concerts:

counter)induction presents “Codex” – according to their announcement:

“A concert that Borges might have planned: starting with a unique and mysterious collection of late-medieval polyphony from the codex Torino J.II.9, five composers engage in “speculative musicology” to create works in a musical tradition that never was. Composers Peter Gilbert, Christopher Jon Honett, Douglas Boyce, Kyle Bartlett and Ryan Streber imagine a centuries-long musical practice to arrive at five world premieres that are as evocative as they are unique.”

Works by Charles Halka and Christopher Rogerson round out the program, this Sunday, March 28 at the Tenri Institute. I know from hearing these players at Penn not too long ago that c)i is one of the strongest groups now active in NYC.

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The Philly chapter of the American Composers Forum presents “New Voices” – six world premieres by ACF composers working in the Philadelphia area – Ryan Beppel, David Carpenter, Heidi Jacob, Andy Laster, Ian Munro, and Kento Watanabe – as well as Mario Davidovsky’s Festino Notturno. The Argento Chamber Ensemble performs, at the Prince Music Theater, Saturday, April 3.

Da Capo da capo

You can hear last fall’s performance of my Dancepiece by the Da Capo Chamber Players at New Music Philadelphia, a webcast project of the American Composers Forum’s Philadelphia chapter. The Da Capo concert that includes Dancepiece, as well as works by Higdon, Greenbaum, Druckman, and Folio, will be heard Tuesday nights from 9 to 10:30 pm “for a limited time”, according to the site. (Not clear just how long is “limited”.) Program notes are available here.  While you are at the site, check out the other ACF webcasts, and the 24/7 stream of Philadelphia composers.