Interchanging Idioms

David Smooke wrote an article on NewMusicBox.org, "Composers at Work" in response to an article Dan Visconti's post on the same blog. In Dan's article he suggests a focus on more leisure and less money to maintain balance in life. David then takes this idea and turns it toward how (or what) composers consider work. Our language for music-making activity doesn't help the situation. When we create sounds at an instrument, we are "playing." When we work to hone our performing capabilities, we are "practicing." We are not limited by a standard workplace, instead creating out of our home or on our travels. And many of us need a monetary vocation to support our musical avocation, which further suggests that our endeavors should be properly categorized as recreational activities. I have often been considered a work-aholic, mostly because the people around me (except perhaps my wife who shares my passion for activity) think I spend far too muc...

The Met: Live in HD presents the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo in movie theaters worldwide this Saturday, December 11 at 12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT. Video – “Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera”

The wonders of the holidays begin on Friday, December 10 as the Colorado Symphony opens its holiday music season with a Denver favorite: Colorado Christmas . A festive tradition, Colorado Christmas concerts bring together the Colorado Symphony and Chorus, Colorado Children's Chorale, young soprano Christie Hageman, and Kim Robards Dance for a holiday concert celebration like none-other. At Colorado Christmas , audiences enjoy the enchantment of traditional Christmas carols, winter classics and contemporary holiday songs featuring the beautiful combined voices of the Chorus and Children's Chorale. From "White Christmas" to "Sleigh Ride," and "Angels We Have Heard on High" to "Joy to the World," to selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite , Colorado Christmas is the perfect way to escape from the usual holiday hustle and bustle. As an added delight, Kim Robards Dance creates an atmosphere of pure magic as dancers grace the sta...

“Susan Graham, one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of our time,…is in her absolute prime.” – Denver Post (July 2010) On December 9, “peerless American mezzo”* Susan Graham joins Maestro Edo de Waart and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s for a performance of Berg’s Seven Early Songs at Carnegie Hall. Graham continues the holiday season on December 15-16 in “Christmas at the Basilica” with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, a concert that will be nationally televised in Canada. For this performance, she will also be joined by the Choeur des Enfants de Montréal and Maestro Kent Nagano in a program of holiday music. Graham kicks off the New Year at Teatro Real Madrid from January 13-25, starring opposite Plácido Domingo in the title role of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride , an opera on which she has already “put her own stamp” (Chicago Tribune). She takes the role to her home company, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, for several dates in February and March. At Houston Grand Opera, she reprises...

The album that The Montreal Gazette called “one of the most original and compelling jazz albums in recent memory” has now been nominated for a 2010 GRAMMY AWARD for Best Classical Crossover Album. Matt Haimovitz and his all-cello band Uccello’s Meeting of the Spirits features jazz milestones re-imagined for a big band of cellos, arranged by Rome Prize-winning composer David Sanford. The cellos wail, slide, and swing in an all-new big band sound - joined by dazzling musical contributions from guitar legend John McLaughlin, percussionist Matt Wilson and Jan Jarczyk on keyboards - in works by Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu), Miles Davis, Billy Strayhorn and other jazz greats. JazzWax praises the album’s "deft dramatic beauty" while NPR.org says that “This agile band of players, led by such a free spirit, makes almost everything sound fresh." Ariama.com calls the album “entirely winning … a terrific, and terrifically fun, release.” The CD...

“Denk has the chops, the brains, and the heart” – New Yorker Celebrated American pianist Jeremy Denk continues his stellar season, performing recitals with star English cellist Steven Isserlis at the Eastman School of Music (Dec 7) and New York’s 92nd Street Y (Dec 9), before collaborating with Isserlis on two family concerts at the same venue: a Stravinsky-themed event led by the pianist himself (Dec 12) and an introduction to the life and music of Brahms (Jan 2, 2011). Denk just completed a six-state U.S. tour as featured soloist with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, performing Prokofiev and Grieg concertos under conductor Pavel Kogan. This fall also saw the release of Jeremy Denk Plays Ives , a landmark recording that underscores the pianist’s special way with the music of America’s pioneering musical maverick, Charles Ives; the Washington Post describes Denk’s authoritative Ives interpretations as combining “explosive power and sublime poetry.” On December 7, Denk and Is...

Barbican Thursday 6 January 2011, 7.30pm Barry Douglas will mark the start of the Liszt 200th anniversary year 2011 with a performance of the Liszt Piano Concerto No 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by François-Xavier Roth on January 6 2011. The programme will open with Liszt Symphonic Poem No 6 “Mazeppa” and close with Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. Barry Douglas has always been associated with Liszt and is highly regarded for his Liszt interpretations; he has described this work as “so beautiful and passionate”. Barry Douglas has established a major international career since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. In 1999 he formed Camerata Ireland, an all-Irish chamber orchestra with players from both Northern and Southern Ireland to celebrate “the wealth of Irish musical talent”, Barry Douglas is Artistic Director, plays with and conducts the Orchestra. François-Xavier Roth is Associate Guest Conductor of the B...