Professional orchestras play a lot of shows. As a player the sheer quantity can overwhelm. You get to the tail end of a season and it’s impossible to remember how it started, let alone what you played last concert series. When somebody asks what memorable shows you’ve played you inevitably draw a blank.
Author: Will Roseliep
Cellist, writer, data analyst.
www.classicaldarkarts.com
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Composer spotlight: Trevor Kowalski
Sometimes the web gods gaze upon us with favor. While trawling through r/classicalmusic I saw a link to this seductive little piece by a composer named Trevor Kowalski, sung by Katherine Merwin. It’s pleasant, and you’ll wish it was longer.
Snapchat is a domain ruled by celebrity royalty like DJ Khaled and Kylie Jenner, as well as engagement machines like Buzzfeed and MTV. There’s a reason everybody’s getting on board: Snapchat boasts a jaw-dropping 8 billion video views per day and rising. It’s the messaging app whose 100 million daily users spend an average of 30 minutes a day using it.
So…. question: with all that action, where are the classical musicians?
I first met Michael Avitabile at a house show hosted by his group, Hub New Music. It was a Friday night in Jamaica Plain and I was looking for a musical fix. You never know what you’ll find at these Groupmuse-type things, but Michael and his group played an ambitious program, including music by red-hot composer Mason Bates (The Life of Birds) alongside Bach’s The Art of Fugue.
Hub New Music are a collective specializing in exacting new-music performances and collaborations with living composers. As the orchestra job market tightens and audience numbers dwindle, groups like Hub New Music offer an enticing way forward. In short, Hub New Music is a group you should pay attention to.
Most people read Classical Dark Arts by subscribing to our newsletter. It’s messy, impassioned, and occasionally entertaining. It emanates from CDA headquarters where dysfunction reigns supreme, where a beleaguered staff still manages, somehow, to drop CDA mailers in your inbox that land like a ton of bricks.
While you wait on the next mailer, here are a few posts to catch you up. These are a sort of “greatest hits” or as close as this site will get. After reading and listening to these items, you’ll be a certified CDA professional.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences held its 58th annual GRAMMY Awards last night. See all the classical nominees and winners (in bold) below.
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A healthy diet of classical links
- LA Weekly’s handy guide for classical vinyl shopping
- Guinness World Record goes to Atlanta Symphony Orchestra bassist for 71 years (!!!) of service
- Elvera Voth’s unshakable belief in the power of art
- How about a little music to cause motion sickness?
- Sō Percussion Plays Glenn Kotche’s Drumkit Quartets
Need some low-cal, high-fiber classical links every couple weeks? Sign up for the CDA Mailer and ease your conscience.
Elvera Voth is a storied conductor who made a name for herself in the choral music world of Anchorage, Alaska. Voth came up in a time when it was unusual for a woman to lead a chorus, but saw incredible success in spite of that fact. She founded the Anchorage Boys Choir, the University of Alaska Singers, and served as director of the Anchorage Lyric Opera, among many other activities.
Sir Simon Rattle conducted the City of Birmingham Symphony for 18 years. After him, Sakari Oramo and Andris Nelsons both held the position.
Now it’s Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s turn.
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