With typical brevity and wit, Joseph Fennimore has already composed his own epitaph: “Often wrong. Never in doubt.” It speaks well to the contradictions and apparent folly of Fennimore’s livelihood. In a society where high art is little valued, he’s a driven and earnest composer who refers to his pieces as “ditties.” Also a virtuoso pianist who studied with the legendary teacher Rosina Lhevinne – as did Van Cliburn, Misha Dichter and John Browning – Fennimore’s performances these days are heard mostly on CD. True artists will identify with Fennimore’s all-consuming...

Picture the multitude of soldiers, horses and weapons that populated the recent blockbuster film “Troy.” Add in myriad satyrs, nymphs and fauns plus a score of ego-driven opera singers. Then squeeze them all onto a stage for four hours and you’ll begin to grasp the job of Francesca Zambello, who directed “Les Troyens” last year at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Zambello is an opera director. In other words, she’s fearless. Dealing with powerful impresarios, delicate singers and bossy conductors comes with the territory. But Zambello puts it simply, saying, “I’m...

“You’ve decided what you’re going to do, and it’s all you can think about. Everything else is a bother. Going to work is a bother. Going out to get something to eat is a bother.” Albany artist Kevin Bruce is describing his feelings when in the midst of creating. “You can spend a whole day painting and not eat and suddenly feel really faint and nauseous and dizzy and sick,” he says. “And you’ll still be like `Oh, I have to work on this more.’ And then you’ll force yourself to go and take care of your body. You really are just getting nutty. That’s...

It was in the basement of a Seattle church in the early 1970s that Pleasant DeSpain knew for sure his commitment to becoming a professional storyteller was going to work out. “I had my hat by the door, and I told stories for two hours,” he says. “At the end of that night, there was $27.68 in that hat. And rent for a decent apartment was $100 back then. I knew then that there was no turning back.” DeSpain has been telling stories to audiences large and small, old and young ever since. Next month, the Troy resident turns 60 and will have three new books released, drawing to a conclusion his...

The increasing longevity of humans has advantages for composers. Because the music world gets obsessed with birthdays and anniversaries, composers who make it to age 70 and beyond can expect tribute concerts at least every five years, and heightened attention to their music in general. Performers and audiences are led to think, “There’s a living master in our midst we best pay attention.” Two who fit that bill are Elliott Carter, 95, and Milton Babbitt, 87, both of whom still compose and attend concerts of their music. But before either Carter or Babbitt became senior citizens, they were...

It’s easy to drive right past the town without even noticing it. A smattering of old buildings on Route 29 northeast of Greenwich in Washington County, Battenville sits beside the Batten Kill and was briefly the home of Susan B. Anthony, who taught school there in 1826. In 1971, artists Robert Nunnelley and Gerald Coble bought an 18th-century house to serve as their country home and studio. Since then, the two men – now in their 70s and a couple for more than four decades – have slowly made the town into their personal arts colony. First, they restored their four-bedroom house to its...

The Dixie Chicks should take heart. Although they have had their songs dropped from radio stations and been booed at awards shows because of their statements against President Bush, a fellow Texan, they are not alone in the annals of American music for being shunned because of their politics. In his day, the great American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) also faced the difficulties of being a politically engaged artist. In January 1953, Copland’s orchestral work “Lincoln Portrait” was pulled from a Washington concert celebrating the Eisenhower inauguration. Later that year, he...

“Very often I have invitations to go to dinner parties with heads of states or royalty or ambassadors or whoever and I’ll always say I have a companion with me and I’d like him to be invited,” says the French classical pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, 41. “And though I don’t say it, what that basically means is if he’s not invited I’ll not come.” In demand around the globe, Thibaudet tours nine months out of the year. His lover Paul, who works as an international marketing consultant, often travels with him. They maintain homes in Los Angeles...

Composer Lou Harrison, who died in February at age 85, was sometimes called the Santa Claus of contemporary music. He certainly looked the part, with a big belly and a white mustache and beard.  The nickname was apt for other reasons as well: He was a joyous and generous man, and all his life he carried a big bag of toys. That’s what he called his many interests and pursuits. “From the start,” he often said, “I spread my toys out on a large acreage.” Indeed, in addition to musical composition, he also excelled at painting, poetry and calligraphy, as well as instrument construction...

“I would like to think that I had a significant insight into the girls in Little Women because I wasn’t bound by gender roles. On the other hand maybe the answer is – I had two sisters and we grew up in the same house!” Out composer Mark Adamo’s triumphant hit opera  Little Women – with twenty-four productions in less than five years – has astounded critics and endeared audiences to the voices of his vividly drawn characters. share: Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Buzz it up Tip on Hyves Share via MySpace Share on Orkut share via...