“When I hear what we call music, it seems to me that someone is talking… But when I hear traffic… I don’t have the feeling that anyone is talking. I have the feeling that sound is acting. And I love the activity of sound. What it does is it gets louder and quieter, and higher and lower, and longer and shorter. It does all those things and I’m completely satisfied.” share: Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Buzz it up Tip on Hyves Share via MySpace Share on Orkut share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Tweet about it Tell a friend...

Most music lovers are interested in composers’ notes, but Vivian Perlis is obsessed with their words.  Interviewing all manner of figures in American music over the past forty years, she’s been a leader in the once emerging, now established field of “oral history.” Perlis’ ten-year association with the late Aaron Copland resulted in their co-authoring his two-volume autobiography.  She’ll give a talk about the composer this coming Saturday morning in Cooperstown, as part of a seminar weekend at Glimmerglass Opera, where Copland’s only full-length stage work “The Tender Land”...

My friend Chester Biscardi says he wishes he had something gay to tell me about his recent trip to China in May. But two weeks of performances of your music on the other side of the planet is nothing to apologize for. He was featured composer at the Beijing Modern Music Festival and from the look of the photos, he was treated very well.  He kept a detailed journal of the experience and the folks at Sarah Lawrence College, where Chet teaches, prepared a fine summary.  Click on the photos here for links to their page. In other Biscardi news, finishing touches are going into a Koussevtizky/Library...

The concert hall in the woods just outside Woodstock is fondly known as The Maverick. But its summer presentations are often rather traditional servings of chamber music and solo recitals. This Saturday night, pianist Pedja Muzijevic will present a program wildly varied enough to be described as mavericky. Along with Schumann’s “Carnaval” and some little sonatas by Scarlatti, there will be transcriptions of Wager and Strauss and sampling of mid-century Americans like Henry Cowell, Morton Feldman and John Cage. “It’s a natural combination, wouldn’t you say?” deadpans the Bosnian-born...

Last month composer SCOTT PENDER attended a two-week summer music intensive known as the John Duffy Composers Institute, part of the Virginia Arts Festival. But it may as well be called Opera Camp. According to Pender, the sessions are for composers of opera and musical theatre to bring alive their works and get feedback from the collaborating artists and senior composers.  The musical staff consisted of founder John Duffy (formerly Mr. Meet the Composer), music director Alan Johnson, stage director Rhoda Levine, and vocal coach Patrick Mason. Also on hand were visiting composers Libby Larsen,...

Get ready for more horses in Saratoga Springs. This time on the ballet stage. In his latest piece, “Estancia,” choreographer Christopher Wheeldon directs members of the New York City Ballet to buck and bray like wild colts. The piece opens Saturday’s annual gala at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. “It’s a cowboy ballet, set on a ranch in Argentina,” says Wheeldon, who will be on hand for the performance.  Acknowledging that a western theme isn’t exactly new to ballet, he says the piece is more reminiscent of Agnes de Mille’s “Rodeo” than Balanchine’s “Western Symphony.” “It’s...

For 35 years, Peter Haley has been the Pied Piper of opera in the Capital Region.  As founder of the 400-member Siena Opera Club, he teaches classes on the art form, leads dozens of bus trips every year to performances across the east coast, and organizes European tours. Preparing for it all means long days immersed in music and logistical details. And Haley doesn’t even get to take the summers off. That’s because the local opera season is concentrated during the months of July and August.  At the head of the pack is the Lake George Opera at Saratoga, which Haley and his crew call “the...

Peter Orlovsky published five books of poems in his own right, but is famous for having been the long-time lover of one of the 20th century’s greatest poets, Allen Ginsberg. He died in Williston Vermont on May 30 at age 76. Make my grave shape of heart so like a flower be free aired and handsome felt. Grave root pillow, tung up from grave & wigle at blown up clowd. Ear turnes close to underlayer of green felt moss & sound of rain dribble thru this layer down to the roots that will tickle my ear. Hay grave, my toes need cutting so file away in sound curve or Garbage grave, way above...

Fort Worth Texas might be the most conservative area of the country after Orange County California. Last June one of its few gay bars, the Rainbow Lounge, was raided by members of the Fort Worth Police Department and Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission. Seven people were arrested for drunkenness, though numerous reports say that the individuals were pulled from the crowd randomly and violently.  A 26-year old man was hospitalized with head injuries. The event occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York. Reports from Dallas Voice on the arrests and the ensuing investigations...

For 33 years composer Gerald Busby has been a resident at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan.  That means he’s pretty much outlasted every other artist who lived there or just passed through, from his mentor Virgil Thomson to Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, and Sid Vicious. Journalists and authors love to write about the famous hotel and Gerald is always there to give them a good interview. He’s so engaging and endearing that the newspaper stories often end up being about him rather than his residence. Gerald also captures the fancy of visual artists, especially...