Call them the children of Kronos. No, not the Greek Titan, who ruled Earth and the heavens, but the Kronos Quartet, the San Francisco-based ensemble founded in 1973 that reinvented the string quartet. With an exclusive dedication to contemporary music — from minimalism to salsa — the Kronos created such a hip and flamboyantly costumed image that it was dubbed “classical music’s fab four.” Today,...

The internationally known opera director Francesca Zambello has been named the new general and artistic director of Glimmerglass Opera. She assumes her post in Cooperstown on September 1st, succeeding Michael MacLeod who leaves at the end of the summer season after a five-year tenure. “Francesca Zambello brings a wealth of experience.  She will take the company to a new level of excellence,” said Elizabeth Eveillard,...

SCHENECTADY – It was 30 years ago that Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin opened in the Broadway production of “Evita,” and earned Tony Awards for their efforts.  With their reunion tour that arrived at Proctors Theatre on Saturday night, they could have coasted through some chestnuts and reminisced about the good old days and still probably have sent the near capacity crowd home plenty happy. But that wouldn’t have...

Except for my ears, there’s nothing gay here (at least as far as I know). These are my reviews for the Times Union (Albany, NY) from last weekend. I’ve decided to start posting more of this sort of thing, since these assignments are what can keep me from providing more original content on here. Daniel Bernard Roumain & The Mission January 22, 2010, The Egg, Albany Daniel Bernard Roumain, also known as DBR,...

Everybody knows that gay men do up the best holiday decorations. But what about music for the season? Well, “The Nutcracker” and “The Messiah” are bigger and older hits than even “Rudolph” or “White Christmas,” at least in my book. And both were written by gay men, Tchaikovsky and Handel, respectively. There’s nothing quiet as inspired as “The Messiah,” at least...

In 1980 Darren K. Woods was a tenor in the chorus of the Houston Grand Opera with visions of heading to Broadway before starring in his own television sitcom. Fate and the music world had other things in store. Following recommendations of friends, he spent that summer in the young artists program at the Seagle Music Colony outside the little Adirondack village of Schroon Lake in Essex County about 90 miles north of Albany. ...

Thomas Hampson is one of the top baritones on the international opera scene, but he’s not lost touch with his American roots and can make the humble song form into something powerful. The evidence came Wednesday night (7/22/09) in Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall, when Hampson gave an all-American song recital with the marvelous pianist Craig Rutenberg.  In 27 selections ranging from familiar to rare, Hampson sang with great beauty...

Union College Concert Series Schenectady, New York December 11, 2007 The boundaries between modernism and romanticism were blurred Tuesday night in the bold and unusual recital by pianist Jeremy Denk. Performing at Union College, the 37-year-old American offered only two sonatas, but each is a doozy: Ives’ “Concord” and Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier.” And his approach to each work was unexpected,...

For Jeremy Denk’s piano recital Tuesday night at Union College, there will be no appetizers, desserts or refreshing little side dishes, just a couple of big entrees: In an ambitious and daring program, the 37-year-old will tackle two of the most daunting piano sonatas in the repertoire, Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” and Ives’ “Concord.” “It’s kind of an exercise in wishful...

In 1988, accordionist and composer Pauline Oliveros made a recording with a trombone player and a percussionist inside a 2 million-gallon empty cistern buried 14 feet below ground at Fort Worden, near Port Townsend, Wash. The resulting CD on New Albion Records was titled “Deep Listening,” a play on the unusual location and also an apt description of the trio’s meditative and reverberant improvisations. Soon...