On March 21, the same day that George W. Bush said that U.S. troops would remain in Iraq at least through the end of his presidency, a group of fed-up soldiers’ wives came together. To end a seemingly never-ending war and their strategy, they decided to withhold sex until a truce was called. The women, of course, weren’t American or Iraqi but from Athens and Sparta. They appeared on the stage of the New York City Opera...

Tenors will forever owe a high note of thanks to the late gay British composer Benjamin Britten, since virtually everyone of his many works featured a glorious role for his lover, the late tenor Peter Pears. One of the most intriguing British singers since Pears is tenor Ian Bostridge who takes up three prime Britten song cycles in a beautiful new recording with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle (EMI). Bostridge...

In the anything-goes environment of the 1970s musical avant-garde, the late African American composer and baritone Julius Eastman was both out and outrageous. Giving his pieces names like “Crazy Nigger” and “Gay Guerrilla,” he apparently took inspiration from Richard Pryor (“That Nigger’s Crazy”) as much as from any high-minded musical theorems. Eastman’s antics even managed to rattle the Zen-like John Cage,...

After gay composer Ned Rorem turned 80 back in 2003, he decided to try some things that he’d not done in a long time, like going into a bar. “Since I don’t drink or smoke anymore, I don’t know what to do in a bar,” says Rorem, who nevertheless went looking for distraction at the Townhouse, a sweaterbar on Manhattan’s upper east side. “I stayed for 28 seconds,” he says. That was long enough for a 38-year-old...

It would be easy to say that 14 years after the death of Leonard Bernstein, the legendary American composer, conductor and educator casts a long shadow.  But sunsets, darkness and shadows are just not the right metaphors.  Bernstein is still a star, and his glowing light seems stronger than ever. Some evidence: Almost 50 years after its premiere, “West Side Story” receives an average of 300 productions a year...

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...

In the 10 years since classical guitarist Sharon Isbin came out publicly as a lesbian, she’s won a Grammy Award, and has had one recording after another hit the Billboard charts. So much for the dangers of living an open life. Isbin has become the preeminent classical guitarist of our time on her own terms – by studying Bach but also embracing world music, and by commissioning some of today’s most adventuresome composers...

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...

“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,...

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...