The filmmaker, music producer and dancer Eva Soltes has been at work on a documentary about the late Lou Harrison for at least a decade (and it probably feels even longer to her).  The long awaited debut of “Lou Harrison: A World of Music” has finally been announced for Saturday, February 26 at the National Gallery in Washington DC.  A DVD release of the film is eventually planned. The premiere of “A World...

Clint Borzoni began studying music at age seven and wrote his first composition at age eleven. Now 29 years old, he’s composed more than 40 pieces, including a piano concerto, percussion quartet, a couple of sting quartets and chamber orchestra works and loads of songs. A New York City resident, he received his bachelors and masters degrees at CUNY.  His musical theater work “My Life as a Bald Soprano”...

December 30, 2010 marked the centennial of Paul Bowles, who died in 1999. Conferences and celebrations have already happened in Seville, Cologne, Lisbon, Boston and Tangier – where Bowles spent his last decades. A three-day “Celebration of Multi-Artistry” will take place in February at the University of California Santa Cruz. Best known as an author (“The Sheltering Sky”), Bowles was also a composer...

Lou Harrison Scenes from Cavafy: Music for Gamelan (New World) I was lucky enough to spend some time with Lou Harrison in the year or two leading up to the premiere of “Rhythms with Silver,” the score he wrote for Mark Morris. Two of the gayest artists I’ve ever known, they had a natural affinity. Though he’s one of the most musically smart and sensitive choreographers out there, Morris seldom commissions new scores...

It’s no secret that British composer Thomas Ades is gay and if you research just a bit it’s easy to find that his partner is the video artist Tal Rosner. They collaborated in 2008 on a piano concerto with video, “In Seven Days.” The piece was performed January 6-8 by the New York Philharmonic, with Ades as soloist and music director Alan Gilbert conducting.  Unfortunately there’s no mention...

Nico Muhly “A Good Understanding,” Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon conductor (Decca) “I Drink The Air Before Me” (Decca/Bedroom Community) New music’s Boy Wonder Nico Muhly. It’s not enough that he landed a commission from the Metropolitan Opera while still in his 20s (Two Boys, premieres in London in June at the English National Opera and shows up in New York in the 2013-14 season), but now he’s...

In December the Manhattan School of Music gave three staged performances of Lee Hoiby’s “Summer & Smoke,” a 1971 adaptation of a Tennessee Williams piece with a libretto by Lanford Wilson. Anthony Tommasini in the Times gave a very positive review, especially of the work referring to the “sure dramatic pacing and understated expressivity, in music admirable for its directness and melodic grace”...

It’s not just stars of popular culture who are the subject of “worship sites.”  An on-line tribute to the late American composer and pianist Robert Helps (1928-2001) is nothing less than pious veneration.  While including the required list of compositions plus a timeline and discography, the site is an interactive, dynamic progression – obviously the work of loving care.  It was conceived by Andrea Infamosa...

To my surprise and pleasure, last year’s Music Quiz for World AIDS Day is one of the most visited posts on this site.  So here’s another round. Match the artist on the left with his (or her!) album/song/ensemble/venue on the right.  Answers follow. 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...

Steven Blier on “Manning the Cannon,” an upcoming program with the New York Festival of Song: “This is a program I’ve been longing to do for about two decades. It explores two centuries of gay composers and gay-themed songs, and presents a wide variety of characters: experienced guys on the prowl for a good time; sensitive men grappling with their sexuality; hyper-males and drag queens; ecstatic lovers and...