Where would church music be without the centuries of contributions from gay men? Actually where would the church itself be, including the priesthood… but that’s another discussion. Virgil Thomson wrote his share of sacred music and a big batch of it is included in the new collection “Heaven is Music,” (Albany Records).  The performances by the Gregg Smith Singers are from throughout the choir’s long history, presumably...

Look for an actor playing Mark Blitzstein in the current feature film “Me and Orson Welles.” The movie is about the final week or so of production leading up to the opening night of the Mercury Theatre’s 1937 production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” which Welles directed and for which Blitzstein wrote music. Early on in the film a playbill for “Caesar” has the clear statement “Music by Marc Blitzstein”...

It’s been talked about for months.  The 28-year old composer Nico Muhly has been at work on a new opera with playwright Craig Lucas for the Met.  The project is one of several pieces in development but not yet scheduled for debut by playwrights/composer teams. On Thursday, the Met committed to the piece for the 2013-14 season.  It will be co-produced by the English National Opera in London where it premieres next June. ...

One morning a month or two ago I was in the car and “The Writer’s Almanac” with Garrison Keillor came on the radio.  After the list of birthdays and such, the short segment ended, “And here’s a poem by Ricky Ian Gordon…” I wanted to shout out, “Wait! He’s a composer! He’s ours!” But the plain spoken sentiment, as well as the unique name, meant it had to be the same guy.  (“The Tulips,” the poem...

Disappointed that the Naxos recording of Bernstein’s Mass with Jubilant Sykes as the celebrant and Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra didn’t win a Grammy last Sunday. I heard the performance at Carnegie Hall in October 2008 and loved it.  But it was a weird weekend in Manhattan, with the joy of Mass one night followed by the deadly experience of Adam’s Doctor Atomic the next (full review). Mass...

The Sunday Times Magazine featured a rather definitive profile (4,500 words!) of jazz composer/pianist Fred Hersch. Writer David Hadjdu (author of the Billy Strayhorn biography “Lush Life”) calls Fred’s music, “luxurious, free-flowing, unashamedly gorgeous” and shows how it’s beauty has been out of step with the traditionalist currents of jazz but also prophetic of a new trend just arriving....

Thanks to all of you who visit this site, My Big Gay Ears surpassed 5,000 hits today. That’s since launching in late September 2009. But only 13 comments?? Come on folks, let’s get some conversation going! I invite you to consider this posting an open forum for ideas and suggestions on how to build on the site, help promote out musicians, and encourage new talents — or whatever else you think MyBigGayEars...

Composer Jennifer Higdon earned her first Grammy Award, in the category of best contemporary classical composition, and guitarist Sharon Isbin earned her second, as best instrumental soloist. The awards were announced in Los Angeles prior to the telecast.  Higdon’s winning piece was a pecussion concerto performed by Colin Currie with Marin Alsop conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.  Isbin won for her disc...

Apparently Earl Wild lived up to his name.  The virtuoso pianist who died on January 22 at age 94 was out for most of his life, and promiscuous with music as well as men, though he is survived by a partner of 38 years Michael Rolland Davis. Wild’s repertoire was enormous and his performance style grandly romantic.  He transcribed all kinds of things for the piano and also composed.  And to those taken into confidence...

A Brooklyn resident and Texas native, Corey Dargel is a 32 year-old composer and singer.  His music has appeared on NPR and even merited a Tweet from Rachel Maddow. After catching a performance of Dargel at Here in Manhattan, Alex Ross wrote: “Gaunt in appearance and impish in spirit, he sings in a plaintive, innocent-sounding voice, his texts zigzagging between raw confession and cerebral absurdity.” What are you working...