Jennifer Higdon’s former student has become one of her latest and biggest champion.  The 31-year old violinist Hilary Hahn commissioned, premiered and recorded Higdon’s Violin Concerto, which won last year’s Pulitzer Prize for Music.  This month Hahn performs the work in Philadelphia and New York, with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Juanjo Mena, conductor: Monday, February 14 Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center Tuesday,...

I’m down with the dude, conductor Gustovo Dudamel. Got a big dose of him and I’m now under his spell. Or at least I was for two full hours Sunday (1/8/11) afternoon at Disney Hall.  A week-long trip to California for otherwise non-music purposes happily coincided with the opportunity to hear Dudamel lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in an attractive, high-energy program – Adams, Bernstein, Beethoven – that they’re...

For singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright’s return to The Egg in Albany tonight, every audience member gets a close up view.  That’s thanks to the visual component of the concert’s first half, a video creation by Douglas Gordon. But don’t expect a live action shot of Wainwright on a big screen, like at an arena rock show. Gordon is an acclaimed artist who works in large scale video formats and he’s created a very long...

Parker Quartet Presented by the Friends of Chamber Music Emma Willard School, Troy NY Saturday November 20, 2010 A world of style, color and sentiment came from the Parker Quartet during their Saturday concert presented by the Friends of Chamber Music at the Emma Willard School. That’s really not so unusual an occurrence.  It seems like dynamic fresh-faced quartets are a dime a dozen these days and the Parker, which easily...

Bernstein and Bach, Dvorak and Brian Wilbur Grundstrom. That’s the line-up for the Queer Urban Orchestra‘s program on Sunday afternoon (11/21) in Manhattan. Grundstrom, who lives in Washington DC, will conduct his nine-minute work “Jubilation! Dance for Orchestra.”   The piece debuted in 2006 with the George Washington University Orchestra conducted by Nancia D’Alimonte.  You can listen to...

If you’ve ever felt in the dark while listening to contemporary music, Friday night at EMPAC you won’t be alone. For a portion of the concert the orchestra will also be performing — literally — in the dark, without the aid of lights on their music stands or even a spotlight on the conductor. “In Vain” is the name of the single piece on the program. It’s about 75 minutes long and was written about 10 years...

“Rapid Fire” is the name for a flute solo from early in the career of composer Jennifer Higdon, the recent Pulitzer Prize-winner. It’s also an apt description of her characteristic style. Two major works by her recently appeared on CD and though the performing forces on each are large, she still whips them into a frenzy. Higdon won the Pulitzer for her Violin Concerto, which was written for Hilary Hahn, who performs...

Philadelphia Orchestra Saratoga Performing Arts Center August 4-21, 2010 After the Philadelphia Orchestra abruptly parted ways in 2008 with its seventh music director, Christopher Eschenbach, it turned to Charles Dutoit to fill in as chief conductor.  It’s a mighty long interim status for Dutoit, who will depart in 2012 with the arrival of Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The connection that made the Dutoit-Philly alliance a natural...

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Ozawa Hall, August 16, 2010 Who better than a 102-year old man to ask the question, “What are years?” Composer Elliott Carter, who’s centennial was celebrated two summers ago at Tanglewood, was back again Monday night for the finale of the annual Festival of Contemporary Music in Ozawa Hall.  One of his newest pieces is a setting of five poems by Marianne Moore and uses her line, “What...

Jennifer Higdon – winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music – just had her latest major premiere, “On A Wire.” It’s a concerto for the contemporary ensemble Eighth Blackbird and was premiered last week with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and conductor Robert Spano, who’s been a longtime champion of Higdon. The performers have already recorded the work and Eighth Blackbird will perform...