Celebrations of the John Cage centennial begin in earnest at Juilliard with the annual Focus! festival dedicated to his music.  The six concerts, running January 27-February 3, are almost all-Cage.  The only exception is the January 30 event titled “Launching the Percussion Revolution” which includes Henry Cowell‘s Ostinato Pianissimo (1934) and Lou Harrison‘s Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra...

Evelyn Glennie, percussion soloist Albany Symphony Orchestra David Alan Miller When a composer and soloist, conductor and orchestra are all at the top of their game, the only result is that audiences rise to their feet. That’s just what happened during Saturday night’s concert of the Albany Symphony Orchestra at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. An immediate standing ovation and five solid minutes of applause followed...

Over the past week, the Washington DC-based Post-Classical Ensemble, in conjunction with The George Washington University, the National Gallery of Art, and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, presented an ambitious series of three programs looking at the life and work of Lou Harrison. A true American original, Harrison was a composer of great lyric gifts and a maverick who espoused “world music” before we called...

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...

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...

Talk about bringing music to the people! Composer/performer Byron Au Yong is putting opera in bottles (no deposit required). At least that’s the impression given by the subtitle to a 2008 piece. But the work’s name – “Kidnapping Water: Bottle Operas” – is actually deceptive. Rather than mass-produced take-home music, the piece is more about making audiences go the distance. Like a musical Christo and Jeanne-Claude,...