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Tan Dun @ Beijing Modern Music Festival

28 May 2018
I laughed I cried, it was better than Bolero! The entire Beijing Modern Music Festival finished with a passacaglia by Tan Dun. A knockout. Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds An easy thing done exceptionally well. I capitulate to Tan Dun because …
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Alarm Will Sound @ Beijing Modern Music Festival

28 May 2018
Alarm Will Sound performed at 4pm on May 26, the last day of the ISCM World Music Days, hosted by Beijing Modern Music Festival. Alarm Has Sounded Alarm Will Sound has an aesthetic, and it has a festival in the midwest. I get the impression that …
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An Example of Counterpoint from Beijing Modern Music Festival

28 May 2018
Harue Kunieda’s Floral Tributes III opened the final concert of the 2018 World Music Days, hosted by Beijing Modern Music Festival. The China National Symphony Orchestra performed at 7:30 in the gorgeous, state-of-the-art opera house at the Beijing …
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The Van Cliburn Effect

9 July 2017
In response to the present desultory state of affairs, we are now seeing some encouraging developments. Call it The Van Cliburn Effect. Shortly after Sputnik put the USSR ahead of the US in the space race, Van Cliburn surprised the world by winning the …
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Julia Wolfe's Steel Hammer

18 December 2016
The Bang on a Can composers are now in the enviable position to compose and produce evening-length works. David Lang’s “love fail” & “Little Match Girl” were followed in 2014 by Julia Wolfe’s “Steel …
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The Volans Speech

22 August 2016
above: composer Eleanor Cory It’s here: https://www.cmc.ie/features/if-you-need-audience-we-dont-need-you Enthusiastically in agreement. One difference: Short works are ok. Regarding young composers, RSF has taken risks on behalf of young …
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Milton Babbitt and the Erotics of Inversion

14 May 2016
There were many things I’d hoped to accomplish before Milton Babbitt’s 100th Birthday. This is another thing that didn’t get done. Babbitt & The Erotics of Inversion This piece began as a lecture at the Universidad Veracruzana in …
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Bethany Beardslee Winham's upcoming memoir

28 April 2016
The clipping above is from a Newseek article that covered Bethany Beardsley Winham’s premiere of Vision & Prayer in 1961. “I don’t think in terms of the public. Music is for musicians. If the public wants to come along and study it, …
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