A glimpse of Dreaming/Undreaming, premiering on June 17th, 2021, at the Princeton Festival!
Categories: art, art and paradox, art music video, Carmen's work, contemporary music, context and perception, gesamtkünstwerk, interdiscipline, music composition, women in music • Tags: Dreaming/Undreaming, interdisciplinary art, new music composition, video art
This comes from AEON magazine, where one find many provocative new insights on how we and the world work, and could work… In fact, musical modernism exacerbated the idea that musical artists had to specialize–you were a composer, or a performer, or a historian, but rarely expected to be recognized professionally for credible expertise in all these –or other– disciplines. This is gradually changing. The most forward looking music departments and schools are considering interdisciplinarity, which does not eliminate the […]
Categories: art and paradox, art and society, Carmen's work, interdiscipline, postclassical music, Uncategorized • Tags: The Nine Muses by Carlos Dorrien
Today Google has a charming and ingenious homage to Leonard Bernstein, with cartoons of him in action. It is a good occasion to ponder the role of artists in our society–who gets to leave a mark in the culture, and is it always the one who eschews popular taste and sentiment for high academic complexity…or vice versa. I say, great music is not in the style… https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=O8fQyb6tkdk
Categories: art and paradox, conducting, contemporary music, context affects perception, context and perception, music composition, new conductor, Uncategorized • Tags: high and low, Leonard Bernstein
An amazing example of how context and sharing space affect perception is playing out in Wall Street. When Arturo di Modica’s Charging Bull stood alone, it meant something to the passers-by. When Kristen Visbal’s Fearless Girl was placed next to it, now it means something else. The energy is coming from the dialogue between the two statues. But –which of the statues keeps its specific message regardless of the context? Check the article at Artnet.com
Categories: art and paradox, art and society, context and perception
“Creation exists only in the unforeseen made necessary.” Pierre Boulez, who passed away Tuesday, reportedly made that statement, an incredibly succinct description of the thrust of a visionary artist. Time will be the rock that will filter the water of his contributions to music in the last 60 years. His influence on music professionals has been incalculable, especially on those who like me love the creation and promotion of new music. The last few weeks have been extraordinary in that […]
Categories: art and paradox, contemporary music, music composition • Tags: Glberto Mendes, John Eaton, Pierre Boulez
…and certainly, one of the most influential, as John Cage defines the different types of beauty in music, and the type he has chosen for his work. One could argue that he reverts 500 years of narrative music to return to the art of contemplation, or what others would call a form of sacred music. (Photo attributed to Rex Rystedt by Wikipedia, as it appeared in a special issue of the Schwann Opus Record Guide dedicated to Cage)
Categories: art and paradox, context and perception, music composition • Tags: John Cage
