A choral piece by composer William Brooks, commissioned by The Crossing as a part of “Jeff Quartets”, a concert in memory of Jeff Dinsmore. Original poem by Pierre Joris, also commissioned by The Crossing. Here is the poem: Jeff Dinsmore Acrostic Elegy Like Orpheus, for you, Jeff, we finger the strings of life to play in sorrow and dEep choral dismay a plaint of life and death our co-Founders two … Read more “For Orpheus”
Olivier Messiaen: “Beneath it all, Pierre Boulez is simply a poet.” Soprano Marisol Montalvo sings Pierre Boulez’s “Pli selon pli” live with L’Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by Matthias Pintscher. “Pli selon Pli” is a set of five songs based on poems by Stéphane Mallarmé. It is for me one of the seminal 50s/60s musical compositions & bears returning to again & again. Details on composition & the poems available here; … Read more Happy 90th B-Day, Pierre Boulez!
The Gulf (between you and me), a major project that has taken years of planning, brought together composers, a poet, an artist, and a variety of musicians from Japan and America to join The Crossing in exploring a particular theme: how we seem to hear what the earth is saying to us with the same sad inability with which we often listen to those we most love. Luxembourg-American poet … Read more The Crossing Rehearsing “The Gulf (between you & me)”
5th Annual MoM – The Gulf(between you & me)MoM I • MoM II • MoM III Sunday, June 23, 2013 @ 4pm Month of Moderns II The IceBox at Crane Arts Center Visit our IceBox/Kensington/Northern Liberties/Neighborhood page Chris Jonas: The Gulf (world premiere) Santa Ratniece: Horo Horo Hata Hata (2008) Justé Janulyté: aquarelle (Watercolor, 2007) Read the Program Notes The Gulf (between you and me) continues with the musical world of Santa Fe composer Chris Jonas in a work that offers … Read more Today in Philly!
Alexandra Bentz – Mezzo-Sopran, Aribert Reimann aus Eingedunkelt für Alt-Solo, “Füll die Ödnis” Here is the original poem followed by my translation: Füll die Ödnis in die Augensäcke, den Opferruf, die Salzflut, komm mit mir zu Atem und drüber hinaus. Shovel the void into the eyebags, the sacrificecall, the saltflood, come with me to breath and out beyond.
Well, quiet day at home, after coming in late last night after an excellent MET presentation of Debussy’s Péléas and Mélisande, and staying up a few more hours to catch the incredible full eclipse of the moon. Today unwrapped our end-of-year gift to ourselves, a record player that should allow us to digitalize old vinyls, and spent much time doing just that, starting with some of Nicole’s favorite Bill … Read more Debussy, the Moon, Lacy
Franz Kamin was a prolific composer whose musical works explore structural principals derived from topology, prosody, General Systems Theory, and esoteric/meditational processes in unusual combinations of genre and technique: conventional instruments and children’s toys; sound poetry and puppet theater; choreography and speaking chorus; systematic chance operations and programmed improvisation; performance scribbling and the live reading of narrative texts. Born in Milwaukee, Kamin studied composition at the University of Oklahoma … Read more Franz Kamin (1941-2010)