If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
If music can indeed somehow lead a culture in certain directions, we should be able to find some evidence for that. Let's consider the history of American Music in the last century.
But I'm happy to report my slightly unhealthy relationship with Benjamin Britten is still very much in its honeymoon phase after the band's knockout performance of Four Sea Interludes & Passacaglia Monday night.
Kennard has just finished writing, producing and directing a remarkable series of films for PBS titled Keeping Score. Each film features a single major piece by a particular composer.
On his April 27 broadcast, while challenging whether the Mormon Church is a charity, Bill Maher told viewers that donating to the arts also does not qualify as charitable giving, because "unlike food and water, access to Mozart is not a basic human necessity."
I find myself now in St. Louis rehearsing Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd for performances with the Opera Theatre of St Louis. The last time I sang with the company was in 1983. And here I am, having the time of my life.
The education system can certainly expose students to classical music and jazz (hopefully enriching their lives by doing so), but it cannot make them love the music.
This is the last week of classes and last week of my full-time employment in academia. I never intentionally aimed to be a teacher. That said, I also never regretted being one.
She can no longer sustain it on her own. Her portion of the burden is too large, or maybe she passes away, and the orchestra declares bankruptcy. Sounds too fatalistic? It's happening now. It's been happening for years. If you live near an orchestra, you know. And if you don't -- who cares?
My friend recently mentioned that she was using special music CDs for dogs. "For dogs?" I asked. "For dogs," she replied. "Don't laugh -- one of their CD's is on the Billboard list of best-selling classical albums!"
The underlying business model of the nonprofit is too inadequate, and the need for our services is too fast-growing, and society's understanding of the situation isn't all that it might be.
I've used the web to research trips for years, but these useful resources are bound to be new to any but the most dogged and attentive traveler.
Spring has sprung. And with the shift in the weather, the daffodil blossoms, the window box we planted yesterday, comes magical renewed hope. And memories.
Composer and pianist Timothy Andres's take on the subject of demigods in art is far removed from conventional Romanticism: "We like to imagine that our artists have this kind of divine inspiration. I think if they say they do, they're probably having you on," says Andres.
This week I am singing the alto part in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. This is a piece that I do not quite get. Try as I might to see the overwhelming emotion in this piece, I am ashamed to admit it is lost on me.
From folk to punk and back again, Billy Bragg has long been one of our most important and popular "political" songwriters.
Every visit to the White House is special, but there is something very exciting about witnessing this event. Perhaps it is because I am a painter and I understand the years of work that went into what they have achieved and I can rejoice with them in their successes.
