The Week in Pics
Some additional music happenings seen this past week: Violinist/composer Tom Swafford: the best thing that ever happened to Park Slope's rush hour. 1/21/10 Nate Schweber (of the New Heathens) performing solo at Banjo Jim's: […]
Voices Carry
This week's big diva explosion may be uptown, but for true vocal ability, last night's double bill at Bowery Ballroom was hard to beat. Toronto's Basia Bulat played a rootsy solo set,
The Art of Teaching
Over the past fifteen years, I can't even count how many times I've seen James Levine conduct, both at the Met and the Boston Symphony. But, for all those performances, I've never
Singing for Haiti
Music feels like an afterthought after last week's apocalyptic earthquake in Haiti, which has reportedly claimed the lives of 200,000 people and has left millions of others homeless and desperate.
The Masters
"All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as understatement." – Richard Strauss In this world, there are good orchestras, and there are great orchestras. And, then, there is the
Poème Electronique, 2010
I've been fascinated with Edgar Varese's Poeme Electronique since I was an undergrad, when I spotted a photo in the back of my music history book of the striking modernist pavilion
Vienna Weekend
The best show in town this weekend? It's at Carnegie, Friday through Sunday. And, don't be put off by those list prices: if you're under 40, you can sign up
Jay Reatard, RIP
(Jay Reatard with crowd-surfer, 2008 CMJ Music Marathon) Musicians dying prematurely is something you'd think I'd be used to by now, but it's still a bad shock every time it happens. Various sources
The Regular
Frankly, I don't know why it took me so long to go see violinist Jenny Scheinman, who's been playing in my Barbes backyard nearly every Tuesday for the past five