“Dog Days” at the Prototype Festival
by Steven Pisano (Photo by Ellen Appel.) War is everywhere. People are starving. The meager food rations air-dropped from military helicopters are not nearly enough to stave off hunger. All […]
Bowie
"Something happened on the day he diedSpirit rose a metre and stepped asideSomebody else took his place, and bravely cried(I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar)How many times does an angel
Hold on to Your Seat: The Prototype Festival Starts This Week
Now in its fourth season, the Prototype Festival has become an essential part of the New York cultural season. Featuring cutting-edge new chamber opera and music-theater works, shows are almost
Lettuce Brings the Funk to Brooklyn Bowl
by Steven Pisano (All photos by Steven Pisano.) Funk here, funk there, funk everywhere. That’s how I spent the first weekend of 2016 when the band Lettuce brought its pyrotechnic funk
John
Life can get in the way, sometimes. Which is the only explanation I can offer for why I am only learning now of the passing of the extraordinary organist, composer
Julia Wolfe’s “Steel Hammer” at BAM
by Steven Pisano (All photos by Steven Pisano.) Last week, BAM’s Harvey Theater presented Steel Hammer, a theatrical working of Pulitzer Prize-winning Julia Wolfe’s 2009 cantata exploring the African-American folk
Michael Daves’ Fourth Annual Brooklyn Bluegrass Bash at The Bell House
Last Sunday, Michael Daves hosted his Fourth Annual Bluegrass Bash at The Bell House, with a lineup featuring some of the biggest names in the world of Bluegrass alongside a mix
Celebrating Pierre Boulez’s 90th Birthday at National Sawdust
by Steven Pisano (Photographs by Steven Pisano.) Last week at National Sawdust a series of four concerts celebrated the 90th birthday (back in March) of French composer, conductor, and
Anthony de Mare Plays the Music of Sondheim at Symphony Space
by Nick Stubblefield Michael Katzif for WNYC.org When I first saw Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," I was immediately drawn to his eerie, imaginative use of melody and unconventional harmony.