“Though classical composers aren’t supposed to get any love until they’re old (or dead), the 27-year-old is already collecting commissions at a graybeard’s pace. … In the last year, Muhly composed the soundtrack to The Reader, issued the dizzyingly fine disc Mothertongue, had an evening of works presented by Lincoln Center” and worked on an opera commissioned by the Met. His biggest potential problem might be overexposure.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Cloud Gate Founder Wins Lifetime Achievement Award At Movimentos
“Praised as a major innovator in the field of dance, Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai-min was presented with a Movimentos lifetime achievement award Tuesday. Lin, founder and artistic director of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, is only the second choreographer to receive the honor … The jury ranked Lin’s contributions to the creativity of dance on the same level as those of George Balanchine, Maurice Béjart, [and] William Forsythe.”
Phoenix Symphony Institutes Across-The-Board Salary Cut
“The Phoenix Symphony’s musicians, music director and staff agreed to take 17 percent pay cuts over the next three years to stabilize the struggling organization. The musicians’ pay cut, which will save nearly $2 million over the three years and other cost saving measures will allow the non-profit to keep a full-time orchestra and make about 200 performances a year.”
Composer Nicholas Maw, 73
He was “best known for a sumptuous Violin Concerto he composed for Joshua Bell and a powerfully emotional opera based on William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice … [as well as] his 96-minute, single-movement Odyssey (1987), widely regarded as his magnum opus – and said to be the longest piece of continuous symphonic music ever written.”
Technology-Addled, Multitasking Distraction: It’s Good For You
There’s an entire small industry of pundits decrying our web-enabled, Twitterfied short attention spans – and folks are trying meditation, Adderall, “lifehacking” and all manner of strategies to maintain focus. But, says Sam Anderson, “Focus is a paradox – it has distraction built into it. The two are symbiotic; they’re the systole and diastole of consciousness … We need both.”
As God Is My Witness, I’ll Never Use Voice Mail Again
Farhad Manjoo: “Google Voice is not the only thing killing phone messages. Every new way we develop of talking to one another – e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, Twitter, etc. – is faster and more useful than leaving an audio message on someone’s phone. … [T]he end of voice mail is nigh, and it won’t be missed.”
Chicago Lyric, Bucking The Trend, Posts A Surplus
“Lyric Opera of Chicago is in strong financial shape compared with other big-budget opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera, both of which are facing reportedly serious deficits amid the troubled economy.” Nevertheless, the company, famously careful financially, “is bracing itself for possibly greater fallout ahead.”
Julian Patrick, Broadway And Opera Baritone, Dead At 81
“[He] created the role of George in Carlisle Floyd’s opera Of Mice and Men, and was in the original casts of the Broadway shows Once Upon A Mattress, Bells Are Ringing and Fiorello.
Cecilia Bartoli Wins Denmark’s Sonning Music Prize
In its citation for the 600,000 kroner award (about €80,000 or $110,000 US), the prize committee wrote, “her sound is unique, her technique unsurpassed … and her radiation [sic] like that of Callas.”
Rattle Re-Ups At Berlin Phil Through 2018
Sorry, Philadelphia. “Simon Rattle said Wednesday that he would remain the chief conductor of the world-renowned Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra until 2018,” an extension of six years. Despite rumors of a “turbulent” relationship between Rattle and his players, “he is extremely popular with Berlin’s passionate music lovers and his concerts are routinely sold out.”