Category Archives: Composers
He Who Laughs Last…
After the searing and emotionally draining Piano Quintet by Alfred Schnittke on Thursday, it was with a decidedly dubious sense of anticipation that I approached this afternoon’s concert by the St. Petersburg String Quartet. I “enjoy” Schnittke (quite a lot, actually…), but actively listening to his biter sarcasm can easily become an emotional marathon; barefoot [...]
Another Classy Intermezzo
Here’s guest blogger Sam Sfirri’s first post this year — you may recall his contributions to Eargasms last festival. He’s a gifted jazz pianist and composition major at the college.
Just walking into St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church stirred up many wonderful memories of last Spoleto season. With the familiar excitement and beautiful ghost-sounds still resonating [...]
Modernist Fare In Our Post-Post-Post World
This evening’s Piccolo Spoleto Spotlight Concert, Music in the Time of Charles Ives, brought the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra (listed in the program as the PS Conservatory Orchestra) to the welcoming acoustic of New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church under the able baton of Maestro Donald Portnoy. After the deluge of intimate trios and other chamber [...]
The Imani Winds – By Themselves
Lucky Lindsay: I got to hear the terrific Imani Winds – not just once, but twice. Thursday’s third Music in Time program was devoted entirely to them – and I was part of their absolutely enchanted Simmons Recital Hall audience. It was quite a different experience, compared to their big gig at the Gaillard [...]
Chamber Champs Do it Again
Forgive me if I don’t include as many of my usual artist links for awhile. I’m in the throes of a temporary crisis: my laptop was stolen Thursday, and my only backup for now is an old dinosaur of a PC at home that runs with all the speed of an arthritic turtle – and [...]
Torturous Beauty
Prelude
The muted steel-gray of an overcast day greeted my rising with serious intent. The rising and falling of several intense emotional states in friends and co-workers throughout the day kept my mind on practicing equanimity. As I strolled to this evenings concert, a one-armed flower seller cursed at me for smiling and nodding in silent [...]
Something Old, Something New
I’ve been focusing on Piccolo Spoleto’s Spotlight Concert Series this week, and have to say that the sheer variety of offerings within this one series has my head spinning! This evening’s concert by The Converse Trio proved no exception. Violinist Sarah Johnson was here for the birth of our dear festivals. She and her colleagues [...]
Hear ‘Em While You Can – and a Fresh Eargasm Alert
If you haven’t heard vivacious violist Hsin-yun Huang or super-tenor Paul Groves yet, you’ve got one more chance: tomorrow’s 11:00 p.m. concert will be the last outing for Program IV – the final one featuring these fab festival newcomers. I had the unqualified joy of catching it this morning.
After years of bugging Dr. Wadsworth [...]
More Cutting-Edge Marvels from Music in Time
Tuesday’s second Music in Time installment brought us three very different and appealing creations from cutting-edge composers of right NOW. All three items were scored entirely for strings – save for the winsome addition of a lone clarinet in the second number.
Series host (and justly famed composer) John Kennedy kicked things off with Baghdad [...]
Choicest Chamber Yet
My ‘puter woes continue in the wake of my recent laptop loss (by theft): I’m reduced to commandeering my roommate’s old dinosaur of a PC to work on from home — and all it’s got is wordpad. Forgive me if I omit some of those fancy accent marks and assorted squiggles that go with exotic [...]