The composer Norma Beecroft (1934-2024) was known for works that combined computer-generated and natural acoustic sounds. One among only a few Canadian female composers of her time, Beecroft’s musical formation, beyond her early training in Toronto, came with notable Italian musicians: composers Goffredo Petrassi and Bruno Maderna, and flutist Severino Gazzelloni. Yet her three years […]
Monthly Archives: December 2024
Posted inOpinion
An Expansion of the Project
Artificial intelligence may be able to mimic emotion, but it cannot feel it. It may be able to research the context in which it exists, but it doesn’t know it. AI is based on algorithms, patterns and imitation, so how can it possess creativity? Well, it can’t. But, by embracing what it can do—patterns, pastiches, […]
Posted inInterview
The Truck in the Nave
Earlier this month, Notre-Dame opened its doors after five years of construction work. The two-day reopening ceremony saw the cathedral filled to the brim with thousands of people, including celebrities, politicians and heads of state. Even Olivier Latry, titular organist at Notre-Dame, had to do his usually solitary work surrounded by film crews and security guards. […]
Posted inReport
Multisensory Perceptions
The traditional standards of ability and expression in classical music have often overlooked diverse perspectives. Such practices have helped create systemic inequalities that are still profoundly entrenched; recent findings from the Musicians’ Census reveal that 71% of disabled musicians have faced or witnessed discrimination, with 19% reporting it as a significant barrier to career progression. Such […]
Posted inPlaylist
A Classical Kink Playlist
What does kink sound like in music? After posing the question to myself, I felt slightly paralyzed, so I set out on a walk with a friend, who sometimes sends me links to iconoclastic piano pieces. I thought he could be a kind of kinky music sensei. “Have you listened to any ‘kinky’ music lately?” […]
Posted inInterview
Liquid Continuum
The first time I saw Charlemagne Palestine play was in a forest clearing on the grounds of a 17-century palace just outside Milan. It was a little after half-past eight in the evening in early July 2016 and the sun was just starting to set. The air was thick with weed smoke and mosquitoes. Wearing […]
Posted inBreaking
Silence, Ringing Loudly
When members of the Belgrade Philharmonic stepped onto a road crossing in a brief, silent protest last Friday, they were approached by an angry motorist. After being asked to muster a few minutes of restraint and loudly refusing, the driver floored the gas pedal. The outcome? Four members of the orchestra were run down, resulting […]
Posted inInterview
Wonderful Chaos
On December 8, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was swiftly toppled from power after 13 years of oppressive rule. Syrian communities around the world celebrated the sudden shift in power as Assad was granted asylum in Russia. What does this mean for Syria—and for Syrian musicians? I caught up with Aeham Ahmad, a pianist and a […]
Posted inEssay
Bronze Age Pervert’s Guide to Music
One day in 1999, a decade after the “new” musicology was really new, and at the tail end of the culture wars of the ’80s and ’90s, I was an 18-year-old freshman and wannabe musicologist attending a job talk for a new hire in the musicology department at my undergraduate institution. A female candidate presented her […]
Posted inReview
I Saw Morton Feldman’s “For Philip Guston” Twice in One Month
I had just finished making plans to attend the Rainy Days Festival in Luxembourg at the end of November. Within the festival’s theme of “Extremes,” I was especially looking forward to a performance of Morton Feldman’s epic “For Philip Guston” by Sophie Deshayes (flutes), Pascal Meyer (piano and celeste) and Galdric Subirana (percussion). Then I […]