Last month, Resonus Classics released an album of orchestral compositions by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, the daughter of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and a composer whose works defied the gendered and racialized expectations of her time. The project, which includes the world premiere recording of her Piano Concerto, was realized by pianist-scholar Dr. Samantha Ege, conductor Dr. John Andrews, […]
Category: Interview
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How You Say The Thing
The Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi is among the most active and interesting conductors of his generation. His work is characterized by a constant curiosity and a sensitive yet revealing approach to the music, with a refreshing combination of intellect and—in the case of Gustav Mahler—explosive spontaneity. He also stands publicly in opposition to the Russian […]
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Clinging to Beauty
Under a makeshift shelter—a parachute canopy from aid airdrops stretched over a wooden frame—Ahmed Abu Amsha gathers children for music lessons on the beach in Nuseirat camp, central Gaza. The sounds of guitar, oud, and drums mix with the crash of waves. Displaced children, some barefoot, wearing torn clothes, their bodies thin and faces pale, […]
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The Generator
I first met the composer Huang Ruo in 2017 at a crosstown bus stop in New York after a performance of Pierre Boulez’s “Repons” at the Park Avenue Armory. We talked about the effect of the chamber group situated in the middle of the audience, surrounded by the soloists and amplification, with waves of sound […]
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“To Be a Musician Is to Desire a Piece of Music”
Last week at the Philharmonie in Berlin, the ensemble Pygmalion under conductor Raphaël Pichon performed a concert of sacred music from during and after the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). It was a brutally destructive conflict that by some estimates decimated the German population by half. And though religious tensions were among the causes for the […]
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The Unconscious Process
On a recent warm autumn evening in Porto, the Russian-Armenian pianist Eva Gevorgyan performed before a crowd so spasmodic with coughing fits it may yet prove to be a locus of the next pandemic. The barking did nothing to quell Gevorgyan’s performance of Chopin, Brahms, and Schumann. Dressed in a Celedon-green sequined dress, a silken […]
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Crossing the Line
On September 11, the Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov gave an emotional speech following a concert with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London, decrying the carnage inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank by the Israeli government under Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces. “I know that many of us feel […]
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The Question Mark in the System
I’ve known Georg Friedrich Haas for many years, first as a teacher and later as a friend and mentor, and his music has been a constant source of inspiration. Ahead of the North American premiere of his monumental “11,000 Strings” for 50 microtonally attuned pianos and chamber orchestra performed by Klangforum Wien at the Park […]
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The Architecture of Bodies
Ted Huffman is one of the most successful American opera directors at work in Europe. His vivid stagings of classic and contemporary works are characterized by a sensitive engagement with music and text, as well as precise and detailed work with his singers. Perhaps surprisingly for a young and in-demand director, he does not have […]
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The Depths of Darkness
“When I finish a cycle with Broadway tunes, or what I would call The Pops, there’s a release of energy. But, for the meat and potatoes of those concerts, I’m on my own. Of course, I’m not being told what to do, so it’s hard to think, well, how did that go over?” The rich, […]