I just now got out of a three-and-a-half-hour rehearsal for the concert I'm presenting next week, of my Open Instrumentation Ensemble at Bard. December 14 at 7:30 in Bard Hall, we'll be presenting the following marathon program: Philip Glass: Music in Fifths Willy Berliner: Persistence of Vision* Samuel Vriezen: The Weather Riots Frederic Rzewski: Attica Brian Baumbusch: Cyclical Counterpoint with Sangse* Rzewski: Les Moutons de Panurge Julius Eastman: Gay Guerrilla Jonathan Nocera: Blues for Julius Eastman* Rhys Chatham: Guitar Trio Terry … [Read more...]

We're having a pretty tedious reversion war over at Wikipedia vis-a-vis the Nancarrow article. I refer to Nancarrow as an American composer who moved to Mexico. I would be happy to call him an "American-born and -trained composer who took Mexican citizenship." But a couple of guys, including Conlon's late-life assistant Carlos Sandoval, insist that he must be referred to as a "Mexican composer." I find this misleading, cognitively dissonant. Nancarrow did take Mexican citizenship in 1955, but he had few friends among Mexican composers, who were … [Read more...]

I have noted here before that I am a fairly notorious introvert. There are periods, such as the present, in which very little in the outer world catches my attention. However, I am not, in person, much given to talking about myself unless asked, and I do, for the record, feel some pangs of conscience when my blog ends up being mostly about myself. So, sorry to be so self-obsessed lately, but I might as well alert you to the fact that Jean Churchill, professor of dance at Bard College, has choreographed two of my Disklavier pieces for faculty … [Read more...]

A student complained that my microtonal music-theater piece Custer and Sitting Bull is currently (if temporarily) out of print, and that it's not available on my MP3 web page either. It's a reasonable complaint, so I've fixed that. The whole thing can now be heard Custer: "If I Were an Indian..." (8:42) Sun Dance / Battle of the Greasy-Grass River (7:59) … [Read more...]