BAM? Damn! Thank You, Mark

During my years at the Voice I would periodically opine that Brooklyn Academy of Music was the best place to perform in the country because they had the savviest, most interested audience one could ever wish for. Ever since 1981, when I saw Satyagraha there while coincidentally sitting in the balcony next to Steve Reich (to whom I didn’t reveal that I recognized him), I’ve considered it the Taj Mahal of the avant-garde. I never imagined that I was hip enough to ever have my music played there. But this afternoon a colleague mentioned having seen my name in the BAM brochure, and sure enough, the Mark Morris Dance Group is performing Mark’s dance Looky, with five of my Disklavier pieces as accompaniment, at BAM on February 23, 25, 26, and 27. (The photo on the BAM page is from an earlier performance of the piece.) And the only other music on the program is Erik Satie’s Socrate, the masterpiece of one of my most kindred spirits. I’ve never been so impressed with myself. I’ve been trying to think of a gig I’d be more honored by, and I can’t think of one.