Tomorrow night, February 20: Relache playing the official world premiere of The Planets, Trinity Center for Urban Life in Philadelphia, 22nd & Spruce Streets, 8 PM. Maybe a pre-concert talk at 7:15, not sure yet.
Sunday, Feb. 21: Percussionist Andrew Bliss includes my solo vibraphone piece Olana on a solo program he’s giving at the University of Tennessee at Martin. It’s 3 PM in the Humanities Auditorium, with music by David Lang, Xenakis, Bob Becker, and Ben Wahlund.
February 23, 25, 26, 27: The Mark Morris Dance Group performs Looky at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, each night at 7:30 at the Howard Gilman Opera House. The only other music on the program is Erik Satie’s ethereal Socrate.
Great piece and performance last night Kyle! Glad I could finally witness the full Planets in one evening, keep it coming!
I’m just curious to know if there are any West Coast performances scheduled yet for “The Planets”? In the Pacific Northwest, specifically?
Thanks.
KG replies: Nothing yet. Got any ideas, please pass them along.
Coming out there would remind me of the times we all came out to Seattle from Philly. Once Joe Franklin, Relache’s director, talked through the whole plane trip about the great Pacific salmon he was looking forward to. We got to our hotel, and he had us all driven to this fantastic seafood restaurant he knew about. The waitress came up and asked what we wanted. With long-repressed bravura, Joe asked, “How’s the salmon today?” She said, “Great, it was flown in fresh from Philadelphia.” I’ve rarely seen anyone as devastated as Joe was that night.
Great story.
In regard to a northwest performance, I’m not sure about Seattle, but in Portland there’s an orchestra called the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra that does dabble in new music. I actually think they’re quite good as well. They just don’t get much press because the Oregon Symphony kind of steals their thunder (publicity wise, at least). Might be worth an inquiry, anyway.
It would, however, also be great to hear the Oregon Symphony give a NW and/or West Coast premiere. I’m not sure if this is a good percentage or not, when compared to orchestras around the country, but of the 68 or so pieces performed in their main concert series next season, ten of those pieces are by living composers (nine different composers; two are by John Adams). I actually just posted an article about it here, in case anyone’s interested:
http://thenewsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/
Good luck, and I look forward to hearing The Planets one way or another!
KG replies: Thanks for the idea. The piece is only for eight instruments, but I am orchestrating it, and have three movements basically done. I have to include a tenor sax, which will cut down on performances, but I’m not expecting any orchestra to ever do it anyway. Interesting blog, by the way, I’ll bookmark it.