Unanswered Question

Following up on my NPR story about the Lakota Music Project, I write today for “Persuasion” online: In South Dakota, Bishop Scott Bullock of Rapid City wrote [of Pete Hegseth’s insistence on the heroism of American soldiers who slaughtered Lakotas at Wounded Knee in 1890]: “If we deny our part in history we deepen the harm. We cannot lie about the past without perpetuating … [Read more...] about “Never before has the perseverance of historical memory been more inspirational — or more necessary”

I distinctly remember when I discovered that Rachmaninoff was a great composer. It happened decades ago, when twentieth century music meant Stravinsky and Schoenberg. I was driving and the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini came up on the radio. The piece was hardly new to me, but I had never paid much attention. This music has all the Stravinsky virtues, I thought: concision, … [Read more...] about Cho Plays Rachmaninoff — An Astonishing Paganini Rhapsody

Delta David Gier conducts the Creekside Singers and members of the South Dakota Symphony in Derek Bermel’s “Lakota Refrains” [Photo credit: Dave Eggen/Inertia/South Dakota Symphony]  The topic of my latest “More than Music” program on NPR is the South Dakota Symphony’s Lakota Music Project. The last military engagement between United States troops and Native … [Read more...] about The Lakota Music Project vs. “Rootlessness” Today

On November 22, Gunther Schuller would have been 100 years old. It was my pleasure to contribute an encomium to the new Gunther Schuller Festschrift: I am privileged to have known three sui generis American musicians of Gunther Schuller’s generation. All three both composed and performed. It was always my opinion, my frustration, that they were not sufficiently esteemed and … [Read more...] about Happy Hundredth Birthday to Gunther Schuller (1925-2015)