Yesterday – the publication date for my novel The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York – I had an enthralling video exchange with Morten Solvik of the Mahler Foundation in Vienna. You can see it here. Some highlights: 3:24 – “You can’t understand the story of Mahler in New York without first understanding what went on there before … [Read more...] about Mahler vs. Anton Seidl — “All the Things that Mahler Wasn’t”
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Mahler vs. Toscanini — and this Saturday’s “Mahler Hour” on Zoom
“How would you compare Mahler and Toscanini in New York?” asked Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director of Boulder’s Colorado MahlerFest, in a zoom conversation a few days ago about my new novel: The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York (the official pub date is this Saturday). You can see and hear my answer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXCgIWXRoqk You can also hear me in … [Read more...] about Mahler vs. Toscanini — and this Saturday’s “Mahler Hour” on Zoom
“Shostakovich in South Dakota” on NPR — A New Template for Orchestras
My NPR “More than Music” program “Shostakovich in South Dakota” can now be accessed here. I document the impact of a remarkable contextualized performance of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony by Delta David Gier and his singular South Dakota Symphony last February – and ponder its significance for the future of embattled American orchestras … [Read more...] about “Shostakovich in South Dakota” on NPR — A New Template for Orchestras
“Drastically revising our idea of who a music director is” — The South Dakota Symphony on NPR
The Creekside Singers performing with the South Dakota Symphony “There’s just a tremendous amount of caution, a tremendous amount of groupthink, in the orchestra world. So to see an orchestra really out on its own, forging its own identity, and bringing its audience along with it is just extremely impressive – even more impressive than I anticipated.” That’s Alex Ross, … [Read more...] about “Drastically revising our idea of who a music director is” — The South Dakota Symphony on NPR
Five Festivals for the Charles Ives Sesquicentenary
The National Endowment for the Humanities today announced a $400,000 grant to resume “Music Unwound,” a national consortium of orchestras and universities, begun in 2010, that explores topics in American music. I serve as director. Music Unwound disseminates a template I have long espoused: thematic, cross-disciplinary symphonic concerts linked to schools. I believe it … [Read more...] about Five Festivals for the Charles Ives Sesquicentenary