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“Dvorak’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music” is the topic of an April 12 concert/lecture at Princeton University. I’ll be joined by cultural critic John McWhorter of the New York Times, Princeton historian Allen Guelzo, and baritone Sidney Outlaw – with whom I’ll perform spirituals and songs by Harry Burleigh. It’s free of charge and you don't have to … [Read more...] about “Dvorak’s Prophecy” at Princeton April 12 with John McWhorter, Allen Guelzo, and Sidney Outlaw

One of Gustav Mahler’s most powerful New York experiences was a funeral procession he watched from a hotel window. A fireman had drowned in a burning building. It is often surmised that the stark military drum commencing the finale of Mahler’s unfinished Tenth Symphony was a result.  Tickets are now on sale for “Mahler in New York” – an April 4 program combining music, … [Read more...] about “Mahler in New York” (April 4) — Tickets Now on Sale

There was a time – the 1990s, when I was running the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM – when the practice of speaking from the stage at symphonic concerts was controversial, both among audiences and orchestra leaders. And people debated whether or not thematic programing was a good thing.  Those days are finally over. But the next step – fundamentally re-thinking the … [Read more...] about Re-Thinking the Concert Experience in South Dakota and Minnesota

Norman Lebrecht has picked up my blog on Bruckner and the Cellphone and posted it on Slippedisc. You will find a torrent of responses. But the most interesting response I have received was from Norman himself, who wrote to say that cellphones do not intrude at symphonic concerts in Europe. Something to think about. … [Read more...] about Bruckner and the Cellphone PS