Today’s online “Arts Fuse” carries a piece of mine commenting yet again on the Boston Symphony firestorm, which pits enraged musicians against the management and board – and turns Andris Nelsons, the outgoing music director, in a martyr. Excerpts follow. The read the whole thing, click here. A 14-page “State of the Boston Symphony Orchestra” manifesto, dated April 17, 2026 … [Read more...] about The Boston Symphony’s Castigated Blueprint Makes Sense
Search Results for: lakota music project
Shostakovich: His Time Has Come (Alas)
Leonard Bernstein celebrated Dmitri Shostakovich’s sixtieth birthday by proclaiming him “an authentic genius” – “and there aren’t too many of those around anymore.” That took courage in 1966, when Shostakovich – the leading Soviet musician -- remained a Cold War cartoon of the stooge and simpleton. As Bernstein appreciated earlier than others, Shostakovich’s ultimate genius was … [Read more...] about Shostakovich: His Time Has Come (Alas)
Klaus Makela Again
I wasn’t initially planning to write anything about Wednesday night’s Carnegie Hall concert by the Chicago Symphony under Klaus Makela, their 30-year-old impending music director. I’ve written about Makela quite enough. I have no doubt that he is immensely gifted. I have seen him ignite an orchestra with a rare exercise of spontaneous authority. But he seems to me too young for … [Read more...] about Klaus Makela Again
“Never before has the perseverance of historical memory been more inspirational — or more necessary”
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”
Stravinsky, Elmer Fudd, and the South Dakota Symphony
The final NEH-funded, multi-media “Music Unwound” concert featuring the South Dakota Symphony took place last Saturday night. I cast myself in a cameo role, playing the Soldier in three excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale. I modelled my impersonation on Elmer Fudd. The main events, however, were Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and … [Read more...] about Stravinsky, Elmer Fudd, and the South Dakota Symphony