I know the conductor Thomas Fortner, now based in Berlin, from his years as assistant conductor of the remarkable South Dakota Symphony. Thomas recently posted a 70-minute podcast posing earnest questions about the state of classical music. Excerpts follow. JH (1:55): People are not attentive to the arts. People don’t talk about the arts. And I think my understanding … [Read more...] about “Are We Rotting Our Brains? Is This the End of Classical Music?”
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The Lakota Music Project vs. “Rootlessness” Today
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
What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel
Esa-Pekka Salonen Among my most-read blogs is “What’s An Orchestra For?" – Mulling Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Resignation from the San Francisco Symphony.” I posted it on March 26, 2024, and it still attracts readers practically every day. The topic is the abrupt departure of a genuine music director propagating a tangible and timely artistic vision. I wrote that this … [Read more...] about What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel
R. I. P. : Music Unwound (2010-2025)
Since 2010 I have administered Music Unwound, a national consortium of orchestras and educational institutions funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I assume that Music Unwound no longer exists – nor does more than $150,000 in Congressionally approved MU funding as yet unspent. To my knowledge, there has been no formal notification. The forces in play are … [Read more...] about R. I. P. : Music Unwound (2010-2025)
Native America and American Music on NPR: “A Battleground”
This Hamms Beer commercial, which I vividly remember from childhood and our brand-new black-and-white TV, signals “Indian music” with a steady tom-tom beat. The tune (and its tom-tom) adapts the Dagger Dance in Victor Herbert’s opera Natoma. The words – “From the Land of Sky Blue Waters” – reference a once popular concert song by Charles Wakefield Cadman. Both Herbert’s opera … [Read more...] about Native America and American Music on NPR: “A Battleground”