Monday, September 30, 2013

Video: Orchestra Asks Random New Yorkers to Conduct It

The prank collective Improv Everywhere brought Carnegie Hall's resident Ensemble ACJW into the middle of Greeley Square in Midtown and put a conductors' podium, a baton and a big sign that read "Conduct Us" in front of it.
 
See what happens when New Yorkers, said to be regular people off the street, take the orchestra up on the offer. It includes some rather unusual approaches to Mozart's Overture to The Marriage of Figaro.
Watch it!

Report: Opera Attendance Drops, Digital Engagement Rises

Opera companies saw a 15 percent drop in attendance from 2010 to 2011, from roughly 2.7 million patrons to 2.3 million nationwide. That continues what has been an annual decline since 2007, a year when 3.6 million people went to the opera (back in 2000, 3.9 million attended a production). Americans for the Arts says the data does not account for opera companies' educational and community events, nor does it include attendance at HD movie theater screenings by the Metropolitan Opera and other companies. (The Met currently simulcasts to 1700 theaters in 54 countries; whether those screenings cannibalize live audiences remains a point of debate.)  Read More

Jeremy Denk (Oberlin class of '90) a 2013 MacArthur!

Jeremy Denk is a concert pianist enlivening the musical experience for amateurs and aficionados alike through his eloquence with notes and words. As a soloist and in concerti and chamber ensembles, Denk masterfully performs some of the most technically demanding works of iconic masters—Bach, Beethoven, Chopin—as well as compositions of storied twentieth-century artists—Ives and Ligeti—with virtuosic dexterity and imagination. Noted for his unexpected pairings of pieces in recital programs and recordings, he often draws out surprising themes and continuities between historically and stylistically disparate works. His live and recorded duets with violinist Joshua Bell, a longstanding tradition, are critically acclaimed and lauded for their extraordinary balance and original interpretation. - See more at: http://www.macfound.org/fellows/888/#sthash.kv86F10h.dpuf

Jeremy Denk is a concert pianist enlivening the musical experience for amateurs and aficionados alike through his eloquence with notes and words. As a soloist and in concerti and chamber ensembles, Denk masterfully performs some of the most technically demanding works of iconic masters—Bach, Beethoven, Chopin—as well as compositions of storied twentieth-century artists—Ives and Ligeti—with virtuosic dexterity and imagination. Noted for his unexpected pairings of pieces in recital programs and recordings, he often draws out surprising themes and continuities between historically and stylistically disparate works. His live and recorded duets with violinist Joshua Bell, a longstanding tradition, are critically acclaimed and lauded for their extraordinary balance and original interpretation.  More

Jeremy Denk is a concert pianist enlivening the musical experience for amateurs and aficionados alike through his eloquence with notes and words. As a soloist and in concerti and chamber ensembles, Denk masterfully performs some of the most technically demanding works of iconic masters—Bach, Beethoven, Chopin—as well as compositions of storied twentieth-century artists—Ives and Ligeti—with virtuosic dexterity and imagination. Noted for his unexpected pairings of pieces in recital programs and recordings, he often draws out surprising themes and continuities between historically and stylistically disparate works. His live and recorded duets with violinist Joshua Bell, a longstanding tradition, are critically acclaimed and lauded for their extraordinary balance and original interpretation. - See more at: http://www.macfound.org/fellows/888/#sthash.kv86F10h.dpuf






Jeremy Denk

Pianist and Writer

New York, NY

Age: 43

Published September 25, 2013


Jeremy Denk is a concert pianist enlivening the musical experience for amateurs and aficionados alike through his eloquence with notes and words. As a soloist and in concerti and chamber ensembles, Denk masterfully performs some of the most technically demanding works of iconic masters—Bach, Beethoven, Chopin—as well as compositions of storied twentieth-century artists—Ives and Ligeti—with virtuosic dexterity and imagination. Noted for his unexpected pairings of pieces in recital programs and recordings, he often draws out surprising themes and continuities between historically and stylistically disparate works. His live and recorded duets with violinist Joshua Bell, a longstanding tradition, are critically acclaimed and lauded for their extraordinary balance and original interpretation.
- See more at: http://www.macfound.org/fellows/888/#sthash.kv86F10h.dpuf

Friday, September 6, 2013

Top Five Women Conductors on the Rise

Last week, the Russian maestro Vasily Petrenko landed in hot water after making disparaging remarks about women conductors.

The incoming principal conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic told the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten that orchestras react better to male conductors because men "often have less sexual energy and can focus more on the music," adding that "a sweet girl on the podium can make one's thoughts drift towards something else." He also claimed that "when women have families, it becomes difficult to be as dedicated as is demanded in the business."  More

No Strings on a Piano, but the Tone Is Grand

There are some things you just don’t expect to read about in a column about electronics. Gluten-free waffles, for example. Ferrets. Moist towelettes.
The latest in technology from the Times’s David Pogue, with a new look.
The NU1 upright is Yamaha’s fourth AvantGrand hybrid digital piano.
And you’d probably expect that list to include pianos.
No, not digital pianos. Not those plastic, flat appliances with 983 instrument sounds and realism that would fool nobody. I mean real pianos, the kind in concert halls, clad in glistening black lacquer, with three pedals and wooden keys that make felt-covered hammers strike taut metal strings. Those instruments have always been strictly analog. And very expensive.  More