tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12571208966296432682024-03-05T01:06:29.703-05:00Spotsylvania's Marching KnightsScarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-40973867418521133602014-06-25T11:15:00.001-04:002014-06-25T11:15:19.882-04:00'How To Sing A Sad Song without Crying'It's a funny thing when you Google a phrase, semi-ironically, and then more than one article quotes that phrase verbatim:<br />
<br />
http://www.wikihow.com/Sing-a-Sad-Song-Without-CryingScarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-51948522494869823512014-04-14T00:54:00.000-04:002014-04-14T00:54:26.972-04:00Song without WordsWell, it has words now. But it's a song that I've been carrying around without words for a long time.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144600537&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe> <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
either I saw a flash of light</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
across your eyes into the night</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
or everything you ever said was true</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the comfort of your crooked home</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
its magic draw and silent hopes</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
because I needed you</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I have been the world around</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to map the contours of its ground</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
but earth itself has no escaping you</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I've watched you slip right through the hands</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of God's own sealed and foolproof plans</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and passed it off as the loving thing to do</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
when I needed you</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
from the bottom of this canyon rock</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
swept free of pride and past the shock</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
it's telling when there's nothing left to lose</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
that I stand here as my final act</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
with life, and sense, and soul intact to say<br />
<br />
I'm leaving you</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
____________________________ </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
voices 2&3:<br />
you'll have to go it solo</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
those hearts can't make it through</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
you've always had it, so go</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
don't look behind of you</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
one step follows the other</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
new place, new life, new home</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and when it all comes crashing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
you'll face those fears alone</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
voice 4:<br />
to the rescue</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
neck deep in water when I found you<br />
<br />
to the rescue</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
just let it go and come to me</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
voice 1:<br />
when the scenery came down</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I found myself on solid ground </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- SK, 2010-2014 </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-91995676413038311732014-01-16T23:14:00.001-05:002014-01-16T23:30:32.765-05:00This Is My House<i><br /><br />This</i><br />
is my house<br />
This is my house<br />
<i>This</i> is my house and I<br />
and <i>I</i><br />
and <i>I </i>get to decide<br />
<br />
This is <i>my</i> house and <i>I </i>get to decide<i><br /><br />This</i> is <i>my</i> house<br />
and <i>I </i>get to decide<br />
who comes inside<br />
(who comes inside) <br />
<br />
This is my house<br />
and I get to decide<br />
<i>who</i> comes inside.<br />
<br />
Anger is <i>mine</i><br />
(anger is mine) <br />
<br />
<i>Anger</i> is an arrow<br />
Anger is an arrow that <i>points</i><br />
Anger is an arrow that <i>points</i><br />
Anger is an arrow that points <i>me</i> in the<i> </i>right<br />
Anger is an arrow that points <i>me</i> in the <i>right</i><br />
Anger is an arrow that points me in the <i>right</i> <i>direction</i><br />
Anger is an arrow that points me in the direction that I should <i>go</i><br />
Anger is an arrow that points me in the <i>right</i> direction that I should go<br />
<br />
Anger is an arrow that points me in the right direction that<i> I</i> should go<br />
(in the direction that <i>I</i> should go)<br />
NO<br />
Anger is an arrow that points me in the right direction that <i>you</i> should go<br />
Anger is an arrow that points me <i>in the direction that</i> <i>you should go</i><br />
<i>in</i> the direction that <i>you</i> should go<br />
<br />
This is <i>my</i> house!<br />
(this is my house)<br />
And <i>you</i> are <i>not</i><br />
a guest in it<br />
<br />
This is my house and you are not a <i>guest</i> in it. <br />
<br />
This is my house and <i>I</i> get to decide <br />
<i>This</i> is my house and I get to decide <br />
This is my house and I get to <i>decide</i> who the fuck<br />
This is my house and I get to <i>decide</i> who the fuck<br />
(who to fuck)<br />
This is <i>my </i>house and <i>I</i> get to decide who the fuck who to fuck<br />
<i>This</i> is my house and I get to decide who the fuck comes inside.<br />
This is my house and I get to decide <i>who</i> the fuck comes inside.<br />
This is my house and I get to decide who the <i>fuck</i> comes inside of it.<br />
This is my house and I get to decide who the fuck <i>comes</i> inside of it<br />
<br />from now on<br />
<i>from</i> now on<br />
from now on<br />
<br />
This is my house and I get to decide who the fuck comes inside of it from now on.<br />
<br />
- sk, dec 2013/jan 2014<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-83767404042965934342014-01-13T23:47:00.003-05:002014-01-15T01:04:53.166-05:00we did not know exactly what those trees meant<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">just you and me<br /> with two brooms going<br /> and nothing much to say<br /> <br /> the needles everywhere<br /> dried up<br /> sticking to our socks like<br /> insults<br /> unready to be dismissed<br /> <span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> we did not know<br /> exactly what<br /> those trees meant<br /> <br /> when mine<br /> with glory blazing<br /> and everyone<br /> clustered around<br /> blissfully nestled into false frames<br /> one last time<br /> <br /> we come back<br /> <br /> tired<br /> with two brooms going<br /> and nothing else to say<br /> </span></span><br />
-sk 1/13/14 <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-83957718269758601672013-12-10T11:30:00.001-05:002013-12-10T11:31:28.672-05:00(we should often reflect on this)i will grow old<br />
i will grow old and grow<br />
<br />
apart from all that's dear to me<br />
<br />
i will grow old<br />
<br />
in the end<br />
there will be no one<br />
next to me<br />
<br />
age will happen<br />
even to me<br />
i will gain illness <br />
and, looking back,<br />
<br />
will finally see what it is to be so well<br />
and free<br />
<br />
<span class="st">—</span>here<span class="st">—</span><br />
i have made huge mistakes<br />
<br />
i have been ungrateful<br />
<br />
i have been<br />
aloof<br />
<br />
i have given everything<br />
i have<br />
and everything<br />
i am<br />
<br />
to manipulate the truth<br />
<br />
<span class="st">—</span>so<span class="st">—</span><br />
i fall heir to all of this<br />
even to forgiveness<br />
<br />
<span class="st">(we should often reflect on this)</span><br />
<br />
in the end<br />
i will lose<br />
everyone and<br />
i will lose<br />
everything<br />
especially my way<br />
and<br />
that dawn will break<br />
fearless as the heart<br />
<span class="st">—</span>leveled<span class="st">—</span><br />
after an earthquake<br />
<br />
<br />
- SK, 2011-13Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-78277779914468861022013-10-06T22:21:00.001-04:002013-10-06T22:29:56.231-04:00Live from Brooklyn! (See also: Clapping Methodists)<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KmmQhJWwa0o" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Because the music minister is a <a href="http://www.pammcallisterauthor.com/" target="_blank">feminist peace activist and poet who is generally rad</a>, I was invited to perform one of my new songs, "Yesterday I Do," at the Methodist Church this morning. Joining me were Leila (LEE-la) Whitley (voice) and Amy Holderness (guitar, voice). I wasn't able to scrounge up trombones, an upright bass, or a drummer for this but I think we held it down pretty nicely with just a guitar. Video caught by Alaska.<br />
<br />
Also: clapping Methodists. And: sharing a microphone with a tall tall tree. Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-23658529329014276782013-09-18T09:42:00.002-04:002013-09-18T09:42:58.192-04:00We Notice That It Is Small<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">Via James Madison University Professor of Tuba and Euphonium Kevin Stees.</span></span></span></span></h5>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"> “When
we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we
do not criticize it as "rootless and stemless." We treat it as a seed,
giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first
shoots up out of the earth, we don't condemn it as immature and
underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when
they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the
plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. The rose is a
rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all
times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the
process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly
all right as it is.” </span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"></span></span><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"> ― W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance</span></span></span></span></h5>
Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-46282239233838281482013-09-07T10:21:00.003-04:002013-09-07T12:20:02.939-04:00The Album Has Been Written + MP3 Tour (10 Songs)Give me four weeks and I'll finish an album.<br />
<br />
I'd never had a dedicated writing break and, after passing through the pit of despair, I discovered how I work, hit a stride, and finished writing my first collection of ten songs. They are currently wobbly-legged and stumbling around with their eyes half closed but you can check them all out here. I'll even give you a tour.<br />
<br />
<u>Note</u>: The purpose of these scratch recordings is for use in recruiting a band. The performance and recording quality are low. That's what rehearsal (with a band) is for.<br />
<br />
<u>Seeking</u>: a guitar/mandolin/banjo doubler, an upright bassist, a fiddler, a clarinetist, and a drummer. <u>Qualifications</u>: Must dig my tunes, be down to rehearse, and be able to improvise/create a killer part from nothing but a set of chords and some artistic direction.<br />
<br />
1. A Texas two-step with mariachi trombones (courtesy Victoria Langford and Brian Herrick).<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F109253696&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
2. A ballad.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F109254594&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
3. A rigorous bluegrass showdown. Everybody takes a solo. <br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F109254518&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
4. Rockabilly meets Malagueña, maybe with a hint of surfer rock. Needs trumpet!<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F109254372&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
5. My answer to Springsteen's "I'm On Fire."<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F45150048&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
6. Americana band, drum cadence, banjo, lots of harmony. Stick around for the waltz lullaby at the end.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F24752528&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
7. Ukulele, cicadas, late summer at night.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F20646148&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
8. For the full band, kind of a slow polka.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F18189152&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
9. The Blues.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F14322427&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
10. A bluegrass ballad/prayer. Engineering courtesy of Alex G. Knight. Mix courtesy of Mark Corbin of CorbinSound. Guitar/mandolin/fiddle courtesty of Matt Gelfer. Harmonies courtesy of Rachel Zylstra and Gretchen Poole. <br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8287708&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
Once the band is together, we'll work out a marching-band-meets-bluegrass arrangement of "<a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/m/comeyspn.htm" target="_blank">Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy</a>." <br />
<br />
Then we'll record revised editions of each song with full band. <br />
<br />
ET VOICI ALBUM.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-87410441920504217342013-08-09T12:02:00.002-04:002013-08-09T16:17:42.176-04:00The Pit of Despair<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fLHUsAM4BnBisxVbYRXgcH3tusSTsBwirGgV1Jiw3CIOBRZwX5B29K8CtL3eJMfHsSp4_YxqPGBiVSLJHqfIUxKcUlfSskbYjPfD-Esl9vwHuUC_nh4VfFJkI56FZCCV3ZBaUdTbpoXN/s1600/thepitofdepair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fLHUsAM4BnBisxVbYRXgcH3tusSTsBwirGgV1Jiw3CIOBRZwX5B29K8CtL3eJMfHsSp4_YxqPGBiVSLJHqfIUxKcUlfSskbYjPfD-Esl9vwHuUC_nh4VfFJkI56FZCCV3ZBaUdTbpoXN/s400/thepitofdepair.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Songwriting. (Day 8). Self-portrait.</b></div>
Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-71001162380147480962013-08-07T22:35:00.004-04:002013-08-07T22:36:35.343-04:00"All right, give me, uh, give me a Tab." <div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>A tab? Can't give ya a tab, unless ya order something.</i>" </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.melbay.com/Content/Site161/FilesSamples/132615gif_00000025881.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.melbay.com/Content/Site161/FilesSamples/132615gif_00000025881.gif" width="247" /></a></div>
Day 7 of I.S.A. and I can prove this by playing a fingerstyle ukulele arrangement of "Twinkle Twinkle" at about 65-bpm. I also joined the weekly Old Time jam at the <a href="http://www.lowlandsbar.com/" target="_blank">Lowlands</a> on Monday, strumming a D chord on upbeats for about 65 minutes straight. There were occasional G's, C's, and A's but the major forearm and fingertip strength was tested on that endless D.<br />
<br />
Still, in terms of difficulty, upbeat strumming doesn't hold a candle to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Play-Fingerstyle-Solos-Ukulele/dp/0786673427/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375928157&sr=1-2&keywords=fingerstyle+ukulele" target="_blank">Mel Bay's Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele</a> method, edited by Mark Kailana Nelson. It's good stuff. Had me reading tablature in two days! I will definitely make use of these budding uke skills in my songs.<br />
<br />
Progress today: An hour on the ukulele, an hour practicing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d72mZVxdylA" target="_blank">Joplin rags</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyW9UWMd-nU" target="_blank">montuno figures</a> on the piano, two hours playing horn during quintet rehearsal. An hour at the gym, plus an hour listening/studying the piano parts to my favorite salsa tunes.<br />
<br />
The two things I haven't done yet are 1) sing and 2) write/edit a song. Ergh.<br />
<br />
It takes courage to steal fire from the gods. Tomorrow we climb.Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-16015871881727575992013-08-06T17:25:00.000-04:002013-08-08T10:12:36.596-04:00Einstein on the Field<i>In response to "<a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2013/07/ligeti-at-the-50-yard-line.html" target="_blank">Ligeti at the 50-yard line</a>," posted by Alex Ross on TheRestIsNoise.com.</i><br />
<br />
Eight and a half years ago I dashed through the pouring rain to an 8:30 a.m. breakfast interview in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, wearing a full suit and closed-toe heels. Across the table from me was Jenny Bilfield, then President of Boosey & Hawkes, whom I'd never met before, wearing stylish sweatpants and a matching hoodie. (She was kind enough to meet me on a weekend, knowing that my employer at the time did not offer lunch breaks or PTO.) What I remember most about that interview, apart from our discussion of the blurred lines between personal and professional life in the music business, was her question about my background with composers.<br />
<br />
Well, I had to plead a certain level of ignorance regarding the Boosey roster. But I was quick to answer, without understanding how anomalous this was, that the commissioning of composers was commonplace throughout my public school and university music education. My first experience was at the age of 13, when <b>my middle school band director commissioned a piece</b> from a local composer for our<i> </i>eighth grade band to play at our final concert. <b>My high school band director brought in an established composer</b>, Robert W. Smith, to work with our symphonic band on one of his pieces. And <b>my university band director frequently commissioned pieces</b>, notably <b>including a piece written by one of our contemporaries</b>, Brian Balmages, who was a composition grad student at the time and who has gone on to lead a successful compositional career. As far as I knew, composers were people who lived nearby and showed up to rehearsal wearing khaki shorts.<br />
<br />
I did have experience with <i>some</i> Boosey composers -- I had played John Adams's <i>Short Ride in a Fast Machine </i>on a friend's conducting recital, and plenty of Stravinsky, some Prokofieff, Bernstein and Copland (of course). A percussionist friend had played me Reich once. And of course I knew (R.) Strauss, Bartok, and Rachmaninoff from recordings and possibly from playing in my university orchestra. But as I scrolled through the hundreds of names on the website I couldn't find most of the composers who loomed large in my wind band-directed education. And I wondered why that was.<br />
<br />
Where were Persichetti, Gordon Jacob, Malcolm Arnold, John Barnes
Chance, Maslanka, Stamp, Ticheli, Grainger? This was my first time encountering the ravine that divides (c)omposers of "educational literature" from Composers of The Canon. Also conspicuous in their absence were the jazz, songbook, and Broadway composers I loved to sing along with and the [film + tv] composers I knew via my innate French hornist's affection for Hollywood scores -- Newman, Williams, Horner, Elfman. <br />
<br />
Of course, Boosey is only one publisher (and they do, or at least did, curate a series of high level band pieces, titled Windepedence). But over the past several years working in the classical music business -- and specifically with contemporary composers -- I have been surprised at how seemingly irrelevant all of those names -- along with the entire wind band tradition and repertory -- are in this line of work. It's largely a matter of sociological infrastructure, I suppose. Wind bands are a relatively new type of ensemble, the offspring of military bands, and therefore have always played "new music" for lack of an existing canon. They found a home in the American education system, and therefore music written for them is considered "educational" as opposed to "classical" or "serious." Arrangements of orchestral works are programmed from time to time but the market is driven by annual band conferences where directors convene State- or Nationwide to attend reading sessions and select fresh repertoire for the coming school year. In this world, it is a fundamental reality that top ensembles and programs distinguish themselves by playing hot new pieces by hot new composers. And the students in these programs are often jazzed about "this crazy part" in a new piece that they get to learn. Tackling an especially bizarre, loud, or challenging new passage is what makes it fun.<br />
<br />
What my rural home county didn't have was an orchestra program, and my parents didn't listen to classical music, so I wasn't attuned to the great tradition of playing "Masterworks" (read: only music written by dead mentally-disturbed slutty megalomaniacal European demigods). My first experience playing in an orchestra was in college, and the string program was significantly weaker than the wind and percussion programs, so most of rehearsal was spent watching the conductor help the violins get it together while our horns became the icy cold temperature of institutional air-conditioning. Still, there was some amount of repertoire crossover. In both wind ensemble and orchestra we played Hindemith, Milhaud, Vaughn Williams, Holst, Respighi (<i>Pines! of! Rome!</i>). Respectable company.<br />
<br />
But the classical music business is largely disconnected from all of this, driven by opera companies and orchestras with celebrity singers and soloists (piano and string - almost never wind! hiss!), playing revered pieces of music by dead <i>idiots savants</i>. In this world, playing "new music" by active composers, who show up to rehearsal wearing shorts, is somewhat of a novelty and very often a hard sell. (Except to those for whom it is a booming counterculture [my neck of the business], where innovation and individuation are exalted above all, or to those organizations with especially "adventurous" mission statements.) Why is that? Playing new music <i>is</i> an "adventure" but it's one that band students of all ages take every day. Are young string students not playing literature
commissioned by local/popular composers the way band students are? Are
they all just playing watered down arrangements of Old Faithfuls of the
repertory, and are lessons/rehearsals wholly focused on adopting ancient
performance practice? Is that why there's such resistance to playing
today's music in the orchestra world? Or is it because of ticket sales?
For better or for worse, I might say that the primary purpose of wind
band repertoire is to be <i>played</i> rather than <i>heard</i>, and ticket sales are not vital to a successful school band. So I can see where this might allow a certain freedom in terms of programming.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it is partially for these reasons that composers on the "classical" career track, who'd hope for their music to be accepted into this strict canon and heard by these often-sneering ears, don't consider writing for wind band. Perhaps they fear being pegged and stigmatized as not being "serious" composers. And perhaps it's the same set of reasons that drives many wind band composers away from this classical track, staying close to existing university contacts and networks, writing useful music for adoring students and respected band directors.<br />
<br />
All of this to say, it is drum corps season. A proud former mellophonist, I drove to Allentown, PA, this past Sunday for my annual dose of drumlines in the distance and slamming walls of brass: the <a href="http://www.dci.org/" target="_blank">DCI</a> Tour of Champions Eastern Classic. I had previously read <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2013/07/ligeti-at-the-50-yard-line.html" target="_blank">Alex Ross's recent blog post</a> about what he called "drum-corps modernism" -- the inclusion of pieces by such composers as Ligeti, John Adams, Philip Glass -- in DCI shows. But why single out only certain names/pieces as "modern" when only one piece on the entire line-up was written before the 20th century (1896) and the majority of featured composers are alive and kicking? To me, it's not news that bands are playing modern music. What's
notable to me is that these programs present a characteristically
omnivorous display of composers across classical, jazz, film, band,
Broadway, and songwriting traditions. <br />
<br />
Here's a rundown of Sunday's line-up: <br />
<br />
<u>Carolina Crown: <i>E=mc2</i></u><br />
Richard Strauss (classical, deceased)<br />
Philip Glass (classical)<br />
Paul Lovatt-Cooper (band)<br />
Bertrand Moren (band)<br />
<br />
<u>Santa Clara Vanguard: <i>Les Miserables</i></u><br />
Claude-Michel Schoenberg, Alain Boublil (Broadway)<br />
<br />
<u>Phantom Regiment: <i>Triumphant Journey</i></u><br />
Craig Armstrong (film)<br />
Bernard Herrmann (film)<br />
Benjamin Britten (classical, deceased)<br />
Edward Elgar (classical, deceased)<br />
Schostakovich (classical, deceased)<br />
<u><br /></u>
<u>The Cavaliers: <i>Secret Society</i></u><br />
Hans Zimmer (film)<br />
John Mackey (band)<br />
Drew Shanefield (band)<br />
Michael Giacchino (film)<br />
<br />
<u>Blue Devils: <i>The re:Rite of Spring</i></u><br />
Stravinsky (classical)<br />
Darryl Brenzel (classical/jazz)<br />
Don Sebesky (musical theatre, film, classical)<br />
<br />
<u>Bluecoats: .<i>..to look for America</i></u><br />
Simon & Garfunkel (songwriter)<br />
Rufus Wainwright (songwriter)<br />
Leonard Cohen (songwriter, deceased)<br />
Steve Reich (classical)<br />
Duke Ellington (jazz, deceased)<br />
Stravinsky (classical, deceased)<br />
Steven Bryant (band)<br />
<br />
<u>The Cadets: <i>Side by Side</i></u><br />
Samuel Barber (classical, deceased)<b><br /><br />Attention Composers</b>: Here lies work.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>And Attention Team Classical</b>: If you are looking for adventurous audiences, you'll find them wearing pit crew sweatshirts in stadiums across the country or wearing plumes and cumberbunds on the marching field. They have been there for decades.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, behold the below and swoon.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dz2im6VVOWM" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<b>CAROLINA CROWN</b></div>
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<b>THE CAVALIERS </b></div>
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<b>BLUE DEVILS</b></div>
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<b> BLUE COATS</b></div>
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<b> THE CADETS</b></div>
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<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-32128897670491851422013-08-05T15:19:00.000-04:002013-08-05T23:42:16.429-04:00Independent Study August (ISA)<br />
"<i>...in what we'll be doing there is no one right answer, not even a right way or wrong way to do it. ...By now the good students may be feeling lost. ...without rules to follow they're not sure how to proceed.</i>" - Kathleen Norris, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Cloister-Walk-Kathleen-Norris/dp/1573225843" target="_blank"><i>The Cloister Walk</i></a><br />
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Independent study. Because I know how to teach school and I know how to be a full-time music student, that's how I'm thinking of the entire month of August. A self-granted, self-funded songwriting residency<i> </i>in my own home. Curriculum and objectives determined by me. How will I know if I'm doing it right? Because I'm doing it.<br />
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<b><u>August Coursework </u></b><br />
<ul>
<li>VOICE: Strengthen tone across registers. Continue to develop personal style and sound.</li>
<li>SONGWRITING: Finish key songs. Add 9 finished songs to the existing 6 for a total of 15 completed songs.</li>
<li>UKULELE: Acquire basic strumming and picking facility in keys of C, D, G, and A major. Acquire ability to read basic tablature and chord boxes.</li>
<li>HORN: Trade in old horn for new horn. Maintain and expand range, recover double-tonguing accuracy.</li>
<li>PIANO: Learn a collection of stride, ragtime, and salsa tunes for inclusion of figures in song arrangements.</li>
<li>ARRANGING: Create lead sheets for each of 15 songs, find collaborating arranger to flesh out orchestration ideas. Study recordings/scores of hymns, bluegrass, songwriters, salsa, marching band, in order to steal all of the best ideas.</li>
<li>RECORDING: Create a scratch mp3 of each of the 9 finished songs and post to Soundcloud.</li>
<li>JAMMING: Participate in bluegrass jams, attend bluegrass/folk/Latin brass shows. Find a string section. Jam with drummer. Play in brass quintet.</li>
<li>DANCE: Five hours of movement a week minimum across a host of selected activities including hip-hop and salsa.</li>
</ul>
Accomplishment is measured in colorful drawings. Specifically, this construction paper incentive chart which will collect tally marks throughout the process.<br />
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Illustrator credit goes to Alaska.<br />
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<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-2363889174033441052013-06-10T15:09:00.004-04:002013-06-10T15:09:44.137-04:00Neil Patrick Harris<br />
"There’s a kid in the middle of nowhere living for Tony performances<br />
Singing and flipping along with the Pippins and Wickeds and Kinkys Matildas and Mormonses<br />
So we might reassure that kid<br />
And do something to spur that kid<br />
Cause I promise you all of us up here tonight<br />
We were that kid."<br />
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That is all.Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-56712472172430635802013-04-29T10:14:00.001-04:002013-04-29T10:14:34.151-04:00James Rhodes: Find What You Love And Let It Kill You"I didn't play the piano for 10 years. A decade of slow death by greed
working in the City, chasing something that never existed in the first
place (security, self-worth, Don Draper albeit
a few inches shorter and a few women fewer). And <b>only when the pain of
not doing it got greater than the imagined pain of doing it did I
somehow find the balls to pursue what I really wanted and had been
obsessed by since the age of seven</b> – to be a concert pianist."<br />
<br />
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/apr/26/james-rhodes-blog-find-what-you-love<br />
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<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-57337442047423002772013-04-25T23:55:00.000-04:002013-04-26T00:23:43.539-04:00The Plus-One's New Music Wish List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfELdLB2arsC5VmHsm9opn4ZIbPorxhOcgYske7NVNf_KbIlTlxGgWQcnT9cN-VG5iaxjQlGUF1COkxeu8grnKVH2uGtyHfEIp5XbPjDX_BpJ7poZb3NvTyW2jqgRIfpkQTwZfyu9QW90P/s1600/ak+back+head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfELdLB2arsC5VmHsm9opn4ZIbPorxhOcgYske7NVNf_KbIlTlxGgWQcnT9cN-VG5iaxjQlGUF1COkxeu8grnKVH2uGtyHfEIp5XbPjDX_BpJ7poZb3NvTyW2jqgRIfpkQTwZfyu9QW90P/s200/ak+back+head.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i>Over the past seven years, </i>Alaska<i> has been my good-spirited +1 for many an experimental music concert. Finally, after years of absorbing the "new music" scene, he has come up with his wish list for an ideal program. I share it here; any composers want to make this significant other's dreams come true?</i><br />
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Concert opener for man in cheap bear suit with ursalogical tape. [3'30"]</div>
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Four movement song cycle (SSA) based on text setting of "Lunchables" ingredients label. [15']<br /><br />Duet for bassoon and oysters with live electronics. [8']<br />
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Solo for closed piano and two hands with no rests. [ 9'06"]</div>
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"Traffic" for brass, boats, trains, bicycles, airplanes, automobiles, and multi-media. [13'] </div>
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INTERMISSION</div>
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"Disdain" for rhythmically crossed arms, stamped feet, voice. [2']<br />
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Tone poem on Shiitake mushrooms for saxophone, electric organ, flute, triangle, recorder. [40'] </div>
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<i>(I think he's getting the hang of this.)</i>Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-80321878763118648062013-04-24T23:17:00.002-04:002013-04-24T23:36:06.380-04:00Edie Brickell and Steve Martin at the Apple Store (Soho)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqUyaoCO4bhJlRZI1Cc8gnAlTNHhyphenhyphen3eDHometxvT95uoZUYC0Y6-qQOZnylw1pf1L_mmveI-Hb5r_RVjgmCNNpVT8ZT5rqG9NPZE4U6XKngTPFl6RE2wI-ZXqcxXU71xIntiV2VTtCXim/s1600/IMG332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqUyaoCO4bhJlRZI1Cc8gnAlTNHhyphenhyphen3eDHometxvT95uoZUYC0Y6-qQOZnylw1pf1L_mmveI-Hb5r_RVjgmCNNpVT8ZT5rqG9NPZE4U6XKngTPFl6RE2wI-ZXqcxXU71xIntiV2VTtCXim/s320/IMG332.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Tonight, thanks to the good eye of my dear friend <i>Punjabi Tuba</i>, I was able to catch second row seats to a free chat + salon concert from <a href="http://www.ediebrickell.com/" target="_blank">Edie Brickell</a> and <a href="http://stevemartin.com/" target="_blank">Steve Martin</a> at the <a href="http://www.apple.com/retail/soho/" target="_blank">Soho Apple Store</a>. The duo is promoting its first collaborative album, <i><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-has-come-for-you/id615481230" target="_blank">Love Has Come For You</a></i> (Rounder Records).<br />
<br />
My, are they easy to watch on stage. So relaxed, so comfortable, so inviting. Naturally <span class="st">—</span> <i>because, have-you-met-me</i>? <span class="st">—</span> I asked them about the process of making the album and Steve was kind enough to give me a thorough answer. Get this:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Steve conjured all of the music first with his banjo and sent Edie recordings by iPhone. Unusual.</li>
<li>Edie put lyrics and stories on top of the changes, recorded the results with Garage Band, sent them back to Steve.</li>
<li>When they had thirteen songs, they brought those rough "iPhone demos" to producer <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/peter-asher-mn0000263762" target="_blank">Peter Asher</a>, who took care of the rest: corralling Esperanza Spalding, Waddy Wachtel, Sara and Sean Watkins, and the Steep Canyon Rangers to flesh out the arrangements.</li>
<li>None of this music was ever written down.</li>
</ol>
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Steve Martin said that he spent the first half of his career in turmoil but when he finally accepted that <i>his creativity wasn't going to go away</i> he was able to enjoy it.<br />
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Edie added her own two cents: "When the images come just trust them and put them into words and sing." <u>Easy</u>.<br />
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<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-91585866233062473232013-04-04T01:02:00.000-04:002013-04-05T17:01:38.289-04:00How to Approach Press (If You Wish to Be Successful)<div class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">"I hope you can step up and give us some publicity [for our show that opens in four days]."</span></span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">I don't <span style="font-size: small;">make a <span style="font-size: small;">habit of <span style="font-size: small;">talking PR shop on my songwriting blog but <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://twitter.com/RonniReich" target="_blank">Ronni Reich</a> <span style="font-size: small;">recently share<span style="font-size: small;">d the above "pitch" she received<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">, and I thought I'd take this <span style="font-size: small;">opportunity as a teachable moment<span style="font-size: small;">. </span>That pitch <span style="font-size: small;">exemplifies a few common misconceptions many<span style="font-size: small;"> folks have about interfacing with press<span style="font-size: small;">, so here are some pro tips<span style="font-size: small;"> for how to properly orient oneself:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">1. <span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>A journalist<span style="font-size: small;">'s</span> responsibility is to her audience</b></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>, not to you</b></i>. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">It does not matter how important, interesting, or relevant something is <i>to you <span style="font-size: small;">(<span style="font-size: small;">or to your client!)</span></span></i>; it matters how important, interesting, and relevant something is<i><b> </b>to her <span style="font-size: small;">a<span style="font-size: small;">ud<span style="font-size: small;">ience/</span></span></span>the world</i>, and most specifically <i>to her editor</i>. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Those curatorial decisions are hers to make<span style="font-size: small;"> and that is why you are contacting her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Make the best case </u><span style="font-size: small;"><u>for why </u><span style="font-size: small;"><u>the project/story might be of interest to <i>her</i><span style="font-size: small;">/<i>her outlet</i><span style="font-size: small;"> and e</span>quip her with all of the info she need<span style="font-size: small;">s to make that case to her editor.</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. <span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>A journalist doesn't</b></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b> "give you publicity</b></i>." If you want to make a journalist cringe, approach her as if <span style="font-size: small;">you're asking a</span> sle<span style="font-size: small;">a</span>zy favor or as if she<span style="font-size: small;"> owes you something</span>. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">T</span>here is <a href="http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp" target="_blank">an entire code of ethics devoted to this</a>.<span style="font-size: small;"> You are not asking for help<span style="font-size: small;"> or f</span>or a favor, <span style="font-size: small;">and you are certainly not</span> passive-aggr<span style="font-size: small;">essive<span style="font-size: small;">ly</span> demanding</span> what's owed you.<br /><br /> <u><span style="font-size: small;">Respectfully a</span>sk for (and thank her for) her consideration.</u></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. <i><b>Timing is everything</b></i>. <span style="font-size: small;">The<span style="font-size: small;">y call it "news" for a reason: <span style="font-size: small;">it's timely. I</span>t happens in cycles<span style="font-size: small;"> and on deadlines. Different outlets book or close <span style="font-size: small;">content on different <span style="font-size: small;">timelines but we're talking months/weeks<span style="font-size: small;"> ahead for art<span style="font-size: small;">s<span style="font-size: small;"> coverage, not days<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">. A<span style="font-size: small;">nd certainly <u>never</u> after the fact. ("We released an album last fall, will you review it?" = <span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">That's not news</span></i>. "We have a Festival next week, will you cover it? <span style="font-size: small;">= <span style="font-size: small;"><i>Booked already.</i></span></span><i> Not a chance.</i>) A great <span style="font-size: small;">project pitched too late = no story at all. Period.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="font-size: small;">Know the <span style="font-size: small;">production schedule of the outlet you're pitching<span style="font-size: small;">. Be early, be on time.</span></span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">4.<b><i> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">In general, f</span>ollow <span style="font-size: small;">t</span></span>he Golden Rule</i></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">.</span> If you want a journalist to read/<span style="font-size: small;">watch<span style="font-size: small;">/listen to your work, then you need to read/watch/<span style="font-size: small;">listen to hers first. Give her the careful consideration, attention, and respect you would like to receive in return. <span style="font-size: small;">Pay attention to her inter<span style="font-size: small;">ests, preferences, style, columns. In the age of <span style="font-size: small;">Google, </span>Twitter, Facebook, Linke<span style="font-size: small;">dIn, Pinterest, there is no excuse for being uninformed when making contact with a journalist.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Read/watch/listen to a<span style="font-size: small;"> journalist<span style="font-size: small;">'s work</span></span> be<span style="font-size: small;">fore making contact and pitch her (or refrain from pitching her) accordingly.<span style="font-size: small;"> A<span style="font-size: small;">ll the time. Every single time.</span></span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Obviously, this isn't everyt<span style="font-size: small;">hing. PR is a <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">full-time</span> job and a field of specialty in itself. Don't have time to keep up with thousands of media contacts' personal preferences, d<span style="font-size: small;">eadlines, </span>schedules, outlets, and recent work? Th<span style="font-size: small;">at's why you hire a publicist<span style="font-size: small;">!</span> </span>But th<span style="font-size: small;">ese are my quick late-night offerings, for the win<span style="font-size: small;">, for the world.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></h5>
Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-9056165911039542772013-04-02T00:38:00.003-04:002013-04-02T09:35:19.893-04:00Step Five: Don't you know that the time has arrived?In which a person comes on board.<br />
<br />
It has been ages, dear Knights, and a progress report is due. Over the past many months, I have done the following:<br />
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Re-upped with <a href="http://www.brooklynwindsymphony.org/" target="_blank">the band kids</a>.</li>
<li>Sang my first two open mics ever at <a href="http://bar4brooklyn.com/blog/about" target="_blank">Bar 4</a>. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/QuintetOfTheDamned?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Started a brass quintet</a>, played Christmas gigs all over NYC (a goal since my arrival in 2004).</li>
<li>Subbed for the <a href="http://www.brooklynsymphonyorchestra.org/" target="_blank">Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra</a> and played a gig with the <a href="http://themetrochamberorchestra.org/" target="_blank">Metro Chamber Orchestra</a>. Gave my contact info to several other brass players, on request, and have begun to get offers for paying gigs on the NYC horn circuit.</li>
<li>Finished and recorded <a href="http://soundcloud.com/scarletk/in-the-bleak-midwinter-holst" target="_blank">my first arrangement</a> (if you don't count my attempt to arrange the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1jJuIUvhrA" target="_blank">Indigo Girls</a> for <a href="http://www.jmu.edu/jmuarts/events/022313_wind.shtml" target="_blank">wind band in college</a>), one that's been in my head since 2003.</li>
<li>Started a writers' group, <a href="http://spotsylvaniasmarchingknights.blogspot.com/2013/01/poem-pond-water.html" target="_blank">wrote</a> <a href="http://spotsylvaniasmarchingknights.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-grand-canyon-winewood-dr.html" target="_blank">some</a> <a href="http://spotsylvaniasmarchingknights.blogspot.com/2013/02/when-you-leave-me.html" target="_blank">poems</a>; <a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5678" target="_blank">reaffirmed my feminism</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151415186398401&set=a.10150117153853401.282992.776508400&type=1&theater" target="_blank">Conducted a choir</a> for the first time since 2003. (And this time, mercifully, not 300+ middle schoolers.) </li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBmnWPksyRbiJmzF4rk90C7w8DyGVcBKlesOCxC-hFGh2XvQbTJ4_Y6I4rwFZ-RBRBXQKYIX5iL_QZ2R50Jc_fq56DqY6wjwFuOaazqMFuVqEZ-oYQw0U7KIxffadGttiQRCzN6Ozlvxh/s1600/conducting+Easter+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBmnWPksyRbiJmzF4rk90C7w8DyGVcBKlesOCxC-hFGh2XvQbTJ4_Y6I4rwFZ-RBRBXQKYIX5iL_QZ2R50Jc_fq56DqY6wjwFuOaazqMFuVqEZ-oYQw0U7KIxffadGttiQRCzN6Ozlvxh/s320/conducting+Easter+2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And the grand finale is a case of right person, wrong time. For the past 2-3 years, I have been looking for a drummer for SMK. For the sound I have in my head, I <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpcf_qD3GW4" target="_blank">must must</a> have a percussionist. Without one I've been spinning in circles. I have posted Craigslist ads, I have asked friends and colleagues, including a certain <a href="http://www.brittonmatthews.com/" target="_blank">grade 'A' percussionist</a> who was willing but who felt her lack of drumset specialization precluded her from joining. Since then, however, she has been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q4nFAcRkI8&playnext=1&list=PL2187B4C03C12DE75&feature=results_video" target="_blank">banging on found percussion</a> (which, for my vision, is the best kind of all!) and therefore: <br />
<ul>
<li>As of last week, I am collaborating with this lovely perc pro who, in about 15 minutes, was able to intuit and execute exactly what I'd been carrying around in my head all this time. Easy. And we are playing the <b>Bar 4 open mic on Tuesday, April 23</b>. #<a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lord_willing_and_the_creek_don%27t_rise" target="_blank">LWatCDR</a>.</li>
</ul>
Wee. Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-17403751549235507412013-03-21T22:52:00.000-04:002013-03-21T22:58:29.866-04:00Ouch, the Onion. Ouch.FACT: I have not written a song in ten (10) months.<br />
<br />
OTHER FACT: It's not because I haven't tried, it's because all of my best energy and creativity and brainpower is spent elsewhere, so when I sit down to write I have positively nothing to say.<br />
<br />
But wow, <i>the Onion</i>, sock it to me. Now I'll drag my sad ass to bed without having written anything and also feeling every second of my precious life ticking away. So thanks.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1623472475"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/find-the-thing-youre-most-passionate-about-then-do,31742">http://www.theonion.com/articles/find-the-thing-youre-most-passionate-about-then-do,31742</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>My advice? Just find the thing you enjoy doing more than anything else,
your one true passion, and do it for the rest of your life on nights and
weekends when you’re exhausted and cranky and just want to go to bed.</i></blockquote>
Moh. Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-47668749225566531872013-02-27T22:12:00.002-05:002013-02-27T22:12:11.784-05:00fallen awayfallen away?<br />
but maybe that's just it<br />
there's some fiery pit<br />
that burns because all<br />
your casting out<br />
made itScarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-11928558435268806872013-02-09T13:40:00.000-05:002013-02-15T23:21:54.856-05:00when you leave me (first)when you leave me<br />
first i do not<br />
think<br />
but<br />
<br />
trace your still-warm spaces (indentations, marks, empty) on a circuitous route<br />
<br />
i may unwittingly prepare<br />
for a long<br />
drought<br />
<br />
storing substitutes in heavy pockets<br />
<br />
i may hibernate<br />
<br />
retreat to sleep under goosefeather fluff (the high as low as pillowed downs and just the window's light come in)<br />
<br />
i may move<br />
real<br />
slow<br />
<br />
or do the thing that's closest, like whatever my hand finds to touch (the loads of dishes, someone else's stuff)<br />
<br />
i may<br />
get stuck<br />
<br />
that pile of papers, the messages, the clothes (whose
job it was not mine to fold)<br />
even the
piano<br />
<br />
i may eat <br />
feeling unsatisfied<br />
<br />
if I<br />
am lucky I may<br />
<br />
see something<br />
<br />
a
seed catalog with pink azaleas, seafoam nail polish, lavender bath salts, periwinkle stockings<br />
or<br />
that island candle I made a few weeks ago <br />
<br />
and I will light it<br />
but <br />
<br />
I leave you<br />
first<br />
when my voice breaks<br />
the sound barrier<br />
<br />
- sk, 2/9/13 Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-24857409478025848232013-01-22T23:52:00.000-05:002013-01-22T23:55:16.814-05:00the grand canyon (winewood dr)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/i/Ult_04b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/i/Ult_04b.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
like the clay</div>
we used to get from that<br />
abandoned rural construction pit<br />
the rusty powdered ground<br />
that pounded 'round our cotton Keds<br />
the walls, big enough to fit<br />
our tallest and most ballooned schemes<br />
and how the massive concave bend pulled<br />
our spinning bikes down in<br />
and, skilled with sufficient speed,<br />
barely pushed us up again<br />
<br />
then afterward how that wet reddish muck<br />
became the clods, the shoes<br />
the pastels and chalks and rouges<br />
whose soft edges I'd scrape<br />
against every last pavement<br />
or house<br />
or office space<br />
to home<br />
whatever that is<br />
<br />
-sk 1/22/13Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-8708927916004560432013-01-21T13:36:00.000-05:002013-01-21T13:41:24.352-05:00poem: pond water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/plants/waterlily/Images/07638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="406" src="http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/plants/waterlily/Images/07638.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
you take my hand against the animal</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
hot and damp</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
bristling up my thin wrist</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
plunged beneath<span class="st"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">the murky pond water</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">glows browngreen and warm</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">gliding fast among</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">life-sized frogs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">we dart and chase like</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">fat minnows</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">you admire the swell and lift of</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">my swabbed hair</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st">the wedding will come soon </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">- sk 1/21/13</span></div>
Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-84684089682523006352012-12-20T12:32:00.000-05:002012-12-24T09:16:27.701-05:00In the Bleak Midwinter - voice, horn, ukulele, sleigh bells, piano<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtUtx_gONkiNRseceAdnj5HSnQzVMmcOgQOW8RQkvUKAssn3h8vTF7Q-Au8i67wrHY3cIq-_PZFLJ_Ez7sSg7AXjeWhoSVpvVhv7f5KFTkEtEELezoOqwfR-cTvC_sN0k91R5uexU70EK/s1600/Madonna_with_baby_Jesus_Carlo_Maratta.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtUtx_gONkiNRseceAdnj5HSnQzVMmcOgQOW8RQkvUKAssn3h8vTF7Q-Au8i67wrHY3cIq-_PZFLJ_Ez7sSg7AXjeWhoSVpvVhv7f5KFTkEtEELezoOqwfR-cTvC_sN0k91R5uexU70EK/s320/Madonna_with_baby_Jesus_Carlo_Maratta.png" width="285" /></a></div>
<br />Dear friends near and far,<br />
<br />
We wish you peace and joy this season
and in the year to come. In lieu of a Christmas card, we share a song
we've been working on late at night for the past few weeks.<i> In the Bleak Midwinter </i>(by
Christina Rossetti and Gustav Holst), arranged with a dash of Antonín
Dvořák, for piano, French horn, ukulele, sleigh bells, and voice.
Arrangement, performances, and third verse lyrics by Scarlet K. Recorded and
mixed by Alex. This is SK's first arrangement and AK's first venture in music production.<br /><br />What we have we give you; we hope you'll listen and enjoy:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F71924261" width="100%"></iframe>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,<br />
Brooklyn, NY / December 2012Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257120896629643268.post-60548753529181695052012-09-05T12:19:00.000-04:002012-09-05T22:10:03.687-04:00The Grey Lady's Bent EarsFor lack of a better outlet, I point my personal songwriting blog to a matter of classical music business today.<br />
<br />
Classical music critic Norman Lebrecht leaked news <a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/09/exclusive-new-york-times-demotes-a-critic.html" target="_blank">via his blog</a> on Monday that fellow critic Allan Kozinn, <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/k/allan_kozinn/index.html" target="_blank">who's been writing for <i>The New York Times</i></a> for the past 35 years, has been reassigned from his position as staff reviewer to the position of general cultural reporter. Citing internal politics, the reassignment was called a "demotion" and a <a href="http://operachic.typepad.com/opera_chic/2012/09/and-the-password-isallan-kozinn.html" target="_blank">General Cultural Outcry</a> has ensued.<br />
<br />
On a road trip at the time, I could contribute little from the passenger seat of our Subaru but I have a few observations, having worked closely with the <i>Times'</i> classical team as a pitching publicist in recent years.<br />
<br />
The <i>Times</i> classical staff is arranged thusly: <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/o/james_r_oestreich/index.html" target="_blank">James "Jim" Oestreich</a> (Classical Music Editor) assigns coverage and contributes essays and reviews, usually regarding music written before 1950. He is extraordinarily busy. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/t/anthony_tommasini/index.html" target="_blank">Anthony "Tony" Tommasini</a> (Head Classical Critic) negotiates coverage with Jim and specializes in opera/vocal music (usually written before 1900). Then there was Allan Kozinn, whose area of expertise covered standard repertoire (the older, more established works for those readers who are not in our little world) but whose knowledge of 20th and 21st century music is nearly encyclopedic, and who can write with equal passion and authority on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-20th-Century-Composers/dp/0714832030" target="_blank">The Beatles</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/arts/music/john-cage-recital-take-the-a-train.html" target="_blank">John Cage</a>, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/arts/music/roger-norrington-conducts-c-p-e-bach-at-tullyscope-review.html?ref=rogernorrington" target="_blank">C.P.E. Bach</a>. Enter the free-lancers: <a href="http://nightafternight.blogs.com/about.html" target="_blank">Steve Smith</a> (Music Editor of <i>Time Out New York</i>), whose knowledge <i>of</i> and curiosity <i>about</i> contemporary music parallels Allan's but he has far less autonomy over his assignments, let alone time; <a href="http://vivienschweitzer.com/" target="_blank">Vivien Schweitzer</a>, whose area of expertise is piano music; and <a href="http://observer.com/author/zachary-woolfe/" target="_blank">Zachary "Zack" Woolfe</a>, who, like Tony, <span id="goog_2114568605"></span>specializes in vocal music<span id="goog_2114568606"></span>, especially opera.<br />
<br />
OK. If Allan, who reportedly <i>averaged</i> (!) 5 concert reviews a week over 35 years, is removed, then the <i>Times</i> classical department is left with two staffers + three free-lancers. And the range of specialization is then traditional orchestral/chamber music (Jim), opera (Tony), opera (Zack), piano (Vivien), contemporary music of 20th + 21st centuries (Steve). What's curious to me is this: Does our city's "paper of record" need two specialists in opera and only a part-time contributor for 100+ years of contemporary music, spanning multiple epochs? From what I see, this staffing does not accurately reflect the cultural landscape which the paper of record is attempting to record.<br />
<br />
Currently in NYC we have two major opera companies, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/contemporary-opera-in-review.html" target="_blank">neither of which has been delivering significant productions</a> at breakneck pace. As a matter of fact, there have been numerous<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204909104577237021030485312.html" target="_blank"> articles lamenting</a> how very <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/05/high-drama-metropolitan-opera-and-opera-news/52645/" target="_blank">behind-the-times and inadequate</a> NYC's big opera companies are compared to those around the world. Beyond that, <i>Times</i> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/arts/music/with-city-operas-woes-other-small-companies-step-up.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">has noted</a> a very lively collection of upstart organizations presenting high-quality and/or grassroots opera/theatre works on a smaller scale. (Full disclosure: I work for <a href="http://prototypefestival.org/" target="_blank">one of them</a>.) But even so, the <i>Times</i> <span class="st">—</span> to this point <span class="st">—</span> has seemed more transfixed by big houses, anyway. So?<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, we are in a golden age of contemporary music in NYC. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/arts/music/as-new-composers-flourish-where-will-they-be-heard.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">Composers and young performers are literally flocking to the city</a> from all over the country, forming <a href="http://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/" target="_blank">labels</a>, <a href="http://www.sleepinggiantmusic.org/" target="_blank">collectives</a>, <a href="http://iceorg.org/" target="_blank">ensembles</a>, <a href="http://newspeakmusic.org/" target="_blank">bands</a>, <a href="http://prototypefestival.org/" target="_blank">festivals</a>, and <a href="http://www.newamsterdampresents.com/?p=2037" target="_blank">audiences</a> at places like <a href="http://roulette.org/" target="_blank">Roulette</a>, <a href="http://issueprojectroom.org/" target="_blank">Issue Project Room</a>, <a href="http://lepoissonrouge.com/" target="_blank">(le) Poisson Rouge</a>, <a href="http://rockwoodmusichall.com/" target="_blank">Rockwood Music Hall</a>. I almost can't get above 14th Street for all of the music happening below it and across the river. Brooklyn is some kind of independent musical capital of the world right now but are we seeing that reflected in our paper of record? Perhaps on the pop side, but with classical Allan has been the staffer who knows the current artists and who can contextualize this movement with 35 years of experience on the ground. Even <i>with</i> Allan, to me the balance of coverage happening Uptown versus Downtown (let alone across the river) hasn't seemed to be reflective of the current times. How much more so now that he's off the beat? Can one part-time free-lancer (Steve) really be the one only with his ear to the ground for 100+ years of music, including this current movement, while holding down the fort at <i>Time Out</i>? Or will the Gray Lady's ears become lopsided?<br />
<br />
All of that said, I will also say this: I long for music writing that transcends the preview/review grind. From the perspective of a reader and also of one who pitches stories, I can attest that there are very few opportunities for a good story in print outlets. (<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/mark_swed/" target="_blank">Mark Swed</a>? <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/anne-midgette/2011/02/25/ABvDSCJ_page.html" target="_blank">Anne Midgette</a>?) Even if a critic <i>is</i> interested in the conversation at hand, writing an actual story (trend, news, or otherwise) rather than filling a review assignment amounts to working overtime. It's a critic's extra credit. Without the time and space for critics to start meaningful conversations in "official" print outlets, such conversations have largely moved onto legitimate blogs and webzines (George Grella <a href="http://soundtime.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Big City</a>, Frank J. Oteri <a href="http://www.newmusicbox.org/" target="_blank">NewMusicBox</a>, Alex Ross <a href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/" target="_blank">The Rest Is Noise</a>, Thomas Deneuville <a href="http://www.icareifyoulisten.com/" target="_blank">I Care If You Listen</a>) and social media. I've <a href="http://soundtime.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">read far more interesting insights</a> and witnessed <a href="http://soundtime.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">far more challenging discussions</a> about the current state of contemporary/classical affairs via colleagues on Twitter and Facebook, or even on the personal blogs of such amateurs as myself. But with social media there is no lasting historical record. As far as having such discussions with the vast majority of staff critics who might have much knowledge and insight to offer? For me it's mostly off the record over lunch, or in an unprintable email. Too bad for all of us.<br />
<br />
If Allan's new position as general cultural reporter fills that void <span class="st">—</span><i> Can I be optimistic?</i> <span class="st">—</span> there might actually be interesting <i>stories</i> to read in a print daily about classical music, and set in broad cultural context. <br />
<br />Scarlet Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10405080106798320623noreply@blogger.com0