The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Here are the world premieres of the sixth and seventh pieces of “pandemic music” commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress
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By Jacob Stockinger
The project has is now heading towards it end.
Last week was when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written for the U.S. Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — started going public and began being posted on various social media sites as well as the Internet.
This week will see the last five compositions and complete the project.
One performance is released each weekday night starting at 8 p.m. EDT.
The project, funded by the federal government, is intended to capture some aspect of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
The first piece was “Sequestered Thoughts,” a solo piano work by composed Damien Sneed and performed by Jeremy Jordan.
The second was “shadow of a difference/falling” by composer Richard Drehoff Jr. and solo oboist Andrew Nogal of the Grossman Ensemble.
The third was “Intuit – a way to stay in the world” for solo cello composed by Miya Masaoka and performed by Kathryn Bates of the Del Sol String Quartet.
The first three were featured in two postings on this blog last week. Here are links:
The fourth and fifth pieces were premiered last Thursday and Friday, bringing the project to the half way point before the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day and Make Music Madison weekend.
They were posted on this past Monday. Here is a link:
The fourth work is “Bridges,” a solo piano work composed by Cliff Eidelman and performed at home by Jenny Lin. The title refers to the composer’s focus on finding bridges from the coronavirus pandemic to normal life.
The fifth piece is “Hello World” by composer by Erin Rogers, an exploratory work for solo flute, and is performed by Erin Lesser of the Wet Ink Ensemble.
And now the second half of premieres has started.
The sixth piece is “1462 Willard Street,” composed for solo viola by Luciano Chessa (below top, in a photo by Melesia Nunez) and performed by Charlton Lee (below bottom, in a photo by RJ Muna) of the Del Sol String Quartet.
The address refers to a place in San Francisco where the composer was staying on March 16, 2020 – the day the city enacted orders to stay at home because of the pandemic.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/chessa-lee.html
The seventh piece, premiered last night, is “Olcott Park” for solo piano composed by Aaron Travers (below top, in a photo by James Matthew Daniel) and performed by Daniel Pesca (below bottom, in a photo by Jay Morthland) of the Grossman Ensemble.
It is a recollection of the forest and birds the composer knows in a park near his home but which he hasn’t’ visited much during the pandemic.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/travers-pesca.html
On the same page as the performance you can read what the composer and sometimes the performer have to say about the new work and what it strives to mean or express.
You can use links to go to the past performances and premieres.
You can also follow links on the bottom of the page to see more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with some commentary and questions from The Ear, go to https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the individual pieces?
Do you have one or more favorites?
What do you think of the project?
How successful is it?
Will you like to hear more of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AaronTravers, #AndrewNogal, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoccaccioProject, #CliffEidelman, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DamienSneed, #DanielPesca, #DelSolQuartet, #DelSolStringQuartet, #ErinLesser, #ErinRogers, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Father'sDay, #FederalGovernment, #GrossmanEnsemble, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JennyLin, #JeremyJordan, #KathrynBates, #LibraryofCongress, #LucianoChessa, #MakeMusicDay, #MakeMusicMadison, #MiyaMasaoaka, #NewMusic, #NormalLife, #OboeMusic, #OlcottPark, #RichardDrehoffJr., #SanFrancisco, #Self-Isolation, #SocialMedia, #Stayathome, #StringQuartet, #SummerSolstice, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #WetInkEnsemble, #WilliamStreet, #WorldPremiere, Aaron Travers, American, Andrew Nogal, bird, blog, Boccaccio Project, Boccacio, bridge, capture, Cello, city, Cliff Eidelman, commission, complete, composer, Composition, Congress, coronavirus, culture, Damien Sneed, Daniel Pesca, date, day, Del Sol Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, difference, Erin Lesser, erin rogers, Facebook, fathers day, favorite, federal, federal government, fifth, flute, flutist, forest, forward, fourth, fund, government, Grossman Ensemble, half way, halfway, hello, Home, individual, instrumental, Intuit, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, Jenny Lin, Jeremy Jordan, Kathryn Bates, library, Library of Congress, life, like, link, Luciano Chessa, Make Music Day, Make Music Madison, Miya Masaoka, New Music, night, normal, Oboe, Olcott Park, one, pandemic, Park, perform, performance, Pianist, Piano, piece, place, post, posting, premiere, project, Richard Drehoff Jr., San Francisco, second, seventh, shadow, share, sixth, social media, solo, stay at home, String quartet, successful, summer, Summer solstice, tag, The Ear, think, third, trees, two, U.S., unique, week, weekday, weekend, Wet Ink Ensemble, Willard Street, work, world, world premiere
Classical music: Here are the world premieres of the second and third pieces of “pandemic music” commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
It has started.
This is the week when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written for the Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — started going public and began being posted on various social media sites as well as the Internet.
One performance is released each weekday night starting at 8 p.m. EDT.
The project is a way to capture some of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
The first was “Sequestered Thoughts,” a solo piano work by composer Damien Sneed and performed by Jeremy Jordan. You can hear it in the post preceding this one.
Now it’s on to two new ones.
The second piece in the series is the 4-1/2 minutes “shadow of a difference/falling” by composer Richard Drehoff Jr. (below top, in a photo by James Matthew Daniel) and solo oboist Andrew Nogal (below bottom, in a photo by Jay Morthland) of the Grossman Ensemble.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/drehoff-nogal.html
The third work is the three-minute “Intuit – (a way to stay in the world)” by Miya Masaoka (below top, in a photo by Heika no koto) performed by solo cellist Kathryn Bates (below bottom) of the Del Sol String Quartet.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/masaoka-bates.html
On the same page as the performance video, you can read what the composer and sometimes the performer have to say about the new work and what the music strives to mean or express.
You can also go to past performances and premieres.
You can follow links on the bottom of the page to see more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with some commentary and questions from The Ear, go to https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the pieces?
What do you think of the project?
Woud you like to hear more of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AndrewNogal, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoccaccioProject, #ChamberMusic, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DamienSneed, #DelSolQuartet, #DelSolStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GiovanniBoccaccio, #GrossmanEnsemble, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JeremyJordan, #KathrynBates, #LibraryofCongress, #MiyaMasaoaka, #NewMusic, #OboeMusic, #PianoMusic, #RichardDrehoffJr., #Self-Quarantine, #SequesteredThoughts, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SocialMedia, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #TheU.S., #U.S.Government, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, American, Andrew Nogal, Arts, Bates, begin, blog, Boccaccio, Boccaccio Project, capture, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, commission, compose, composer, coronavirus, culure, Damien Sneed, Del Sol Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, difference, express, Facebook, falling, first, forward, Giovanni Boccaccio, government, Grossman Ensemble, Internet, Intuit, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Jordan, Kathryn Bates, Library of Congress, like, link, lockdown, Masaoka, mean, microtonal, microtone, Miya Masaoka, Music, New Music, night, Oboe, oboist, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, post, posting, premiere, project, public, quarantine, reader, Richard Drehoff Jr., second, Sequestered Thoughts, shadow, share, short, site, social distancing, social media, solo, start, stay, String quartet, tag, The Ear, third, Twitter, U.S., unique, United States, way, Website, week, weekday, work, world, written, YouTube
Classical music: The Library of Congress has commissioned new music about the coronavirus pandemic. You can listen to the world premieres from this Monday, June 15, through June 26
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By Jacob Stockinger
The U.S. Library of Congress (LOC, exterior is below top and interior is below bottom) has started a new artistic project relevant to a public health crisis in both a historical era and the current times.
The LOC has commissioned 10 different short works, experienced in 10 different performance videos recorded at their homes — that pertain to the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 from American composers and performers.
It is called The Boccaccio Project after the Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio (below), a 14th-century Italian writer who wrote “The Decameron,” a series of stories told by 10 people who fled from Florence, Italy, to find refuge in the countryside during the Black Plague.
The musical works will start being premiered on weekdays this coming Monday, June 15, at the Library of Congress website. The works will also be broadcast on social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The website, which now has a complete list of performers and works, will soon have a complete schedule of world premieres, running on weekdays from Monday, June 15, to Friday, June 26. Then the manuscripts will be transferred to the LOC archives.
Here is a link: https://loc.gov/item/prn-20-038/
Many of the names will be unfamiliar to the general public. But an excellent story about the background and genesis of the project, including music samples, can be found on National Public Radio (NPR), which aired the story Friday morning.
Here is a link to that 7-minute story (if you listen to it rather than read it, you will hear samples of the music): https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875325958/a-new-library-of-congress-project-commissions-music-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic
And here are some of the participants, who are noteworthy for their ethnic and geographic diversity:
Flutronix (below) includes flutist Allison Loggins-Hull, left, and composer Nathalie Joachim.
The work by composer Luciano Chessa (below top) will be performed by violist Charlton Lee (below bottom), of the Del Sol Quartet:
And the work by Damien Sneed (below top) work will be performed by Jeremy Jordan (below bottom):
The new project strikes The Ear as a terrific and timely undertaking — the musical equivalent of the photographic project, funded and staffed by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during The Great Depression of the 1930s. That project yielded enduring masterpieces by such eminent photographers as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans.
But several questions arise.
How much did the project cost?
Will the general public be able to get copies of and rights to these works to perform? One assumes yes, since it is a public project funded with public money.
And will this project give rise to similar projects in other countries that are also battling the pandemic? New art – literature, films, painting, dance and so on — arising from new circumstances seems like something that is indeed worth the undertaking.
Listen to them.
What works stand out for you?
What do you think of the project?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #14thCentury, #AllisonLoggins-Hull, #AmericanComposer, #BlackPlague, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BloomingtonIndiana, #ChamberMusic, #CharltonLee, #ChicagoIllinois, #ClassicalMusician, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CulturalDiversity, #DamienSneed, #DelSolQuartet, #DelSolStringQuartet, #DorotheaLange, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FarmSecurityAdministration, #GiovanniBoccaccio, #GreatDepression, #JacobStockinger, #JeremyJordan, #LibraryofCongress, #LucianoChessa, #NaionalPublicRadio, #NathalieJoachim, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #OnlineConcert, #PerformingArts, #PublicHealth, #RecordedMusic, #SanFrancisco, #SocialMedia, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TheDecameron, #TheEar, #TheRenaissance, #TheU.S., #U.S.Government, #VisualArts, #WalkerEvans, #WindMusic, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, 10, 14th century, 1930s, air, Allison Loggins-Hull, America, American, archive, arise, Arts, Audio, background, battle, Black Plague, blog, Bloomington, Boccaccio, Broadcast, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Charlton Lee, Chicago, circumstances, classicalmusic, commission, complete, composer, copy, coronavirus, countries, country, countryside, Damien Sneed, dance, Del Sol Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, depression, diversity, Dorothea Lange, eminent, enduring, equivalent, era, ethnic, excellent, exterior, Facebook, Farm Security Administration, film, flautist, Florence, flute, flutist, Flutronix, forward, Friday, FSA, funded, general, Genesis, geographic, Giovanni Boccaccio, government, Great Depression, historical, History, Home, Indiana, interior, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Jordan, Joachim, Library of Congress, like, link, list, listen, literture, LOC, Luciano Chessa, manuscript, masterpiece, minute, Monday, money, morning, Music, Musician, name, Nathalie Joachim, National Public Radio, new, New Music, New York City, noteworthy, NPR, Oboe, oboist, online, painting, pandemic, participant, People, performer, Performing arts, photography, Pianist, Piano, poet, premiere, premieres, project, public, Public health, Quartet, read, recorded, refuge, Renaissance, rights, sample, San Francisco, schedule, series, share, short, social media, something, staff\, start, stay at home, stories, string music, String quartet, tag, ten, terrific, The Decameron, The Ear, timely, transfer, Tweet, Twitter, U.S., undertaking, unfamiliar, United States, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, visual arts, vocal music, Walker Evans, Website, weekday, wind music, work, works, world, world premiere, worth, Writer, yes, yield, YouTube
Classical music: Starting this Sunday, radio station WORT-FM 89.9 will air recordings that Rich Samuels made of many live performances in the Madison area
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ALERT: The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will be suspending the remainder of its spring season until further notice. Music director Kyle Knox and executive director Bridget Fraser says they are hopeful that an adjusted end-of-year schedule might be possible. Many ideas are under consideration. But they say they have no idea at this point what might be possible given the restrictions currently in place at the UW-Madison. “All we can do is explore possible scenarios and be ready to react if the restrictions are lifted,” they add.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following note from Rich Samuels (below), a retired Chicago reporter and broadcaster who is often seen at concerts with microphones and a laptop computer. His public service is especially commendable and useful during the current coronavirus pandemic when almost all live concerts in music-rich Madison have been canceled or postponed for the foreseeable future.
Jake:
WORT (89.9 FM and at wortfm.org) will shortly start to air recordings of past public performances by Madison area classical musicians within its regularly scheduled classical music broadcasts.
This should help keep our local musician friends in the public ear even though their local venues have been shuttered and their gigs canceled.
I’ve had the good fortune to record hundreds of hours of local performances since 2012. I’m now editing them into segments that can be inserted into the shows of WORT’s classical music hosts.
The first segment to air, if all goes well, will be part of the “Musica Antiqua” early music program, hosted by Carol Moseson, this Sunday, March 22, from 8 to 11 a.m.
It will feature Eric Miller on viola da gamba and Daniel Sullivan on harpsichord performing a suite by French Baroque composer Louis Couperin. I recorded the concert (below) last Oct. 11 in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison (FUS).
Other such segments will follow on the weekday classical music shows that air from 5 to 8 a.m. We are still working on the details.
Additionally, I’ll be pre-recording three-hour broadcasts that can be run in place of the regularly scheduled classical music shows, assuming the host, for whatever reason, is unable to make it to the station.
These will hopefully include complete concert performances from the FUS Friday Noon Musicale, Grace Presents (in the YouTube video at the bottom) and Willy Street Chamber Players (below) series.
I gave up my own Thursday morning WORT show about a year ago after my wife developed some health issues. But I’ve continued to record local musicians whenever possible. (My wife, by the way, is presently in good shape).
Hopefully, this WORT effort will benefit both local musicians and their audiences. (Below is Samuels recording at Bach Around the Clock, which has been canceled this year.)
Please join The Ear in thanking Rich Samuels and WORT for their service to the community by leaving word in the Comment section.
What do you think of his project?
Tags: #BachAroundtheClock, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BridgetFraser, #CarolMoseson, #ChamberMusic, #CityofMadison, #ClassicalMusician, #COVID-19, #DanielSullivan, #EricMiller, #ExecutiveDirector, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #Frenchcomposer, #FridayNoonMusicale, #GoodFortune, #GracePresents, #HarpsichordMusic, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #KyleKnox, #LandmarkAuditorium, #LaptopComputer, #LiebesliederWaltzes, #LiveConcert, #LiveMusic, #LivePerformances, #LocalMusicians, #LouisCouperin, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicaAntiqua, #MusicDirector, #NewsUpdate, #PeriodInstruments, #PublicService, #RadioBroadcast, #RadioHost, #RadioStation, #RichSamuels, #SundayMorning, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, adjust, air, area, assume, attract, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, blog, Brahms, Bridget Fraser, Broadcast, broadcaster, cancel, canceled, Carol Moseson, Chamber music, Chicago, Classical, classicalmusic, commendable, comment, community, complete, computer, conductor, consideration, coronavirus, Couperin, current, Daniel Sullivan, details, ear, Early music, earlymusic, edit, end, Eric Miller, event, Executive director, explore, Facebook, first, First Unitarian Society of Madison, fortune, forward, France, French, Friday Noon Musicale, friends, FUS, future, gigs, good, good fortune, Grace Presents, harpsichord, Health, historically informed performance practices, hope, hopeful, host, hours, hundreds, idea, insert, issues, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, join, journalism, Kyle Knox, laptop, laptop computer, Liebeslieder Waltzes, like, link, live, live concert, live music, live performances, local, local musicians, Louis Couperin, Love, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, microphone, Music, Music director, Musica Antiqua, Musician, news, nite, notice, own, pandemic, performances, performers, period instruments, possible, post, posting, postpone, pre-recording, project, public, public service, Radio, radio station, react, reader, record, recording, remainder, reporter, restrictions, retired, Retirement, rich, Rich Samuels, scenario, schedule, Season, segment, series, service, share, show, shows, shuttered, Spring, station, subscriber, Suite, Sunday, suspend, tag, thank, thanking, The Ear, think, unable, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, usefuul, UW-Madison, venue, viola da gamba, Waltz, weekday, wife, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, word, work, WORT-FM 89.9, WYSO, year, YouTube
Classical music education: WYSO’s Youth Orchestra gives a FREE farewell concert on Tuesday night at Olbrich Gardens before departing on its tour of Peru. Plus, Wisconsin Public Radio host Norman Gillliand gets an award
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 80 members of the Youth Orchestra of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will perform a FREE farewell or bon voyage concert on this coming Tuesday night, July 3, at 7 p.m. at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison before departing on an international tour to Peru.
The conductor for both this concert and the tour to Peru is James Smith (below), the retired head of orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and the retired music director of WYSO.
The program includes: the Overture to “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein (arranged by Peress); Oberture para una comedia (Overture to a Comedy) by Enrique Iturriaga; the Little Suite No. 2 by Malcolm Arnold (heard performed by a youth orchestra in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the Symphony No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
The historic city of Cusco, once the capital of the vast Inca Empire, is one stop along the way for WYSO students on tour. Other destinations include the Peruvian capital of Lima; Puno; Lake Titicaca; and the legendary Machu Picchu (below), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The students will also perform with the National Youth Orchestra of Peru and attend one concert event.
For more about the tour, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org/international-tour-takes-wyso-students-to-peruvian-highlands-and-more/
Youth Orchestra violist Hannah Wendorf says she is looking forward to the experience.
“I am super excited to experience the culture of Peru,” Wendorf says. “I can’t wait to visit both the ancient and modern marvels the country has to offer. Performing for a new audience with friends is going to be amazing!”
Historically, WYSO’s Youth Orchestra has embarked every few years on an extended tour during the summer months for one to two weeks. An extended tour entails substantial expense and detailed planning over a two-year period. The Board of Directors Tour Committee and the WYSO staff are responsible for researching and investigating potential tours and coordinating all tour activities.
During the farewell concert, WYSO will also honor Norman Gilliland (below) with the Rabin Youth Arts Award in the Individual Artistic Achievement category.
Gilliland has been a classical radio host with Wisconsin Public Radio since 1984. He has featured interviews and performances by hundreds of young Wisconsin artists on the weekday classical program, The Midday.
For years, Gilliland brought weekly music lessons to classrooms all over the state as part of WPR’s School of the Air program. He was also a founder of WPR’s Neale-Silva Young Artists’ Competition, which between 1990 and 2013 recognized the accomplishments and artistry of hundreds of young Wisconsin musicians.
For more information about WYSO, including a schedule of concerts and how to join WYSO and support it, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org
Tags: #BonVoyage, #BotanicalGardens, #Cusco, #DmitriShostakovich, #EnriqueIturriaga, #FarewellConcert, #IncaEmpire, #IncanEmpire, #IndividualArtisticAchievement, #InternationalTour, #JamesSmith, #LakeTiticaca, #LeonardBernstein, #Lima, #LittleSuiteNo.2, #MachuPicchu, #MalcolmArnold, #MarvinRabin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #MusicLessons, #NationalYouthOrchestraofPeru, #Neale-SilvaYoungArtistsCompetition, #NormanGilliland, #OlbrichGardens, #PeruvianCapital, #RabinYouthArtsAward, #RadioHost, #SchooloftheAir, #TheMidday, #UNESCOWorldHeritage, #UnitedNations, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WestSideStory, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WPRMidday, #YouthOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, artistry, Arts, award, bon voyage, botanical, botanical gardens, Cello, Classical music, comedy, composer, conductor, farewell, Garden, Inca, international, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Lake Titicaca, Machu Picchu, Madison, Music, Music director, Music education, music lessons, Musician, Norman Gilliland, Orchestra, Overture, performance, Peru, Radio, retired, School of the Air, Suite, symphony, tour, UNESCO, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, weekday, weekly, West Side Story, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, WPR, WYSO, young, YouTube
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Classical music: Here are the world premieres of the fourth and fifth pieces of “pandemic music” commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The project has reached the midway point.
Last week was when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written for the Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — started going public and began being posted on various social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as well as the Internet.
One performance is released each weekday night starting at 8 p.m. EDT.
The project is a way to capture some of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
The first piece was “Sequestered Thoughts,” a solo piano work by composed Damien Sneed and performed by Jeremy Jordan.
The second was “shadow of a difference/falling” by composer Richard Drehoff Jr. and solo oboist Andrew Nogal of the Grossman Ensemble.
There were featured in this blog last week.
The fourth and fifth pieces were premiered last Thursday and Friday, bringing the project to the halfway point before the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day and Make Music Madison weekend.
The fourth work is “Bridges,” a solo piano work composed by Cliff Eidelman (below top) and performed at home by Jenny Lin (below bottom, in a photo by Liz Linder).
The title refers to the composer’s focus on finding bridges from the peculiar coronavirus pandemic back to normal life.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/eidelman-lin.html
The fifth piece is “Hello World” by composer by Erin Rogers (below top, in a photo by Aleksandr Karjaka), an exploratory work for solo flute that is performed by Erin Lesser (below bottom) of the Wet Ink Ensemble.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/rogers-lesser.html
On the same page as the performance you can read what the composer and sometimes the performer have to say about the new work and what it strives to mean or express.
You can use links to go to the five past performances and premieres.
You can also follow links on the bottom of the page to see more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with some commentary and questions from The Ear, go to https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the pieces?
What do you think of the project?
Will you like to hear more of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
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