Musical America Blogs

by James Conlon Gore Vidal once observed that at a certain age writers turn to politics or alcohol. I am a musician and am turning to neither, but in recent years have found, conversely, an increasing satisfaction through writing. For that reason I welcomed the invitation from MusicalAmerica.com to write a blog on a somewhat regular [...]

There is nothing like a good ballet spoof. At New York City Ballet’s January 21 matinee performance, the company danced at Lincoln Center Jerome Robbins’ “The Concert” (1956). Whether you get the inside jokes regarding specific ballets, Robbins’s jabs at ballet traditions—the good, bad and the ugly—directly communicate.

by Sedgwick Clark A confident handshake? It happened in the 1980s in David Dubal’s office at the late, lamented New York classical-radio station WNCN, where I edited the station’s music magazine, Keynote. David, who was music director of the station, always had a string of notable pianists visiting. On this day it was Alexis Weissenberg [...]

By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. I was recently honored to be asked to participate on a panel at the annual Astral Artists auditions, during which I listened to a substantial number of pianists and wind players. While all were on a rather high level, I was struck by the relatively [...]

By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Dear Edna: I’m an artist sending out letters of inquiry to a handful of presenters. Can you give me an example of an inquiry letter you might send, as an artist, to a concert series or presenter when proposing a concert? —Kimball Gallagher Dear Kimball: [...]

by Sedgwick Clark   Many years ago I was sitting next to the p.r. director of the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall when a cellphone went off as Simon Rattle conducted. When the piece ended I asked him if that happened in Berlin. “Everywhere,” he said sadly.    I left for vacation two days after the cellphone brouhaha at the New [...]

by Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Dear Edna: I am a well-established soloist who has always booked and promoted myself. Once I reached middle age, I made numerous efforts to find an agent who can do for me what I’ve done for myself, only with more savvy and sophistication. But I’ve [...]

by Sedgwick Clark In their wildest dreams, the six string quartets couldn’t have asked for more. Nor could music lovers, as the Manhattan School of Music rang in the New Year with what it called the “Inaugural Robert Mann String Quartet Institute.” Yes, this is why I left Muncie, but this time my hometown friends [...]

By Alan Gilbert On January 4 the Philharmonic made a very important announcement: Matthew VanBesien has been named the next Executive Director of the Orchestra. I feel very positive about this choice, as I was quoted as saying, but here I want to discuss some of the thoughts that have come to my mind in [...]

   by Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Dear Edna: I am a composer, recently graduated with two Masters degrees, and I have chosen the administrative route for a small and ambitious organization. In your earlier column entitled “Overqualified and Underemployed”, you rightly wrote that many connections can be made working in [...]