Pittsburgh New Music Net

Read about it here.

So in case this slipped past you in the holiday rush, new music events made an impressive showing in Andy Druckenbrod’s top 10 classical concerts of the year list: Music on the Edge (Newband), Opera Theater of Pittsburgh (Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice), Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appetit), and the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival (music of Solomon Rosowsky). Check out the full article for Andy’s explanations.

So it was a great year for New Music in Pittsburgh, and as those of you who follow this blog regularly know, that was only the tip of the iceberg. And 2012? Staritn’ off with a bang. check out the repopulated events calendar and you’ll see what I mean.

And speaking of starting off with a bang, don’t miss Dave Bernabo’s very thorough interview with League of the Unsound Sound co-founders David Smooke and Ken Ueno. LotUS comes to the Warhol next Saturday night.

Update: and I almost forgot this profile of new music performer extraordinaire Rob Frankenberry. Let’s have a virtual show of hands for how many of us have had our music played beautifully by Rob! Yeah!

The Music on the Edge Morton Feldman Symposium and Mini-Festival kicks off at Wood Street Galleries tonight at 8 p.m. with a concert featuring cellist Jonathan Golove and and pianist Amy Williams performing Patterns in a Chromatic Field. The two-part symposium takes place at Pitt’s Music Building tomorrow starting at 10 and , and the final event is a performance of Crippled Symmetry at 8 p.m. back at Wood Street Galleries with Amy Williams and Jan Williams, Amy’ father and the percussionist who premiered many of Feldman’s works, and the irrepressible Lindsey Goodman on flute.

It’s gonna be a great two days of music and insight into one of the true masters of the late 20th century. And don’t miss the fantastic preview by Mike Shanley in the City Paper that gives us a window into Jan and Amy Williams’ personal interactions with Feldman.

It’s that time of the year again! Four weeks of outstanding contemporary chamber music—scratch that— theatre of music presented by Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. I had the privilege once again to sit down with Kevin Noe and the members of the ensemble and talk about what was in store for the season, and I’ve uploaded part one of the interview for this week. Look for more installments over the next month, including Jeffrey Nytch discussing the premiere of his new work Notturno, Kevin describing PNME’s collaboration with Pittsburgh artist Val Cox, and what I found to be a really compelling conversation about the challenges and pitfalls of being a composer today. Also check out the TradMed previews from Mark Kanny and Andrew Druckenbrod. The 2011 PNME season starts tonight at the South Side’s City Theatre at 8 p.m.

Two great concerts this weekend: Third Coast Percussion, featuring Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble’s own David Skidmore, plays at the Carnegie Lecture Hall on Saturday night at 8; Alia Music Pittsburgh gives its Winter Concert on Sunday night at 7 p.m. at Chatham’s James Laughlin Music Hall. Complete details on the Events Calendar.

Can’t wait for all the new music goodness? Don’t!

And in case you missed them, some nice articles in the Post-Gazette recently covering the adventurous end of the local music spectrum. Check out Andy Druckenbrod’s article on Music on the Edge at 20, as well as Manny Theiner’s write-up of Ben Opie’s recent CD release of duets with Anthony Braxton.

And finally, for your reading and listening pleasure, Kerrith Livengood has a blog.

CAPA’s Cabaret Theatre
111 9th St
free

Antithesis presents a concert featuring music by forerunners of the “Ambient” movement including Satie, Cage, and Reich as well as works by students of CAPA 6-12.

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This Thursday and Friday, dancer Gia Cacalano will premiere new pieces that combine choreography and improvisation in dance with music by vibraphonist Jeff Berman and David Bernabo. The performances take place at The Space Upstairs (214 N. Lexington St, above Construction Junction) and you can see a preview of the show in this week’s City Paper. Find out more about the show here.

And don’t forget that Alia Musica Pittsburgh’s summer recital series continues this weekend as well when clarinetist Rachael Stutzman performs music by Bernstein, Copland, and a premiere by Federico Garcia. The concert takes place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Friday at 7:30 and you can find out more about the show from the AMP homepage.

Lots of great new music coming up as we head into the fall and I’ll be updating the main events calendar in the near future.

… is here. Check it.

Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble kicks off its summer season tonight with music by Joan Tower, Ted Hearne, Aaron Kernis, David Lang, and Thomas Albert. It’s the start of a great month of new music here in the Burgh. And don’t forget to check out the excellent season previews in the Post-Gazette and Tribune Review. Andy Druckenbrod focuses mostly on programming content, while Mark Kanny highlights the financial difficulties PNME (like all small arts organizations) is facing. They’re both worthwhile reads to be sure.

Check it out here.