Park Avenue Armory
Some while back I wrote about my experience of visiting the Guggenheim in Bilbao. What I especially found striking was how many people were prepared to visit a gallery of contemporary art…
CD Roundup
There were fewer new CDs this month than usual, so rather than a full review, here's a quick roundup. On Naxos there are new recordings of William Grant Still's Symphony No. 2…
Does Contemporary Music Do Christmas?
I said last time that December is the month without contemporary music. By this I meant performances of contemporary music. There exists plenty of Christmas music by contemporary composers, though…
Helen Grime Interview
Photo:Helen Grime Christian Morris talks to the composer Helen Grime who, amongst many other things, has just started as Associate Composer with the Hallé Orchestra. Tell us something about your…
Lancino Requiem CD Review
Since, as a youngster, watching Mozart feveredly dictating passages of his last work to the dastardly Salieri in Peter Schaffer’s Amadeus I have been a fan of the Requiem Mass. Whilst…
November Festivals and Concerts
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//), one of the most important of its type in Europe, runs from Friday 18thNovember–Sunday 27th November. This year there is a special focus of the music of…
The Sacher Foundation
With a good friend of mine, the Mexican composer Mauricio Beltrán, I have just spent a fascinating few days in the Sacher Foundation Library in Basel, Switzerland. Paul Sacher (1906-1999) was a Swiss…
October CD Review
I said in one of my earliest blog posts that I didn't envy the job of concert reviewers. Having to make a snap judgement about a piece of music strikes…
October Festivals and Concerts
The North Wales International Music Festival begins on 24th September. The programme focuses largely on older repertoire, though there is a composer portrait concert dedicated to the music of Paul Mealor, he of Ubi Caritas royal wedding…
Modern Art and Modern Music
After a visit to some Basque friends in Northern Spain last week I found myself with a day to spare in Bilbao. The city used to be faceless and industrial…