The Loose Filter Project

"It seems the wind ensemble’s image needs a makeover."

Stuart Sims — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:47:48 PST

From Listen magazine, an excellent article on the creative surge happening in the wind band world: Beyond the Halftime Show: The American wind ensemble is quietly building a canon. As the article quotes John Corigliano: The repertoire of band music is largely contemporary. As a result, the audiences expect and look forward to new works. Listening in an environment largely ignored by the press, they learn to trust their own ears and respond directly to...

LA Phil announces new season, continues to be awesome

Stuart Sims — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:15:32 PST

The Los Angeles Philharmonic just announced their 2010-2011 season, and it demonstrates again why we think the LA Phil is one of the most vibrant arts organizations around. They deftly honor the old while championing the new, with a very wide embrace. Not convinced to go look? What if I told you that their slate of commissions and premieres includes: Adès, Turnage, Lindberg, Marsalis, Salonen, Barry, Golijov, Mackey, Gubaidulina, Lieberson and Górecki? Most major orchestras...

We expect better

Dustin Soiseth — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:48:19 PST

We usually keep the focus positive here at LF, but every once in a while we stumble across an idea so bad or misguided that we feel the need to comment. In this case it's "Unexpect yourself," the Philadelphia Orchestra's new marketing campaign. Philadelphia Inquirer collumnist Karen Heller does a pretty good job illustrating the shortcomings of this slogan in her op-ed piece; here are some highlights. "To stay relevant, you must embrace new ideas...

Perspective

Dustin Soiseth — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:37:55 PST

The Scale of the Universe - you know, for fun.

More on interpretation

Dustin Soiseth — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:09:40 PST

I've been thinking about interpretation on and off since this previous post on the subject, and Allan Kozinn's New York Times essay, in which he compares Schoenberg performances by Boulez and Barenboim, has provided more food for thought. But what was particularly striking was that the two conductors took interpretive approaches to Schoenberg that were poles apart: Mr. Boulez’s readings prized delicacy and transparency; Mr. Barenboim’s, raw power and heft. Both were highly personalized approaches,...

Some assembly required

Dustin Soiseth — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:37:53 PST

If you're looking for really innovative American music that's somewhat off the beaten path, composer/musicologist Kyle Gann's blog is the place to find it. In this recent post he talks about how much his career has focused on works (his and others) that push the limits of musical notation and challenge our established ideas of what constitutes a score. Like many of Gann's posts, this one is full of audio clips and musical examples. One...

A fair point:

Stuart Sims — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:40:39 PST

More good ideas from Marin Alsop

Dustin Soiseth — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:06:04 PST

I've written previously about the good ideas Marin Alsop is implementing at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and here's another one. On Tuesday night at Strathmore, the BSO held the first part of a two-night event called "Rusty Musicians With the BSO," created by Music Director Marin Alsop as a way for the BSO to celebrate Strathore's fifth anniversary season. Anybody older than 25 who played an orchestral instrument and could read music could have a...

Preview: the 21st Century Symphony

Stuart Sims — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:47:34 PST

Jonathan Newman wrote a really beautiful symphony recently, and I currently have the privilege of rehearsing it for performances on this coming Thursday (2/4/10), as part of my lecture-recital at ASU. We will be taping and recording over the next week to create material around this fantastic piece to post online. Keep your eyes on the site over the next month as we'll be adding a couple of new podcasts (including an interview with Jonathan,...

Good Programs: Pianos at Le Poisson Rouge

Dustin Soiseth — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:01:35 PST

Two piano recitals this January at Le Poisson Rouge caught my eye the other day. On one, Tamara Stefanovich performs Bartok, Carter, Ligeti, and Rachmaninoff. Bartok - 14 Bagatelles Carter - Matribute Carter - Catenaires Rachmaninoff/Ligeti - 12 Etudes (presumably some from each composer) My first thought was, "Oh man, how lush and epic is Rachmaninoff going to sound next to Carter and Ligeti?" I've always felt that programs that pair the well-known with the...

More excellent, free online listening

Stuart Sims — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:00:00 PST

Grooveshark will create playlists for if you click the "radio" button, sort of like Pandora. Listening a little today, their library is pretty good (I've covered everything from Conlon Nancarrow to Lady Gaga and it hasn't let me down) and I like the radio feature a lot. Listen here.

Jon Sass is amazing. You've never heard anything like this.

Stuart Sims — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:15:00 PST

Playing with a laptop, DJ, and using live looping, Jon Sass plays music like I've never heard before and makes the tuba cooler than it ever ought to be: