Continuing their debate about composing music and writing about it, Beeri Moalem and Dan Coren find some common ground, and also some flaws in BSR as an appropriate vehicle.
The young and opinionated composer Beeri Moalem responds to assorted nitpicks from BSR's critic Dan Coren, as well as to Coren's larger question: What, exactly, is the struggle of a young composer today?
This is an exciting time to be a composer— there are many directions to choose from. Not all of them are ridiculous. Here's one struggling young composer's attempt to make some sense of all the possibilities.
Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is a marvel of innovative cinematography and storytelling. It feels very realistic, but at the same time, it's also a fairy tale.
As an immigrant with dark skin and a strange name, I bonded with Barack Obama years ago. But I never felt truly American until I marched with the throngs on the National Mall at his inauguration.
We all love Brahms, Mozart and Dvorak. Especially for these seasoned musicians, it's much easier to put together a Mozart Piano Quartet that they've all played before than to learn a contemporary piece. But seriously, there are other composers out there.
From an adult perspective, all those rockets fired into Israel seem very scary. But to a six-year old child who didn't understand anything, war was not only exciting news, it was great fun. My brother and I would cheer when sirens blew as my parents scrambled for the gas masks. We also spent more happy time with our parents and neighbors than we'd ever spent before.
What compels the sons and daughters of wealthy nations (like me) to cram a few pieces of clothing into a backpack and spend months exploring Third-World South America? Mostly we travel to temporarily escape the materialism of our homelands.
On the surface, West Philadelphia is a poster child for poverty and crime. But beneath the surface I found a neighborhood that was once designed with aesthetics in mind. I also found, to my astonishment, two of my most distinguished cultural heroes.
I was feeling sick and miserable on a bus in the middle of the sun-baked Sahara, wishing I were anywhere but there. Then I plugged in my ear buds, and heard the first movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto. I was healed.
Blair Tindall is bitter about the classical music industry in general and her own music career in particular. As a free-lance musician myself, I disagree. All one needs for a fulfilling career is some initiative and a real love of music.
Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music. By Blair Tindall. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005. www.mozartinthejungle.com.
Why attend a live classical concert when you can listen to music on your iPod, car radio or home sound system? There are many reasons— and as even I (an orchestral musician) must admit, many of them actually favor the iPod. On the other hand…
After experiencing the New York Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" for the first time, I am torn. It’s not the real thing— not even close. On the other hand, there are no bad seats.
The mobs, themes and commercial promotions at the Philadelphia Flower Show were anything but relaxing. The flower arrangements themselves were anything but relaxing, too.
Philadelphia Flower Show. March 1-8, 2008 at Pennsylvania Convention Center, 13th and Arch Sts. (215) 988-8800 or www.theflowershow.com.
The Gilded Age died almost before its greatest extravagance was completed in 1901. Philadelphia’s City Hall has embarrassed Philadelphians ever since. Has the time come, finally, to appreciate it?
City Hall. Tours of the tower run every 15 minutes between 9:30 a.m and 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. (215) 686-2840 or click here.