Bloggers at Swarm

Last Thursday, a group of bloggers were invited out to Jack London Square to check out the awesomeness that is Swarm Gallery and Studios.

A very up-and-coming art space, I'd recommend it to anyone. Studios are for rent in the back, and are equipped with windows so that visitors can see art in its finished form in front, and more works in progress in the back. Such a cool concept!
Gallery director Svea Lin Vezzone, discussed the gallery's beginnings and longer term goals at length.

Thanks for having us, Swarm!



Next week, bloggers come to us!

Wagner in the 21st Century

Go Richard Wagner!!

I'd really like to know exactly what inspired this extreme popularity, and the search will continue. No matter. It's great when the general public acknowledges classical music.

Notable listening for week of 10/01

I did a horrible job of keeping track of the notables this week. Work was way too insane to even keep up with the mound of stuff on my desk. Here are the few gems I managed to jot down:

Ottorino Respighi: Gli Uccelli (The Birds)
William Grant Still: Danzas de Panama
Fela Sowande: African Suite
Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in e
Claude Debussy: Printemps
Antonin Dvorak: The Wood Dove
Erik Satie: Gnossiennes

Better luck next week...

Notable listening for the week of 09/17/07

Gabriel Faure: Ballade Op. 19
Maurice Ravel: Menuet Antique
Claude Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Bedrich Smetana: Bartered Bride, Overture and Dances
Antonin Dvorak: Bagatelles
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Variants (5) of Dives & Lazarus
Michael Torke: Bright Blue Music
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
George Butterworth: Two English Idylls for small orchestra
Gabriel Faure: Masques and Bergamasques
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Snow Maiden
Franz Joseph Hadyn: Piano Trio No. 39
Richard Wagner: Sigfried Idyll
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3
Aaron Copeland: Billy the Kid Suite
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Michio Miyagi: Haru no Umi
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Norfolk Rhapsody No.1
Giacomo Puccini: Preludio Sinfonico
Jean Sibelius: Finlandia
Thomas Canning: Fantasy on a Hymn by Justin Morgan
Maurice Ravel: Bolero
Gregorio Allegri: Miserere Psalm 51
Hector Berlioz: Le Corsaire Overture Op. 21
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C Sharp
Francis Poulenc: Mouvments Perpetuels: Perpetual Motion
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 in a minor
Edward Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance March
Paul McCartney: A Leaf
Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen
Richard Stauss: Serenade in E-Flat
Michael Torke: Javelin
Jean Sibelius: Karella Suite
Gustav Holst: Brook Green Suite
Carl Neilsen: Symphony No. 1 in g
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 2
Ernest Bloch: Schelomo, Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello
William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony

A note to say...

I really adore Capital Public Radio. check it out and stream it at www.capradio.org !

The best classical music station EVER.

Notable listening for the Week of September 10, 2007

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C
Dag Wiren: Serenade for string orchestra in G Op. 11
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe: Selections
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.1 in C Op. 21
Jean Sibelius: Swan of Tuonela
Alan Hovhaness: Prelude and Quadruple Fugue for orchestra
Pablo de Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen
Erich Wolfgang Korgold: The Sea Hawk (1940) Suite
Frederic Chopin: Mazurkas Op. 7
Samuel Wesley: Symphony in A
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E Flat
Georges Bizet: Symphony No. 1 in C
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet in E-Flat Op. 20
Maurice Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
Benjamin Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op.34
Leonard Bernstein: On the Town: Three Dance Episodes
Georges Bizet: L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1
Maurice Ravel: Jeux d’eau
Edward Elgar: Serenade for Strings
Johannes Brahms: Academic Festival Overture

A more optimistic article on the state of clasical music from Justin Davidson. He takes the stance that, while the scene is changing, it is still vibrant and has a lot to offer.

Thanks, man.

The Best Site Ever

I just found the coolest website:

www.composersdatebook.publicradio.org

How did I not know about this?? Well, learn something new every day, I guess.