Steve Martland (1959-2013) We're saddened to learn of the passing of English composer Steve Martland at the age of 53. Composer and Peabody faculty member Oscar Bettison was kind enough to share the following remembrance of Martland with us.

Remembering Steve Martland

by Oscar Bettison  

“Where do you go to college?” “The RCM.” “Oh, that place is terrible. Actually, all institutions are terrible.”   That exchange was how I met Steve Martland. I was eighteen, just finishing my first term as an undergrad at the Royal College of Music in London, and the circumstance of our meeting was the BBC Young Composer of the Year competition, in which I was a finalist. A couple of days later, ...

Some news about a hot ticket tonight from one of our regular contributors, composer Lawrence Dillon.

After performing his Violin Futura program a gazillion times all over the map in the last six years, Piotr Szewczyk is bringing it to NYC (Carnegie Hall. May 6^th. 8 pm).

What is Violin Futura? In the words of Santa Fe New Music, it is an “enthralling program [that] shows off the diversity and range of the contemporary violin.” As Piotr says, “I created the Violin Futura project because I wanted to expand the contemporary violin repertoire with pieces that are exciting to play and listen to while bringing something new and unique to the repertoire. Violin Futura is currently in its 3rd edition and I have over 40 pieces ...

Love this post-minimal string track by Arcade Fire's Sarah Neufeld. Album out in August via Constellation.  

Tonight at Westminster Choir College, CUNY Distinguished Professor of Music Joseph N. Straus will give the keynote lecture at our annual Music Scholarship Celebration. Titled "Performing Music, Performing Disability," Straus's presentation draws upon research from his recent book Extraordinary Measures: Disability in Music (Oxford University Press). There will also be student papers given by Marquese Carter, Ian Good, and Michael Bennett. 

Event Details

The 6th Annual Celebration of Westminster Student Research April 23rd at 6:30 PM Williamson Hall Westminster Choir College 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 Open admission; refreshments afterwards.

You probably know that I am writing a lot these days. The cool thing with long writings is that you have to tidy up your thoughts and make them (at least look) coherent. It involves digging into my past and understanding whatever positions I could have taken in the last 15 years to properly connect the dots between my ideas. And this is the point where I am supposed to give you the lecture about me changing over the years and being a better person and artist. Guess what? I’m not going to give you this lecture at all.

Let’s start from the beginning. I’ve always loved Radiohead. I discovered them just before they recorded OK Computer. I was a teenager, Oasis’ Wonderwall had just been released and was on played on a ...

Musica Viva third festival a feast of delights
Steve Moffatt, Manly Daily
April 09, 2013

Music lovers have feasted for four days on a diverse range of material performed by leading international musicians, along with some of Australia’s best talent, as part of Musica Viva’’s third festival which finished on Sunday.

On a more modest scale than its predecessors, it nevertheless featured some big names on the international scene and, as always, was a valuable opportunity for audiences to hear our next generation of players from the Australian Youth Orchestra and watch them being mentored.

The three concerts that this reviewer saw were top quality and packed to the rafters. Musica Viva deserves praise for bringing such depth and ...

David Lang 

death speaks

Cantaloupe Music

 death speaks performed by: Shara Worden (vocals), Bryce Dessner (guitar), Owen Pallett (violin), Nico Muhly (piano)

depart performed by: Maya Beiser (multi-tracked cello), Elizabeth Farnum, Katie Geissinger, Alexandra Montano, and Alex Sweeton (voice)

For my ears, one of most striking features of David Lang’s music is its austerity. I have heard interviews with Lang where he speaks about eschewing a specific emotional context for his music and writing music in which the listener provides their own unique emotional response to the work. In other words, Lang tries not to manipulate the listener directly but rather create an aural space in which the ...