Hard to believe, but the English National Opera posted a bio of Richard Strauss, in which they said Johann Strauss was his father: “Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was one of the most highly acclaimed composers of the 20th century. He was a leading representative of the German school of Romantic composers who set new standards for orchestration and tone colour in opera. But, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, with his father Johann Strauss being a prominent composer in Vienna. It was his father’s orchestra that gave him his first big break, composing two waltzes for them to play at the age ..read more

I’ve deleted my last post, about what the Cleveland Plain Dealer printed as CIM’s response to the faculty vote of no confidence. It wasn’t CIM’s response at all, but instead a statement made in the past about another situation, which the Plain Dealer highlighted as if it was CIM’s response now. They’ve now removed it, but I think using it in the first place was shocking behavior on their part. It’s a disgrace, and would have been no matter who their story was about ..read more

When the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran its story about the Cleveland Institute of Music faculty denouncing the school’s administration — see my last post — they hadn’t gotten CIM’s response. Hadn’t come in time. Now they have it, and it’s pathetic: “We are not going to go into detail about any personnel issues, but as with any situation like this one, CIM will conduct a thorough and fair investigation,” Cleveland Institute of Music spokesperson Kathleen Drohan said in a statement. “We have retained an outside, independent party to conduct this investigation. To protect the process and privacy o ..read more

The faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music — by an overwhelming majority, 90% — have voted no confidence in the school’s top administrators, president Paul Hogle and provost Scott Harrison. The faculty statement is long, detailed, and scathing. I’ll put it at the end of my post. I’ve never seen anything like it. What led to this: Over the objections of his search committee, Hogle hired Carlos Kalmar to conduct the school orchestra and teach conducting. Students said Kalmar was brutal to them, above all to women. After an investigation –and the firing of the school’s Title IX coordinator ..read more

I’m happy that people are reading me here! It’s been so long since I’ve last posted. So it’s good to get replies to my post, encouraging ones. There’s just one thing, though. I talked about a book on the history of American orchestras, covering maybe the last 60 years. So much of what happened isn’t known publicly, and may never be. But I won’t write that book. I do know parts of the history, things I’ve picked up in various ways, partly from my old work as a journalist, and a lot from working inside the orchestra field. But I don’t know enough to write a history, and don’t know if I — or anyo ..read more

I haven’t posted in awhile. Or been active online. But now I’ve been posting on Facebook, and thought I’d put one of those posts here, one of a series I’ve done on the unwritten — and, most likely, never to be written — history of American orchestras. I’m curious to see who reads it here. I’ll have to promote the blog again, of course. But I’ll just start with this post. You can comment, if you see it! *** Sometime in the 1990s, the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony launched a marketing campaign based on motorcycles. They’d seen research, showing that Harley riders had the same demographic as their sub ..read more

Update…my July 8 performance won’t be streamed. It’s in the catacombs under Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. No Internet there! But it’ll be filmed, and there will be video available later on. Sorry for the misinfo! If that’s a word. Should be! July 8 — two variations I’ve written on “America the Beautiful,” for Min Kwon’s America/Beautiful project. Me and more than 70 other composers! Unfolding online July 4, with live performances July 7 and 8. I’ll be on the July 8 concert. Not all composers on every performance, of course! Not even Min would have the stamina for that, and I’m sure the audi ..read more

That’s the name of a variation on “America the Beautiful” that I wrote for Min Kwon’s America/Beautiful project… But wait…what IS that? Min commissioned variations from more than 70 composers. I wrote two.  Pause now…to imagine her learning them all.  That’s what I wrote in my newsletter. Adding that Min’s got boundless energy. And that she’s a pleasure to work with!  She’ll unveil her commissions from July 4 to July 9, streaming and live. With my pieces coming July 8, both ways. The live performance is on Andrew Ousley’s “Death of Classical”series at Green-wood Cemetery in New ..read more

I haven’t blogged in a long time. I’ve been quiet lately. Not storming the world with ideas about the future of classical music. Just peacefully teaching at Juilliard (remotely, of course), doing some composing, doing some consulting. That’s how I started a newsletter I’ve sent out. My first in quite awhile. It marks a reemergence into a life more public than I’ve lately had. In part I’m motivated by a performance of my music, coming up soon, both live and streaming. This is part of a big project launched by pianist Min Kwon, called America/Beautiful. To quote my newsletter, about the two pie ..read more

By popular demand on Facebook…well, two people asked for it …here’s the story I said there I’d tell about the Pet Shop Boys. How something I said gave them an idea for a song. I was interviewing them in LA in 1988 or ’89, when I was pop music critic for the LA Herald-Examiner. I’d long liked them, as I remember serious rock critics tended to. I know Greil Marcus did. I loved their delirious rhythm, their intelligence, and Neil Tennant’s deadpan singing, which somehow made room for both the intelligence and the delirium. But a friend of mine back then called them “disco trash.” That must have ..read more