Music & Performing Arts
The Shot Heard Round the World: Meditations on "Son of a Gun"
“If there is no combat in love, then it has ceased.” ~ Søren Kierkegaard A few weeks ago I arrived fashionably late to the folk-rock musical Son of a Gun at The Beckett at T...
Other Post
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Buckley's "Hallelujah"
December 21, 2012 -
Christmas Tunes of Another Sort
December 19, 2012 -
Christmas Unicorn
December 12, 2012 -
Matthew E. White on Craftsmanship, Gospel Music & Andre 3000
November 30, 2012 -
We Need To Talk About Mumford
October 12, 2012 -
"Music is a moral law." --Plato
October 01, 2012
Can Anyone Make Me Less "Miserables?"
The more I go over it, the more I’m torn on how to react. My instinct is to despise and dismiss. But many viewings of the trailer for the new film interpretation of Les Miserables - due out Christmas 2012 - force a more considered analysis of my concerns. After hearing Anne Hathaway singing “I Dreamed A Dream,” though I have been a fan since the Princess Diaries, my immediate response was to see her as a ve...
The Tyranny of Taste
George Eliot once said, “I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music.” She would have loved our modern era. It seems that we have more music available to us, and more music being produced, than ever before. iTunes has over 20 million songs for sale, and as of October 4, 2011 had sold its 16 billionth song. Spotify, the latest trending digital music source, has a 15 million ...
The Death of Live Music
One of the definitive moments of my life was my first live concert. I’ll protect the shred of dignity I have left by not disclosing the artist, but rest assured that at that time, they were one of the most popular acts in the country. The show took place at a major venue in Hartford, Connecticut, and I paid less for those tickets than I pay to see some local shows in Brooklyn today. I was twelve years old, but I fe...
The Baddest Girl Around
Maybe Canadian-born rapper Drake has never read Rainer Maria Rilke’s advice in Letters to a Young Poet: “Do not write love poems; avoid at first those forms that are too facile and commonplace: they are the most difficult, for it takes a great, fully matured power to give something of your own where good and even excellent traditions come to mind in quantity.” Or maybe he has chosen to ignore it. [caption id...
The Sound of a Voice
I stand beside another man in casual day-wear and sing the same words and melody he sings, and we learn from each other. I learn, among other things, that one of us is better at staying on pitch than the other. He discovers that I like to belt the music out, occasionally to the detriment of others. I find out that he is a bass, and he finds out I have sinusitis. We make noise. We hope it’s joyful. Every Sunday...
Channeling Affections: Whitney, Modigliani, and Me
I keep thinking of things I'd like to read, eat, or clean today, (Lauren Winner’s new memoir! Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Cous Cous! The guest bathroom!) instead of doing what I know I should be doing-- writing. In the last few months I've spent a lot of time and energy talking to artists of faith about their process, about the importance of showing up for their work, even if, especially if-- in that day, or tha...
What Will We Do without the Avant-garde?
I recently had the distinct pleasure and honor of performing a new piece of music with composer Christian Wolff and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in the final performances of its Legacy Tour. This groundbreaking dance company served as a vital space for cross-fertilization between dance, music and visual art for what became a legendary generation of New York artists. According to the final wishes of the choreogr...
