Let’s play a game, shall we? I’ll show you a picture, and you tell me what it’s a picture of. Okay? Ready, go. Go ahead, click on it for the full-sized version. Take your time analyzing. I’ll wait. Stumped, hmm? … Continue reading →
Back in 2001, I had just begun working as a part-time editor over at Doug McLennan’s indispensable ArtsJournal news site, and I found myself combing through a metric ton of newspaper stories about some previously obscure file-sharing service called Napster. … Continue reading →
On Monday I had the privilege of judging on a panel for Minnesota Varsity, a showcase for high school musicians – winners will be featured on April 17 at 2 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Theater. Naysayers may claim that classical … Continue reading →
…Friday’s live stream of Theater Basel’s Calixto Bieito production of Verdi’s Aïda. Let me explain why. Live streaming performances are nothing new. Yes, it’s exciting to see something happening across the Atlantic in real time, but that’s not all that’s … Continue reading →
I’ve always been fascinated by the varied intersections of music and technology – some (potentially) successful, some less so. This one definitely goes into the former category. Those of you who skip over these tech-heavy blog posts, please don’t skip … Continue reading →
So, not to go all press-releasey on you, but there’s this cool new thing on the Minnesota Orchestra website today. It’s a free MP3 download of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka, which we performed and recorded just last night. Yes, you have to … Continue reading →
Or maybe not; check out Lang-Lang playing an encore after a concert with the San Francisco Symphony:
If you thought this was oddly entrancing (not to mention hilarious), well… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ78IlJs5JQ] Yes, I tend to find the oddest things during my insomniac hotel moments on the road. But more importantly, this kind of thing reminds me of the … Continue reading →
From the Was This Study Really Necessary? department: “A new book on how the human brain interprets music has revealed that listeners rely upon finding patterns within the sounds they receive in order to make sense of it and interpret … Continue reading →
This past Thursday, we played the first concert in our Sounds of Cinema festival, which consists primarily of the orchestra playing complete classic film scores while the films play on a huge screen behind us and the audience (hopefully) marvels … Continue reading →
