Greg Sandow, back from his trip to England, has been writing up his experiences, including yesterday’s post on the intersection between alt-classical (as he, his wife, and some others say) music and the London Symphony.
It’s interesting that one of the keys to developing new, age-diverse diverse audiences is new music that is challenging and accessible at the same time. New music, new audience. And the mix and/or juxtaposition of musical languages (i.e., indie rock, classical, contemporary classical, non-Western, etc.) that is so much in evidence in so many performances here in New York.
With that in mind, here are some events I’m looking forward to here in Gotham:
The Tribeca New Music Festival began Monday night, with a performance by the string quartet Ethel (warmly reviwed by the Times). I was till out of town, so I didn’t have to choose between that concert and the free Time for Three show at the church across the street from my apartment. (And, damn it, both are groups I really want to hear in person!)
I am planning to attend the rest of the Tribeca Festival events, including Dither and Redhooker tonight (May 26) at Merkin (near Lincoln Center), and Tribeca Monsters Tuesday (May 31) at Galapagos (in Brooklyn), as well as the others listed on the festival website. (I find it a bit amusing that, in its 10th season, a festival named for Tribeca, a Manhattan neighborhood which used to be low-rent and is now insanely expensive, has no performances in its namesake locale.)
Saturday night I’ll be at the final GALA NYC show at the Brooklyn Lyceum before the series takes a summer break (it resumes in the fall). I loved the May 14 event. I almost called it a “variety show” in my post, but thought it might have an unflattering connotation. Then I got a promo email from Mike Block, the versatile cellist and organizer of the series, including this:
WHAT IS GALA NYC? A variety show featuring new and exciting collaborations by world-class musicians from different backgrounds. Come see some world premiers and new re-interpretations of existing music! You can see videos from our previous 3 performances at www.Youtube.com/Galanyc.
So obviously “variety show” is the right term! Tickets are only $15. I think it’s about the best deal in New York.
Eric Edberg 