Brett Mitchell, conductor

"New Music: It's Not Just for Your Classical Series"

2009-08-12T23:30:00.000-05:00

The following is an article I wrote for NewMusicBox that was published earlier today. (If you'd like, you can view it on that site by clicking on the title of this blog entry.) I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to share them in the "comments" section immediately below. Enjoy!

* * * * * * *

As a staff conductor at a major American symphony orchestra, I'm called upon to conduct a wide variety of concerts, not only on our classical series, but also on our education, family, community outreach, and pops series. Programming for concerts outside an orchestra's classical series typically consists of a mixture of the tried-and-true (i.e., the instantly recognizable) and easily digestible pops arrangements. I've been trying a somewhat different approach over the past several seasons with the Houston Symphony—and with great success, I'm happy to say: On every program I conduct, I try to incorporate at least one contemporary American orchestral work.

As a new-music lover, finding ways to introduce audiences to great new orchestral works has always been important to me. I became a conductor because I love to share music with people, and sharing contemporary music in particular has always been at the top of my list of artistic priorities. I have a degree in composition, and I conducted a new music ensemble for five seasons, so incorporating new music into any concert I lead—no matter the genre or venue—is not only important to me, but is an organic, integral part of who I am as an artist.

It may seem that incorporating new works into an orchestra's concert season might be accomplished most logically through inclusion on its classical series. I propose, however, that the classical series is but one of many in which new music might find a viable, sustainable home. In some cases, it may actually be easier to include contemporary works outside the typical classical concert. Oftentimes, traditional classical audiences may view contemporary works as something to be "gotten through" on the way to the evening's main course; uninitiated audiences tend to have fewer preconceived notions of what music their orchestra should (and should not) play, and are generally more open-minded and receptive to a broader swath of music.

In my experience, I've found that there are three keys to the successful incorporation of new music on pops programs: 1) accessibility of the work itself; 2) a solid rationale for the work's inclusion on the program; and 3) an effective, concise verbal introduction of the work to the audience.

"Accessibility" has come to be a dirty word in some circles, so let me first define what I do not mean when using this word: mindless, one-dimensional works that are nothing more than ear candy. That said, denying the influence that 20th-century pop music has had on many of today's composers is counterproductive, especially when an audience is coming to see one of those very acts on the second half of a pops program. The contemporary music I have found to be most successful on such concerts is by composers who take the best attributes of pop music (e.g., rhythmic regularity, simpler harmonic language, and sometimes even a melody or two) and skillfully, artfully incorporate them into their music. Whether one categorizes these composers as neoclassical, neo-romantic, post-minimalist, or something else is secondary to finding music that works well—both musically and programmatically—on a particular program.

A guest artist on the second half of a pops program presents an ideal opportunity to program a new work. With a little imagination, ingenuity, and background research on the artist, one can almost always find a programmatic link between that artist and a contemporary orchestral work. When the Houston Symphony presented Peter Cetera (former lead singer of the band Chicago) in January 2009, the orchestra and I presented an orchestral first half before Cetera and his band performed after intermission. Knowing that Cetera had been a founding member of a band named after one of America's great big cities, I thought it would be interesting to present different aspects of big-city life on the first half. I wanted to find a contemporary work that captured the bustle, sounds, electric excitement, and fast-paced nature of a city like Chicago, and I found exactly that in a piece by Kevin Puts called Network. This work is around six minutes long and is of the post-minimalist school, which has several advantages: it lives in relatively simple harmonies and has just a handful of ideas that audiences can easily remember while listening through the piece. Before playing the piece, I explained to the audience a bit about the composer, the work, and our reasons for including it on the program; I pointed out what to listen for as we went through it, describing big-city scenes and how that related to the work they were about to hear. We found it to be a perfect complement to the rest of our first half, and, having the right context, the audience enjoyed it immensely.

Even on programs without a guest artist, opportunities may present themselves through an extra-musical theme you're exploring. Our New Year's Eve concerts in Houston typically consist of classical/"light classical" fare on the first half, followed by a more pops-oriented second half. On our New Year's Eve concert in 2007 (my first with the orchestra), I decided to focus on the concept of time and how that relates to New Year's celebrations. We performed the overture to Rossini's La cenerentola (Cinderella), a movement from Haydn's "Clock" Symphony, and selections from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. I needed a fourth piece to complete our first half, and found it in a work for string orchestra by Michael Torke called December. As with much of Torke's music, the work is post-minimalist and quite tonal, and thus quite accessible. The great thing about including this work on the program, however, was that it fit in perfectly with my "time" theme for the first half. Torke provides program notes for his work, and I shared a portion of these with our audience from the stage before we played the piece. These notes are wonderfully descriptive, and explain the narrative of the work and what Torke was envisioning as he composed it. Every audience loves going behind the scenes, and getting a composer's perspective on his work before hearing it lets an audience feel that they've got the inside scoop.

A conductor really can help enormously in regard to a work's accessibility simply by priming the audience well; even a "tough" work can be rendered more accessible by a few well-chosen, articulate words of introduction. An example from my work that I often cite comes not from a pops program but a series of education concerts I led several seasons ago. This program was all about composers who came to America, one of whom was Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg is not an easy "sell" to any audience, but finding a way to relate your audience to a composer and his methods can work wonders for an audience's reaction to a piece. After introducing Schoenberg the man, I briefly introduced the concept of his twelve-tone method by relating it to the similar "unrepeatability" of Sudoku. As most of the young people already knew, in Sudoku, you cannot repeat a number within a given box, row, or column; I then explained that, in Schoenberg's music, you cannot repeat a note until you have used the other eleven. They then understood (to some degree, at least) why there was less regularity to Schoenberg's melodies than to those of Dvorák, whose music we had played earlier on the program. Again, with the right context and good explanation, even children can listen to and enjoy something as complex as Schoenberg with new ears.

A quick word to those concerned that composers might be "insulted" by having their works included on something other than a strictly classical program. No composer I've ever personally known has ever expressed any feeling of being "relegated" to a pops or educational program. The composers I know create their works out of a genuine desire to communicate, and having one's music heard by thousands of people over the course of a weekend—whatever the venue—is an opportunity I can't imagine many composers turning down.

There are myriad reasons to program new works outside the traditional classical series. For one thing, orchestras love the chance to sink their teeth into "real" music on concerts that are typically less engaging and less artistically rewarding for them. I must say, though, that I never program contemporary works on pops programs with the aim of converting our audiences to new music devotees. Will audiences go out and buy a 10-CD retrospective of John Adams's work after hearing Short Ride in a Fast Machine at a pops concert? Probably not, but that doesn't mean that they haven't heard something new, something that they might have genuinely enjoyed, something that might stick with them.

For me, sharing new music with any audience demands finding a piece in which you believe, which works organically with the rest of your program, and which you are willing and able to "sell" to your audience. A well-programmed, well-introduced, well-performed piece of contemporary music can have an impact on any audience like nothing else.

Southern Exposure

2009-05-22T17:56:00.004-05:00

"Mad King" Tweets

2009-05-20T14:59:00.002-05:00

About to head out the door to San Antonio for a week of rehearsals with SOLI Chamber Ensemble, leading up to our two performances of Peter Maxwell Davies's Eight Songs for a Mad King next Tuesday and Wednesday (May 26 and 27). While our rehearsals are closed to the general public, I thought it might be nice to give you all a little glimpse of the insanity that is this piece before we open next Tuesday night. Throughout the course of these rehearsals, I'll be posting frequent updates (as frequent as possible, anyway) about our progress on this seminal twentieth-century work on my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/brettwmitchell. Stay tuned, and enjoy!

Fourth Song's the Charm

2009-05-09T06:44:00.045-05:00

When I arrived at our first rehearsal in Paris this past Monday for our world premiere of Henri Dutilleux's orchestral song cycle, Le temps l'horloge, I began to hear chatter in the hall about a brand new, freshly composed interlude and fourth song--a potentially panic-inducing proposition for those in a field which prides itself on meticulous preparation. (To be fair, I had heard of this possibility almost a year ago, but when a copy of the score was mailed to me just last month, there were still only three songs.) Sure enough, though, Mr. Dutilleux arrived, and with him this rumored additional music. I got a copy of the new score--unbound, ink still drying--from the orchestra's librarian just before its first notes were played.

As a recovering composer myself, I must confess that there are few things more exciting than being in the room the first time a new work is brought into the world. Hearing the first sonic realization of one's own music is indescribably exciting, but being in the room for the unveiling of the newest work of an unparalleled, 93-year-old master like Henri Dutilleux is a privilege beyond words. As with seemingly every other piece he's written over the last six decades, Le temps l'horloge is, in my opinion, an unqualified masterpiece. Being even a small part of its premiere was a huge honor.

One final note before I share the text Mr. Dutilleux set for this final movement. As recreative artists, we performers tend to view scores as having descended from on high, springing fully formed from the head of Euterpe. While we know intellectually otherwise, it seems inconceivable that there was ever "another" version of the works we know and love. Watching Mr. Dutilleux add, omit, revise, and sometimes do a wholesale rewrite of a passage right before our eyes throughout the rehearsal process this past week was an excellent reminder of the malleability of a work of art in its initial stages. These birth pains--these vulnerable, tentative first steps of a work as it cautiously makes its way into our world--go undetected in a work's final form when crafted by the hands and heart of a master. Great art projects inevitability. Great art conceals its own artifice.

Since I shared the text of the first three movements of this work in a previous entry, I thought I'd share the text of this new, fourth movement here as well. Here is a translation of the text for that final song, "Enivrez-vous". It doesn't have quite the same punch (pun intended) as the original French, but I hope it will suffice for our purposes.

IV. Get Drunk

Always be drunk.
That's it!
The great imperative!
In order not to feel
Time's horrid fardel
bruise your shoulders,
grinding you into the earth,
get drunk and stay that way.
On what?
On wine, poetry, virtue, whatever.
But get drunk.
And if you sometimes happen to wake up
on the porches of a palace,
in the green grass of a ditch,
in the dismal loneliness
of your own room,
your drunkenness gone or disappearing,
ask the wind,
the wave,
the star,
the bird,
the clock,
ask everything that flees,
everything that groans
or rolls
or sings,
everything that speaks,
ask what time it is;
and the wind,
the wave,
the star,
the bird,
the clock
will answer you:
"Time to get drunk!
Don't be martyred slaves of Time,
Get drunk!
Stay drunk!
On wine, virtue, poetry, whatever!"

-Charles Baudelaire

P.S. Mr. Dutilleux was also kind enough to sign my score for his brilliant orchestral work of 1978, Timbres, Espace, Mouvement. His inscription reads "To Mr. Mitchell / With my best wishes / Remembering our first meeting at the first performance of 'Le temps l'horloge' / Henri Dutilleux".

I Love APM

2009-04-21T15:26:00.006-05:00

Hot on the heels of SymphonyCast's nationwide broadcast of my performance of Shostakovich's Tahiti Trot with the Houston Symphony in January, Performance Today just announced that they will broadcast our performance of selections from The Gadfly on tomorrow's show. To learn when your local station will air this program, please click HERE, or listen online anytime between April 22 and 28 by clicking HERE.

Short Notice

2009-04-17T16:20:00.007-05:00

Stepping in for Thomas Dausgaard at the Houston Symphony tonight. Would love to have you there if you're in town! 8 p.m. @ Jones Hall.

Nielsen: Saul and David: Prelude to Act II

Adams: Violin Concerto (Leila Josefowicz, violin)

Brahms: Symphony No. 1

The World in a Phrase

2009-04-15T18:11:00.026-05:00

Just finished James Geary's wonderful survey of aphorisms, The World in a Phrase, and thought I'd share a handful of my favorites. Enjoy!

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Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded. But once mastered, no one can help you as much.

-Buddha

I am not concerned that I have no place; I am concerned how I may fit myself for one. I am not concerned that I am not known; I seek to be worthy to be known.

-Confucius

Acquire knowledge. It enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless; it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament among friends, and an armor against enemies.

-Muhammad

Nothing is sufficient for the man to whom the sufficient is too little.

-Epicurus

Go around with your middle finger up, and people will say you're crazy; go around with your pinky up, and they'll cultivate your acquaintance.

-Diogenes

Every man is worth exactly as much as the worth of what he has set his heart upon.

-Seneca

Avoid outshining your superiors. All victories breed hate, and that over your superior is foolish or fatal. So make any advice given to them appear like a recollection of something they have only forgotten rather than as a guide to something they cannot find.

-Gracián

- To refuse to accept praise is to want to be praised twice over.

- Pity is often feeling our own sufferings in those of others, a shrewd precaution against misfortunes that may befall us...a gift we bestow on ourselves in advance.

-La Rochefoucauld

The poet must not cross an interval with a step when he can cross it with a leap.

-Joubert

It is impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing someone's beard.

-Lichtenberg

Hope is the confusion of the desire for a thing with its probability.

-Schopenhauer

One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil.

-Nietzsche

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

-Thoreau

I have often been forced to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that there was no place else to go.

-Lincoln

An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.

-Chateaubriand

- The loss of a thing affects us until we have lost it altogether.

- The fear of separation is all that unites.

-Porchia

Honor thy error as a hidden intention.

-Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno

- Optimists and pessimists differ only on the date of the end of the world.

- "Definition" and "finis" have the same Latin root.

- No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.

-S.J. Lec

The difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

-Gerald Burrill

Ex libris

2009-04-07T23:09:00.027-05:00

So, how to explain away one's blog-linquency! Well...

Exhibit A: The joy of tweeting. (If you're unfamiliar, see the sidebar at right, or just hop on over to my Twitter page.) Now, wait a minute, I know, I know, I felt the same way, too. But listen: it's actually much more enjoyable than I had imagined before I dove in about a month ago. There's something very appealing about the challenge of using only 140 characters to attempt to share a part of yourself--sort of like an online, instantaneous, Smith Magazine-esque encapsulation of yourself. Anyhow, now that Facebook has officially gone down the tubes, Twitter is here to stay, at least for me.

(Please know how strongly I am fighting the urge to point out that I began a sentence in that first paragraph with a conjunction. I'm sorry, dear Mrs. Grimm, wherever you are; please resist the temptation to revisit my 3rd-grade transcripts.)

Exhibit B (and the real focus of present entry): I've been making a conscious effort to carve out some extended, meaningful time with a select group of my ever-expanding trove of books. Without slathering the following with my editorial opinions, I thought I'd share a few of the titles I've been especially enjoying of late. In case you'd like to join in the fun, each title is hyperlinked to its respective amazon.com page (as RB would say, other sites are available).

The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry

Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath

The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism by James Geary

Why We Make Mistakes: How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average by Joseph T. Hallinan

The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words by Ronald C. White, Jr.

Who Killed Classical Music?: Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics by Norman Lebrecht

Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music by Blair Tindall

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-16T20:29:00.006-06:00

1. My profession notwithstanding, dressing up is entirely antithetical to my sartorial nature. I would wear jeans and a t-shirt every day if I could.
2. I am addicted to Tetris. My best 40-line sprint time is 0:49.273. Seriously.
3. I write pop songs, and I like them.
4. I hate spending money. I have little money to spend. This works out well.
5. If I could, I would eat Tejas Trios for every meal, and wash them down with Mexican martinis...yes, even for breakfast.
6. If you're reading this, I probably miss you more than I'd admit.
7. There are no words to express how much I love learning.
8. I never knew my biological father, but my dad is one of the greatest people I've ever known.
9. Though I have loved living everywhere I've moved (especially Austin), Seattle and Bellingham will always be home to me.
10. I am a cat person, and have only had three throughout my life: Figaro and Charlie at my parents', and M'ow. I will discuss neither the Cleo fiasco nor the lifelong toll it has had on my psyche in the present note.
11. I am addicted to my computer and the internet, and have been a Macophile since 2001. I've owned an iBook, a PowerBook, an iPod, an iPod nano, and an iPhone. I will never go back.
12. I need time alone. Like, a lot of time.
13. I've owned two cars in my life: my 1994 Ford Aspire (Coche/Ass-Pyre) and my 2001 Honda Accord (Coche Dos).
14. I've voted for either one or two winning presidential candidates (depending on who you think won in 2000).
15. I love reading aloud.
16. Vodka in the summer, scotch in the winter. Who am I kidding? Anytime, anyplace, whatever you're up for.
17. I am horrible about appreciating things while I'm living them. Thus, I'm sure, the persistent streak of nostalgia running through my life.
18. I had my left ear pierced throughout high school.
19. After getting off the school bus in elementary school, I used to run--arms extended--down our cul-de-sac in the hopes that I would take off like Superman. I will not disclose whether this ever worked.
20. I've had four surgeries, and would like to hold there for a while, please.
21. I cannot draw to save my life.
22. I am absolutely, without question a night owl. Post-midnight is prime time for artistic productivity.
23. After concerts, I go home...and study.
24. I love classical music, but almost never listen to it for pleasure.
25. I love traveling, but I love home more (i.e., I was born a house cat by the sleight of my mother's hand).

Pacifism with a purpose

2009-01-30T05:16:00.007-06:00

What a thrilling world this could be if only we knew we would never again have to indulge the brutal sin of war-making. Instead of wasting our energies in hostility and our wealth on weaponry, we could send art to the moon, exalt our Pasternaks instead of isolating them. We could feed and house and clothe everyone forever, lick cancer in a week, harness the sun's energy, learn a few languages, talk, travel, grow, and love.

-Leonard Bernstein

Where I'm headed next

2009-01-27T08:48:00.006-06:00

Brasov, Romania

Conducting 101

2009-01-23T09:56:00.012-06:00

I recently had the pleasure of filming a brief educational video for the Houston Chronicle's website, www.chron.com, exploring the fundamentals of conducting. Enjoy!

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Best. Credits. Ever.

2009-01-06T22:01:00.002-06:00

"Bridge"

2008-12-18T04:12:00.011-06:00

1. Aimless

2. Sad Irish Eyes

3. Man of Many Questions

4. Where You Are

5. Amy

6. Even This

7. Down (You Were)

8. Two by Two

9. (If Your Heart Is) Ready

10. Still Life

11. Come Home

12. Smell the Smoke

14. Walking Allentown

This victory alone is not the change we seek.

2008-11-09T00:40:00.008-06:00

Some months ago, I wrote on this blog of the importance of "...[finding] a leader in whom we believe; a leader to whose cause we would gladly devote ourselves, for his cause is our own; and then to turn that devotion to action." I expressed the hope that, through this year's election, we might propel ourselves into "one of those periods of hope and endeavor which now and again light up the dark passages of history."

Much has already been written about the immediate and historical impact of this election, some authors claiming that a new era of "hope and endeavor" may indeed be upon us. But I have found no words that better articulate this sea change than those of the president-elect himself. What follows is the majoriy of President-elect Barack Obama's address to supporters at a rally in Grant Park in Chicago, after winning the race for the White House this past Tuesday night. Video of the complete speech appears below.

* * * * * * * * * *

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled -- Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America...

...above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to -- it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington -- it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek -- it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers -- in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House -- a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn -- I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world -- our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down -- we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security -- we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright --tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America -- that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing -- Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time -- to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth -- that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Tomorrow

2008-11-03T18:09:00.004-06:00

As an American citizen, I take little more seriously than my right/privilege/obligation to vote. No matter whom you decide to vote for, I want your voice to be heard, too. Whether you intend to vote for Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama, or one of the third party candidates, please do your homework tonight, then get out there tomorrow and VOTE--you'll feel proud all day. ☺

When October Goes

2008-10-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

And when October goes,
The snow begins to fly.
Above the smokey roofs,
I watch the planes go by.
The children running home
Beneath a twilight sky.
Oh, for the fun of them,
When I was one of them.

And when October goes,
The same old dream appears,
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years.
I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears.
Oh, how I hate to see October go.

I should be over it now, I know.
It doesn't matter much
How old I grow.
I hate to see October go.

-Johnny Mercer

Wise words from wise men

2008-10-20T07:59:00.001-05:00

"Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled. So don't let people talk you into doing the safe thing. Listen to what's inside of you, and decide what it is that you care about so much that you're willing to risk it all."

"Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."

-Barack Obama

"The world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."

-Robert F. Kennedy

Best. Haiku. Ever.

2008-09-17T00:08:00.001-05:00

...and if you can get your hands on the Mel Torme recording from December 1954 at the Crescendo Club in Hollywood - boy, you're really in business.

-----------

Pennies in a stream,
Falling leaves of sycamore,
Moonlight in Vermont.

Icy finger waves,
Ski trails on a mountainside,
Snowlight in Vermont.

Telegraph cables, they sing down the highway,
And travel each bend in the road.
People who meet in this romantic setting
Are so hypnotized by the lovely

Evening summer breeze,
Warbling of a meadowlark,
Moonlight in Vermont.

You and I and moonlight in Vermont.

-John Blackburn

My time away

2008-08-16T12:26:00.004-05:00

Stillness is our most intense mode of action. It is in our moments of deep quiet that is born every idea, emotion, and drive which we eventually honor with the name of action. Our most emotionally active life is lived in our dreams, and our cells renew themselves most industriously in sleep. We reach highest in meditation, and farthest in prayer. In stillness every human being is great; he is free from the experience of hostility; he is a poet, and most like an angel.

-Leonard Bernstein

Quiet

2008-08-07T14:36:00.001-05:00

I am heading for a time of quiet,
When my restlessness is past,
And I can lie down on my blanket
And release my fists at last.

I am heading for a time of solitude,
Of peace without illusions,
When the perfect circle marries all,
Beginnings and conclusions.

And when they say that you’re not good enough,
Well, the answer is, you’re not.
But who are they, or what is it
That eats at what you’ve got

With the hunger of ambition
For the change inside the purse?
They are handcuffs on the soul, my friends,
Handcuffs on the soul...and worse.

Now I'm heading for a place of quiet,
Where the sage and sweetgrass grow,
By a lake of sacred water
From the mountain’s melted snow.

-Paul Simon

May 2009

2008-07-29T17:55:00.009-05:00

I. Time and the Clock

The other day I was listening to time
As it passed through the clock.
Chains, clappers and cogs
It made more noise than one hundred
At the village bell
And this pleased my soul.

I prefer time when it shows itself
Rather than passing among us noiselessly
Like a thief in the night.

II. The Mask

A heavy object of hollow bronze
In the shape of a mask with eyes closed
Rises slowly and alone
Very high in the sonorous desert.

Up to this green star, to this Visage
Which has remained silent for ten thousand years
I fly with no effort,
I approach with no fear.
I knock with my curled finger
On the hard forehead on the convex eyelids,
The sound terrifies and overwhelms me:
Far away in the limpid night
My eternal soul echoes.

Radiance, darkness, smile, solitude!
I will not go violate the secret
I remain next to the Face
Since I speak and resemble it.
Meanwhile all around the splendor is emptiness,
Brilliant nocturnal crystals of summer.

-Jean Tardieu

III. The Last Poem

I’ve dreamt so strongly of you,
I’ve walked so much, talked so much,
So loved your shadow,
That I’ve nothing left of you,
I’m left to be the shadow among shadows
To be one hundred times more shadow than the shadow
To be the shadow that will appear and reappear
In your sun-filled life.

-Robert Desnos

All that plus Berlioz's Romeo and Ravel's complete Mother Goose? Come on!

Tonight

2008-07-22T22:12:00.000-05:00

The house was quiet and the world was calm.
The reader became the book; and summer night

Was like the conscious being of the book.
The house was quiet and the world was calm.

The words were spoken as if there was no book,
Except that the reader leaned above the page,

Wanted to lean, wanted much to be
The scholar to whom his book is true, to whom

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.
The house was quiet because it had to be.

The quiet was part of the meaning, part of the mind:
The access of perfection to the page.

And the world was calm. The truth in a calm world,
In which there is no other meaning, itself

Is calm, itself is summer and night, itself
Is the reader leaning late and reading there.

-Wallace Stevens

Counselor

2008-07-12T14:30:00.005-05:00

While the vast majority of this blog has been devoted to sharing items I believe to be of some artistic import or interest, this entry will be different. I have just finished Ted Sorensen's new book, "Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History", and want to share some impressions and reflections.

Ted Sorensen was one of Representative, then Senator, then President John F. Kennedy's closest advisors. While in the Oval Office, Kennedy had no chief of staff as most modern presidents do; rather, he relied on a small circle of advisors, chief among them his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kenendy, and Sorensen, who held the title of Special Counsel to the President. As such, Sorensen wore many hats in his service to JFK, though he is perhaps best remembered as the principal architect of JFK's message. He is the crafter of such immortal speeches as JFK's inaugural address in January 1961 and the grammatically dubious (though no less inspiring for it) "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech of June 1963. Before JFK's move from the Senate to the White House, Sorensen, at the age of 27, helped Kennedy research and write his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Profiles in Courage". Once in the White House, Sorensen's authoring responsibilities extended into the field of international diplomacy: he was the primary author of the letter to Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev that helped to end the Cuban Missile Crisis during the fall of 1962.

Sorensen was thus involved in almost every critical, world-changing event that happened between January 20, 1961 and November 22, 1963 (though he did continue on in the service of President Johnson for three months after that dark day in Dallas). After that tragic event in Dealey Plaza ("the most deeply traumatic experience of my life"), he wrote one of the great biographies of our 35th president, entitled simply "Kennedy". He later served as a chief advisor to Bobby Kennedy during his own all-to-brief presidential campaign of 1968, before his light, too, was extinguished prematurely, not five years after his beloved brother Jack.

At the age of 80, Sorensen is the last survivor among that close-knit inner circle (other than Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whom Sorensen lovingly calls "Senator Ted"), and this book brims with insights and information that quite literally would have been lost to history had Sorensen not written it now.

Make no mistake: this is no sycophantic rambling in blind devotion to JFK. Acknowledgements of failures are frank and thorough when failures occurred, especially regarding the fiasco of 1961's failed Bay of Pigs invasion. The book's praises of Kennedy are therefore all the more credible considering the forthrightness with which Sorensen deals with his failures, both political and personal.

This 531-page volume seems perhaps an unlikely choice for summer reading for a professional conductor, but there is no other way I'd rather have spent my leisure time over the past week. Those who know me know my love for history, knowledge in general, and politics (not the "game" as such, but the possibilities and potential our elected leaders hold). More broadly, I view what I do as (hopefully) some small contribution to society, and this--on a much larger, more significant scale (though not necessarily more "meaningful")--is precisely what both JFK and Sorensen did. I find it both educational and exhilarating, informative and inspiring to read firsthand accounts of not only these people and these events in American history, but of the time in general, its zeitgeist, and Sorensen's impact upon and reactions to it.

During this, a presidential election year, we owe it to ourselves, our fellow countrymen, and--on this ever-shrinking planet--our neighbors throughout the world to thoroughly, seriously reflect on what kind of man (as we now know it will be) we would have succeed our current president little more than six months from now. Looking to history, we ask: Which presidents have succeeded? Which have failed? Which have inspired us to greatness? Which have not? Why?

I have no desire to preach politics, nor any wish to draw partisan lines, as Mr. Sorensen understandably does in his book--whether I or any other reader agree with his politics is immaterial to its potential impact upon us. The impact of Mr. Sorensen's book, I believe, lies in inspiring each of us to find a leader in whom we believe; a leader to whose cause we would gladly devote ourselves, for his cause is our own; and then to turn that devotion to action--perhaps by simply contributing time or money; perhaps by realizing that we owe it to each other to become better informed, more educated citizens of our country and our planet; perhaps by simply posting a blog or talking to friends and family about issues we feel important; perhaps by realizing that it is both our solemn duty and extreme privilege to cast a sincere, well-informed vote.

Our vote is one of the greatest contributions we can make to our country. Sorensen devoted his entire life to America, initially in the service of a great man, then continuing in the service of that man's great vision, ideals, and legacy. There is simply no higher calling than to contribute to one's society, and Sorensen contributed like few of us will ever have the opportunity. But each of us has the opportunity to lend our vote and therefore our voice to this country and its direction.

On that cold morning in January 1961, on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol, newly sworn-in President Kennedy, in a speech crafted as always with the aid of Ted Sorensen, exhorted all Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." Had Mr. Sorensen not written this book, our country would be worse off for his silence; had Mr. Sorensen not served Mr. Kennedy, our country would be worse off for his absence. This book is his magnum opus and likely the final work of his incredible life. Through it, Mr. Sorensen has both completed his service to President Kennedy and done for his country what no other could: shone a light on the inner workings of "one of those periods of hope and endeavor which now and again light up the dark passages of history." I can only hope that our generation's own New Frontier is close at hand.

What today meant to me

2008-07-10T21:13:00.002-05:00

This is the story of how we begin to remember.

This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein.

After the dream of falling and calling your name out,

These are the roots of rhythm, and the roots of rhythm remain.

-Paul Simon

Special J and a Nikon say it all

2008-07-07T09:58:00.004-05:00

Music by JCM - Images by BWM

Chemistry

2008-06-19T16:00:00.005-05:00

Love and commitment--to anything or anybody, craft or person--are simply not enough. It takes something more, something elusive, something intangible to create chemistry. This is what it looks like to me:

I'll never, ever be able to say it better than this

2008-06-03T23:18:00.003-05:00

Here is my song for the asking.
Ask me, and I will play so sweetly, I'll make you smile.

This is my tune for the taking.
Take it, don't turn away - I've been waiting all my life.

Thinking it over, I've been sad,
Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad

To change my ways for the asking.
Ask me, and I will play all the love that I hold inside.

-Paul Simon

Craft meets heart

2008-05-22T00:59:00.005-05:00

When one gains complete control over one's craft, it's the heart that comes through. While I keep working on it, witness the great Ellen Burstyn.

How one Sunday became heaven and D Major all at once

2008-04-20T13:46:00.004-05:00

My hands are two travelers, they've crossed oceans and lands,
Yet they are too small on the continent of your skin.
Wandering, wandering, I could spend my life
Traveling the length of your body each night.

Oh, oh, Jupiter.
Oh, oh, be still, my little heart.
Oh, oh, love is a flame, neither timid nor tame.

Take these stars from my crown.
Let the years fall down.
Lay me out in firelight.
Let my skin feel the night.
Fasten me to your side,
And say it will be soon.
You make me so crazy, baby,
Could swallow the moon.

-Jewel Kilcher

Where I go post-concert

2008-04-12T16:01:00.004-05:00

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

-E. E. Cummings

The Coast

2008-04-11T21:43:00.003-05:00

We are standing in the early morning sunlight
In the harbor church of Saint Cecilia
To praise a soul's returning to the earth,
To the Rose of Jericho and the Bougainvillea.

This is a lonely life.
Sorrows everywhere you turn.
And that's worth something when you think about it.
That's worth some money.

To prove that I love you,
Because I believe in you,
Summer skies, stars are falling all along the injured coast.

If I have weaknesses,
Don't let them blind me now,
Summer skies, stars are falling all along the injured coast.

Leaving the shadow
Of the valley behind me now
All along the injured coast.

This is the only life.

-Paul Simon

Let It Be or: How I Learned to Stop Watching, Start Feeling, and Love This Film

2008-04-02T08:37:00.005-05:00

The brilliance of Julie Taymor...

A Quiet Place

2008-03-30T14:07:00.004-05:00

What do we need to make us friends again?

We're not so very far apart.

What makes this emptiness?

Tell me when these silences began.

Long ago, you were all strength and life and joy to me.

All magic. All music. All of life to me.

You were my charm and all delight to me;

My heart and mind; you were my love, the sun at night to me.

And what has happened to dull the mystery?

And where is our garden with a quiet place?

Why can't we try to find the way again to peace and life?

Can't we find the way back to the garden where we began?

-Leonard Bernstein, "Trouble in Tahiti"

What C major sounds like today

2008-03-30T13:12:00.007-05:00

Good days, bad days, I've had a few of those.
Same old story - I know how this song goes.
At least I did, but now I'm not so sure.
Nothing's in its place; nothing's certain anymore.

Birds fly, trees sway - why can't I be like that?
Happy knowing what I am, in fact, and leaving be?
But truth has been obscured.
I am only human, and I'm always wanting more.

And the world is a place, and I pray it's on my side,
But I'd find greater comfort if I just lay down and died.
I don't know what's become of the boy who once knew sunshine.
What's become of the boy who knew sorrow but was strong?

-Nerina Pallot, "Mr King"

Nerina Pallot

2008-03-22T07:32:00.002-05:00

Why this is not the number one song on Earth is entirely beyond me.

Where my heart was...

2008-03-21T21:25:00.002-05:00

Why I do what I do

2008-03-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night
When only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,
I labour by singing light
Not for ambition or bread
Or the strut and trade of charms
On the ivory stages
But for the common wages
Of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart
From the raging moon I write
On these spindrift pages
Not for the towering dead
With their nightingales and psalms
But for the lovers, their arms
Round the griefs of the ages,
Who pay no praise or wages
Nor heed my craft or art.

-Dylan Thomas

Books I love and why I love them

2008-02-23T14:05:00.002-06:00

What does it say that I am a full-time, professional musician, and my first blog entry regards (what I consider) great works of fiction I've read over the past nine months? Literary fiend that I am, here are some of those books - in no particular order - about which I feel strongly enough to recommend. I'll get to music eventually, I promise...

"What is the What" by Dave Eggers - life-changing; you must read this book
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy - the most beautiful poetry-cum-prose to heartbreaking end I've ever read
"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver - darker, more abstract, and better than I thought
"The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon - prosaic virtuosity
"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole - bombastysterical!
"The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss - inventive, intricate, intimate
"A Death in the Family" by James Agee - hauntingly nostalgic
"Seven Types of Ambiguity" by Elliot Perlman - enormous, but worth sticking with
"Deception" by Philip Roth - is this fiction the characters have created for themselves based on fact?