Archive: Past Issues & the Century List(s)

Issue 21, January 2001: Finding the Center of American Music 

What is the center of American music? Is there currently a mainstream? The January 2001 issue of NewMusicBox attempts to explore these questions and whether or not they are even relevant any longer. John Adams, one of America's most successful living composers, reflects on his career and talks about his latest work, a 110-minute Christmas oratorio recently premiered in France. Bradley Bambarger conducts an investigative survey of the most widely programmed American repertoire among orchestras, opera companies, chamber groups and even school bands, as well as what gets the most attention with radio stations and record companies. Martin Bresnick, David Gompper, Marilyn Shrude and P.Q. Phan, four prominent American composers who have also had significant careers as composition teachers, comment on the dominant musical style of today and what will be the dominant musical style of tomorrow. And we ask you to chime in with your own thoughts in our interactive forum. You can determine whether there is a mainstream by checking out the RealAudio samples of the new recordings featured in this month's SoundTracks. Our news features information about the winners of the 2000 Jazz Composers Alliance Hemphill Awards and the ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards, Augusta Read Thomas's new relationship with G. Schirmer, memorials to James Legg and Teresa Sterne, and more...

Issue 20, December 2000: Sensing Music: Hearing, Listening, and Not-So-Deep Listening 

The December 2000 issue of NewMusicBox is about listening. Pauline Oliveros reflects on her life's work to integrate the realms of composing, performing and listening and explains the differences between hearing and deep listening. Easy listening historian Joseph Lanza decries the disappearance of Muzak™ from supermarkets and questions the distinctions of background and foreground listening. Miguel del Aguila, Benjamin Lees, Augusta Read Thomas, and George Walker suggest the ideal way for audiences to listen to their music, and we ask you to comment on your listening habits: do you listen to live music or recorded music more frequently, how much music do you listen to on a regular basis, and what other activities are you engaged in while you're listening? You can further your listening activities by experiencing NewMusicBox's first-ever Web cast from The Copland House, by attending hundreds of concerts featuring American repertoire in December and January listed in our Hear&Now calendar database, and by checking out the RealAudio samples of 32 new recordings listed in SoundTracks which feature music by Ned Rorem, Don Byron, Gary Lucas, Stephen Sondheim, Monika Brand, Morton Feldman, Morton Gould, Arthur Foote, and many others. Our news features information about the winners of the American Composers Forum Composers Commissioning Program, the new Music Director designate of the American Composers Orchestra, the Library of Congress's recent acquision of Nicolas Slonimsky's archive, memorials to Herbert Brün and Jeanne Lee, and more...

Issue 19, November 2000: Intellectual Property Rights in a Dot.Com World 

The November 2000 issue of NewMusicBox is devoted to the ongoing debate over intellectual property, fair use, artistic licence, and downloadable music. Carl Stone talks about his sample-based music and his use of Web to disseminate information about what he does. Heidi Waleson offers a HyperHistory of intellectual property legislation from before the era of recorded sound to the era of Napster. Composers Richard Danielpour, Amy Knoles, Leff Harrington and Amy Scurria as well as intellectual property attorney Mark A. Fischer offer their views on how free digital downloads will effect the economic of new music and we'd like to hear your comments about Napster, Gnutella and other peer-to-peer music sharing software. The news features details about the U.K. Festival of American Music honoring John Corigliano, Schott's new online publishing arrangement with Net4Music, and more. SoundTracks features details about 26 new CDs including world premiere recordings of music by Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Hale Smith, Guy Klucevsek, Lucia Dlugoszewski, and others, each featuring a RealAudio sample and an off-site purchasing link.

Issue 18, October 2000: Music, Politics and the American Presidency  

The October 2000 issue of NewMusicBox is devoted to music, politics and the American presidency. There is a "virtual fireside chat" about music with 36 of the 42 men who held the office of President of the United States, a HyperHistory of the political inclinations of people throughout the music industry, a musical "guess which Presidential candidate said what" and an interactive forum soliciting your comments about the upcoming presidential election and its impact on American music. The news features details about Chamber Music America's first-ever jazz grants, the Philadelphia Orchestra centennial composition competition, and more. SoundTracks features details about 26 new CDs including world premiere recordings of music by Leonard Bernstein, Steven Gerber, Jennifer Higdon, Petr Kotik, Donny McCaslin, George Rochberg, Yehudi Wyner, and others, each featuring a RealAudio sample and an off-site purchasing link.

Issue 17, September 2000: Staying On Key in a Microtonal World 

The September 2000 issue of NewMusicBox is devoted to microtonality. Operatic composer John Eaton, a pioneer in the development of electronic music and microtonal music in the United States, talks about the importance of communicating with an audience. (As a special added feature, we offer a Virtual Theater of Excerpts from of Eaton's Operas in QuickTime Video.) Composer and music critic Kyle Gann unravels a HyperHistory of microtonal tunings used by American composers. American Festival of Microtonal Music founder Johnny Reinhard, theorist Joe Monzo, jazz maverick Joe Maneri and composer Lois V Vierk talk about their favorite tuning systems and there continue to be a flood of comments from our readers about microtonality which we invite you to join in on. The news includes details about the music implications of a recent NEA study about moonlighting, new developments at MusicMaker.com and MusicNotes.com, the Society of American Music's new executive director, and more. SoundTracks features details about 25 new CDs including discs by Lalo Schifrin, James Yannatos, Lori Laitman, Richard Toensing, Jason Moran and the Cygnus Ensemble, each featuring a RealAudio sample and an off-site purchasing link.

Issue 16, August 2000: Earning Interest for New Music 

he August 2000 issue of NewMusicBox is devoted to contemporary music funding in the United States. New music patron and composer photographer Betty Freeman offers her view of the current state of American music. Ted Wiprud narrates a labyrinthine HyperHistory of funding for new music. Thomas Buckner, June Hechinger, Gayle Morgan, and Catherine Wichterman comment on what they believe are the most important concerns for philanthropy in new music and we ask you to comment on the economics of new music in America. The news includes details about Meredith Monk's new publishing arrangement with Boosey and Hawkes, John Schultz's appointment as the new executive director of CRI, and the 18 composer recipients of NYFA Fellowships. SoundTracks features details about 29 new CDs including discs by John Adams, Lois V Vierk, Wayne Peterson, Myra Melford, Judith Lang Zaimont, Randall Woolf, and George Antheil, each featuring a RealAudio sample and an off-site purchasing link.

Issue 15, July 2000: Between Rock and Harder Places? 

he July 2000 issue of NewMusicBox probes the complex and often contentious relationship between alternative rock and contemporary classical music. Eclectic composer and guitarist extraordinaire Gary Lucas, muses on his associations with Captain Beefheart, Leonard Bernstein, and others, in a multi-part interview featuring extensive hyperlinks, RealAudio samples, and QuickTime video clips of two pieces he performed during the interview. A HyperHistory by Jason Gross (editor of the online magazine Perfect Sound Forever) and Steve Smith (associate editor of JazzIz magazine) explores 10 so-called rock acts (including Sonic Youth, Tortoise, Larval, and Negativland), revealing a great deal of common ground with the American experimental musical tradition. David Borden, Diamanda Galas, Neil Haverstick, Erik Hoversten, and John Shiurba postulate where their music fits on the classical-popular divide. Readers can respond in an interactive forum to offer opinions on whether adventurous rock musicians should be considered part of the American "serious" music tradition. The news includes information about the 9 winners of the 40th annual BMI Student Composer Awards, the 26 grant recipients of Meet The Composer's Commissioning Music/USA 2000, as well as obituaries for Alan Hovhaness, Richard Duffalo, and Robert J. Lurtsema. There were also memorials to composers Ellis B. Kohs, Gideon Waldrop and Bernhard Heiden. SoundTracks features 32 new CD recordings including discs of music by Evan Ziporyn, Libby Larsen, Christopher Rouse, John Kennedy and Steve Mackey.

Issue 14, June 2000: The Pulitzer Prize 

he Pulitzer Prize was the focus of the June 2000 issue of NewMusicBox. We traveled to Amherst College to talk with Lewis Spratlan about his opera "Life is a Dream" which received the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in music. Adam Silverman, in the June hyperhistory, gave a rundown of the major prizes available to composers, from the Pulitzer and Grawemeyer to young composer awards from ASCAP and BMI, and we asked Ellen Taaffe-Zwilich, Charles Wuorinen, Christopher Rouse and Wayne Peterson how winning the Pulitzer has affected their careers. The news for June included announcements about awards from ASCAP, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Koussevitsky Foundation, as well as details about Yaddo's centennial celebration and the June in Buffalo Festival. There were also memorials to composers Ellis B. Kohs, Gideon Waldrop and Bernhard Heiden. Soundtracks in June featured the first recording of the 1999 Pulitzer-winning work by Melinda Wagner as well as new recordings from Philip Glass and Ravi Coltrane, just to name a few. As usual, there were listings of June and July concerts that featured American repertoire. Finally, we included a listing of all the pieces that won the Pulitzer since the award's inception in 1943, including sound samples of many of the works.

Issue 13, May 2000: New Music and Radio 

ew music and radio is the focus of the May issue of NewMusicBox, as we celebrate our first birthday. Read a roundtable discussion with the Board of Directors of the AMPPR (American Music Personnel in Public Radio) and see what Jennifer Undercofler uncovers in her hyper-history exploring the tenuous relationship between radio and new music. Milton Babbitt, Joan Tower, Andrew Litton and Steve Metcalf explain when and why they listen to the radio, and Gunther Schuller's impassioned Keynote Address for the 2000 AMPPR Conference is also featured. AMC President John Luther Adams begins this month's interactive forum by asking your thoughts on the future of radio, and the news from May reveals the winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Finally, hear RealAudio excerpts of all the May CD releases of new American music in SoundTracks.

Issue 12, April 2000: Multi-Tasking Composers 

ulti-tasking composers are the focus of the April 2000 issue of NewMusicBox. Meredith Monk explains that she is a composer first and foremost, and Kenneth Goldsmith looks at five composers who juggle two careers in a hyper-history. We asked Michael Daugherty, Daron Hagen, Jeffrey Mumford, Melinda Wagner and Stewart Wallace to ponder alternative careers, and we ask your thoughts on a reasonable yearly salary for a composer. The news from April includes a remembrance of William Colvig by John Luther Adams as well as an article about the recipients of awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. As usual there are loads of sound samples throughout the site, and the Meredith Monk interview also includes QuickTime video clips.

Issue 11, March 2000: Time in 20th Century American Music 

ime is the focus of the March issue of NewMusicBox. Editor Frank J. Oteri visits the home of Elliott Carter who at 91 recently completed his first opera. Matthew Tierney compares various 20th century American approaches to rhythm - from jazz to indeterminacy to minimalism to serialism - in a soundsample-rich hyper-history. We ask you to contribute your opinion about the most important American composer of the 20th century, and we asked Henry Brant, Marian McPartland, George Perle, and George Rochberg to let us know what they think the future of music will be. As usual there are the most recent recordings of American music as well as news about what is happening in American music.

Issue 10, February 2000: The Current State of Music Publishing in America 

usic Publishing is the focus of the February issue of NewMusicBox. Tom and Arnold Broido of the Theodore Presser Company talk with editor Frank J. Oteri about the current state of music publishing. John Robinson looks at eight different American music publishers in a hyper-history and Terry Riley, Donald Martino, Jennifer Higdon, Randall Davidson, Amy Rubin, Theodore Wiprud and Andrew Rudin explain what they do as self-published composers. Plus there's a complete transcript of the Women's Philharmonic's Composing A Career panel on "Publishing, Self-Publishing and the Internet." We ask you to respond in our interactive forum to the question: "How will the Internet affect the future of music publishing?" There are 25 CDs in SoundTracks, each featuring a RealAudio sample. In the news, read about Meet The Composer New Residencies, Elliott Carter becoming the first composer ever to win Chamber Music America's prestigious Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, and more.

Issue 9, January 2000: Clubs, Recordings and Audiences and Their Impact on Jazz 

azz performance spaces are the focus of the January issue of NewMusicBox. The eclectic jazz composer and virtuoso clarinetist Don Byron explains why he plays what he plays, why he plays where he plays, and more. In this month's hyper-history, Lara Pellegrinelli takes us on a guided tour of some of America's most fascinating jazz clubs, from Preservation Hall in New Orleans to Tonic on New York City's Lower East Side, and we've asked Oliver Lake, Mary LaRose, Fred Hersch, Nick Didkovsky, and Kitty Brazelton how the venues where they perform affect the music they play. We ask you to respond in our interactive forum to the question: "how do you listen to music most of the time and what is the best way to listen to something?" Find out about concert performances of new American music in January and hear RealAudio samples of music ranging from Duke Ellington to Sonic Youth in SoundTracks. There is also a tribute to the late music critic and scholar K. Robert Schwarz, complete details about the winners of the 1999 Deems Taylor Awards, and other important music news items.

Issue 8, December 1999: Education and New American Music 

he December Issue of NewMusicBox explores education and new American music. We held an Arts Education Symposium with Maxine Greene, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University Teachers College, Hollis Headrick, Executive Director of the Center for Arts Education, Polly Kahn, the Director of Education at the New York Philharmonic, Richard Kessler, Executive Director of the American Music Center, and Frank J. Oteri, Editor of NewMusicBox. Follow Stefan Weisman on a "hyper-history" of how new American music is taught at our nation's leading conservatories, plus offer your own comments about the importance of music education in the classroom. Read how Jonathan Sheffer, Elliott Sharp, Annie Gosfield, Joshua Cody and Amy Rhodes were affected by their musical education and tell us what you think about music education. Plus, memorials to Lester Bowie and Paul Bowles, featuring an extensive interview with him, other important American music news, concert listings and new CD releases (each featuring a RealAudio sound sample)!

Issue 7, November 1999: The 60th Anniversary of the American Music Center 

he November Issue of New Music Box celebrates the 60th anniversary of the American Music Center by devoting the entire issue to new music service organizations. Using archival materials from the AMC, Eastman School of Music, Yale University, and the New York Public Library Special Collections, editor Frank J. Oteri created a "virtual séance" with the six founders of the Center. Listen in on an imaginary conversation between Aaron Copland, Marion Bauer, Quincy Porter, Harrison Kerr, Otto Luening, and Howard Hanson, as they discuss the early years of the AMC, their individual thoughts on being composers, and much more. Karissa Krenz, assistant Editor of Chamber Music Magazine, wrote this month's hyper-history about new music service organizations, and we asked Samuel Adler, John Duffy, Sylvia Goldstein, Patrick Hardish, and Vivian Perlis to share their memories about the founders of the American Music Center. Our news section includes items about Morton Feldman, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Chamber Music Magazine, and new recordings of over 60 American composers are featured in this months "Soundtracks" section including a new 10-CD "Earbox" from John Adams and a re-issue of Harry Partch's "Delusion of the Fury."

Issue 6, October 1999: Technology and the Future of Music 

ewMusicBox is made for the Internet. It's therefore appropriate that the October issue looks at interactions between music and technology. Follow along as guest editor Tod Machover takes us on a guided tour of the MIT media lab, explaining along the way all the latest developments in music technology. Joe Paradiso provides a dazzling hyper-history of electronic instruments from the Tellharmonium to interactive clothing, and our news section details a new licensing deal between BMI and Emusic.com which will affect the distribution of online music. We asked William Duckworth, Paul Lansky, Morton Subotnick, and Pamela Z about the role technology would play in their music in the next 25 years; and we ask you to respond in our interactive forum to some very unusual instruments developed at MIT. As usual, there are listings of performances of American music from all over the country as well as detailed information and RealAudio sound samples from new CDs of American music.

Issue 5, September 1999: The Orchestra in Contemporary American Musical Life< 

he September issue of NewMusicBox gears up for the 1999-2000 concert season by looking at American Orchestras. We traveled to Pennsylvania for a NewMusicBox-ing match with the staff of the Philadelphia Orchestra who have programmed an all-Twentieth Century season which has proven controversial to both new music enthusiasts (virtually no music by living Americans) and to new music detractors (no Mozart, no Tchaikovsky...). For our "hyper-history", Andrew Druckenbrod investigates the commissioning legacies of 18 American orchestras across the country. We asked David Del Tredici, Laurel Ann Maurer, John Corigliano, and Tim Page to describe their best and worst memories of premiere performances, and we ask you to respond in our interactive forum to the question: "Should American orchestras play more American music?" Our headlining news story includes a transcript from a recent press conference which included Disney CEO Michael Eisner, the NY Philharmonic's Kurt Masur, and composers Michael Torke and Aaron Jay Kernis (all in the same room!), and as usual the issue has a heap of RealAudio sound samples, over 200 national concert listings of American music, and a comprehensive compenium of new CDs.

In The First Person Interview: The Philadelphia Orchestra In The Second Person Should American orchestras play more American music? In The Third Person Andrew J. Druckenbrod: How American are American orchestras? Hymn & Fuguing Tune Describe your best and worst memories of premiere performances LeadSheet Hear&Now SoundTracks

News · Disney Company and New York Philharmonic Announce World Premieres · New Cellist for the Kronos Quartet · Copland Fund for Music Awards Recording Grants · National Association for Music Education to Hold 57th Conference · NYFA Announces 1999 Community Assets Grant Recipients Preview

Issue 4, August 1999: What is American Music? 

ania León helped us put together a special issue of NewMusicBox which attempts to answer the slippery question "What is an American Composer?" In an expansive emotionally-engaging pow-wow, Ms. León expresses how American music is shaped by our cultural diversity. Sid Whelan's "hyper-history" attacks the question in a different way by looking at the effects of immigration and emigration on what it means to be an "American composer." Chen Yi, Judith Lang Zaimont, Howard Mandel and David Nicholls explained what the words "American music" mean to them. We ask you to respond to them as well as to ponder "what makes music ethnic?" Sprinked throughout the issue are 48 RealAudio sound samples for your listening pleasure.

In The First Person Interview: Tania León In The Second Person "What makes music ethnic?" In The Third Person Sid Whelan: A hyper-history of how immigration and emigration have shaped American music Hymn & Fuguing Tune What does the term "American music" mean to you? LeadSheet Hear&Now SoundTracks

News · ASCAP announces groundbreaking music and licensing deal with MP3.com · Olly Wilson Appointed to the Board of Directors of the Fromm Music Foundation · Composer and Improvisor Ken Vandermark Receives 1999 MaCarthur Fellowship · Winner of Dale Warland Singers New Choral Music Reading Program · Meet the Composer Awards New Residencies Grants to Four American composers · National Music Council Hosts Leadership in Music Symposium and a Day of Honor for Two "Clarks" · In Memoriam Gregory Norman Short (19381999) · Composer Receives American Academy in Berlin Prize Fellowship · ECM Records announces new licensing and distribution agreement with Universal Classics Group · Chen Yi Awarded first ever King Award, $25,000 music composition Prize which is the third largest in America Preview

Issue 3, July 1999: How Festivals can Attract New Audiences to American Music 

he summer heat is unfortunately still going strong and so are many of the summer music festivals which were the focus of the July 1999 issue of NewMusicBox. You can still read all about them in Mic Holwin's "hyper-history" as well as a detailed exploration of Ravinia in our tête-à-tête with its Executive Director Zarin Mehta, plus description of memorable outdoor and otherwise unusual music memories from Greg Sandow, Michael Torke, Marilyn Nonken and Joseph Dalton. There are also RealAudio samples for every CD featured in SoundTracks, and more...

In The First Person Interview: Zarin Mehta In The Second Person How about an all-new American music festival? In The Third Person Mic Holwin: Looking for Red, White and Blue Between Bach, Beethoven and Brahms: Can American music be found at American music festivals? Hymn & Fuguing Tune Describe a memorable outdoor premiere you've heard and / or describe your most unusual exposure to a new piece of music. LeadSheet Hear&Now SoundTracks

News · Jason Robert Brown Wins 1999 Best Score Tony Award for Parade · 3 Composers Receive 1999 Bush Artist Fellowships · Copland 2000 is Announced · Pew Fellowships in the Arts Announces 1999 Award Recipients · 47th Annual BMI Student Composer Award Winners Announced · 54th National Conference of the American Symphony Orchestra League Takes Place in Chicago · ASCAP Announces Awards for Programming of Contemporary Music · ASCAP 'Adventurous Programming' Awards Presented at Chorus America Conference Preview

Issue 2, June 1999: American Music and the Future of the Recording Industry 

ewMusicBox's exploration of the record industry has been archived as well: our chat with New Albion's founder Foster Reed, Steve Smith's "hyper-history" of independent labels specializing in recordings of new American music, responses to the questions "What recordings do you buy and why?" and "What recordings have you listened to recently?", complete information about another 40 new CDs, and more...

In The First Person Interview: Foster Reed In The Second Person How large is the audience for new music? In The Third Person Steve Smith: A hyper-history of American independent new music record labels Hymn & Fuguing Tune What recordings do you buy and why? What recordings have you listened to recently? LeadSheet Hear&Now SoundTracks

News · The ASCAP Foundation Names Winners of the 1999 Morton Gould Young Composers Awards · American Symphony Orchestra League to Move to New York City · Canadian Music Center Executive Director Announces Retirement · American Academy of Arts and Letters Honors Seventeen Composers · Lou Rodgers Receives Laurel Leaf Award · Heather A. Hitchens Appointed President of Meet the Composer Preview

Issue 1, May 1999: Taking Charge of American Music 

nlike most magazines in the print universe, NewMusicBox will take full advantage of the freedom from print constraints and become larger every month! For first time visitors to the site who might have missed our debut issue in May 1999, fear not. All of the components of that first issue will continue to appear here: our roundtable discussion with Bang On A Can, Ken Smith's "hyper-history" of composer-led ensembles, responses to the question "Why Do You Attend a Concert?", and complete information about 56 new recordings of American music, plus a slew of news items, which at this point should properly be called history items!

In The First Person Interview: Bang On A Can In The Second Person How can new music attract a larger audience? In The Third Person Ken Smith: A "hyper-history" journey through composer-led new music ensembles across the United States Hymn & Fuguing Tune What makes you attend a new music event? LeadSheet Hear&Now SoundTracks

News · Lou Harrison Honored at Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards · Melinda Wagner Wins the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Music · 76 Composers Featured in SCI 1999 National Conference · Elliott Carter Receives Founders Award at AMC Meeting & Awards Ceremony · 9 American Composers Awarded Guggenheim Fellowships Preview

Additional "In The First Person" Interviews 

n 1998, American Music Center Executive Director Richard Kessler conducted interviews with five of the leading figures in the music world: maverick composer Steve Reich, baritone Thomas Hampson, opera magnate Paul Kellogg, jazz great Dave Liebman, and composer/new music advocate Libby Larsen. These interviews originally appeared on the American Music Center's own Web site. The final AMC Web site edition of In The First Person featured a conversation between John Luther Adams and Lou Harrison. These interviews were the inspiration for NewMusicBox, and we will maintain them on our archive.

Thomas Hampson (8/98)
Lou Harrison (4/99)
Paul Kellogg (10/98)
Libby Larsen (2/99)
Dave Liebman (1/99)
Steve Reich (7/98)

Century List 

t the 1998 Conference of the American Music Personnel in Public Radio in Los Angeles CA, NewMusicBox editor Frank J. Oteri presented a list of 100 recordings for classical radio stations to consider programming into their regular music rotation. Since the original presentation, there have been over 100 requests for the list, an article in Billboard magazine, and a feature in the June 1999 issue of Chamber Music Magazine which includes the entire list. NewMusicBox will maintain an archival copy of this list on the Web which features click-throughs to buy the recordings on the list allowing visitors to listen themselves.