Even a crowd of new music specialists generally sympathetic to one another’s orientation—and who are, moreover, friends!—might have diametric reactions to a new piece.

As “crossover” artists continue to take advantage of their unique position, one in which two distinct kinds of cultural capital—the “Western composer” kind and the “hip creative person” kind—are abundantly available in a society that recognizes no inherent contradiction between them, the terms and conditions of production will change for all of us.

Ensembles like Dal Niente are taking openness to heart by programming omnivorously, and that’s a policy from which all of us can benefit.

By Colin Holter
I’m moved to look a little harder for composer gatherings in the future; what could be better than three days of listening to and talking about contemporary music with a community of brilliant artists from all over the world? Nothing, is what.

By Colin Holter
Davidson’s claim that young
composers should align themselves against a kind of music is
superficial, of course, but only because it doesn’t ask them to be
ambitious enough.

Last week was our spring break here at the University of Minnesota, thankfully; I kept myself busy with enough projects, each at a different stage of completion, to keep me constantly on edge for fear of forgetting one of them. Some of these projects are remunerative and some non-, so occasionally it strikes me that I could be prioritizing them accordingly—but of course it’s not that simple.

By Colin Holter
Attending a mainstream classical music concert illustrates the bona fide epiphanies that a live performance of Beethoven, Ravel, and Pintscher can afford.

By Colin Holter
Unlike more contentious composers of his same generation, Riley and his music seem to have become completely naturalized since the 1970s, but perhaps they should be regarded in a more controversial light than they are.

By Colin Holter
Without neglecting the convenience furnished by the modularity of the small pieces I’m working on now—they could occupy any amount of program space from three minutes to fifteen—the main attraction, for me, is that it allows me to organize my pieces into a sort of bulleted list.

By Colin Holter
The retreat of classical music into celebrity culture has taken an alarming turn.