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Articles by Dean Suzuki

View From the West: Where Are the Notes?
October 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

For a very long time now there have been composers who create music directly, bypassing paper, the manuscript, the score. This has always been the case with electronic …

View From the West: New Choral Music – There’s Not Much to Sing About
September 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

I have been thinking for some time about the state of the contemporary repertoire in choral music, and the problems encountered in getting new work commissioned, written, and performed. …

View From the West: New Hope for the Pulitzer
August 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

I recall reading a brief but powerful and insightful article by Kyle Gann titled “Pulitzer Hacks” in the July 30, 1991 issue of The Village Voice. In it, he …

View From the West: Erik Satie—A Model for Alternative Thinking
July 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

Erik Satie has long been one of those composers who has perplexed and flummoxed music theorists, music historians, and composers. Somehow he has managed to weasel his way into …

View from the West: American Mavericks on Public Radio
June 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

After much grousing and bellyaching about the pathetic state of affairs at PBS, at least in their music and performing arts programming two columns ago, and the decline of …

View from the West: Other Minds
May 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

The Other Minds Festival in San Francisco offers a healthy and provocative departure from the conventional new music series or festival. Whereas most new music organizations focus on their …

View From The West: What Happened to Contemporary Performing Arts on PBS?
April 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

Something has gone terribly wrong at PBS. I recall a day when one could actually see Peter Greenaway‘s documentary films on John Cage, Meredith Monk, Philip Glass, and Robert …

View From the West: Lou Harrison—Renaissance Man, a Model for the Next Generation
March 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

Over these past months that I have been writing this column, I have urged composers to go beyond the assembling and ordering of pitches and consider a larger, broader …

View From the West: Swing Your Partner ‘Round and ‘Round’—Banjo Anyone?
February 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

With all of the interest in and investigation into world musics, from scholarly studies to the integration of non-Western styles, forms, instruments, and compositional techniques to popular world fusion …

View From the West: Swing Your Partner Round and Round—Why Not Collaborate?
January 1, 2003 / By

Dean SuzukiPhoto by Ryan Suzuki

A while back I wrote a column emphasizing the importance of musicians and especially composers being aware of artists in other fields and even being a part of a …