Teenagers love playing new music; I know this because I run a contemporary chamber orchestra for teens which in its sixth season can hardly keep up with the enthusiasm of its members.

Eric LyonPhoto by Paul Herman Reller

Last month, I shared my enthusiasm for Nick Didkovsky’s fusion of computer programming and composition. This month, I continue my explorations with the work of two other composer/programmers, …

For various periods of time since high school, I have found myself trying to “be” Asian, as silly as that may sound. I suppose that having grown up “above average” (to use Garrison Keillor’s words) …

Nick Didkovsky and Phil BurkPhoto courtesy of Nick Didkovsky

Part I: Nick Didkovsky and Hell Cafe
While most of us are happy enough to use computers to send email, surf the web, and write documents, …

I was going to organize this month’s SoundTracks around the subject of composers and conductors, but I got distracted (chalk it up to spring fever). Remember that silly game, a few years back, “Six Degrees …

The relationship between music and theater has always been controversial – and productive. On one end of the spectrum are pieces in which text is obviously or completely dominant. Though there are no solely text-based …

Immersion DVD

[Author’s note: When I first got my hands on Immersion, the new DVD-Audio from the Colorado-based Starkland, I was disappointed to find that there was no accompanying movie. After I missed the …

It’s a funny thing how our weaknesses work, sometimes. My improvising abilities are pitiful – put something down on paper, I’ll play it, but ask me to make it up, and I’m just reading the …

While we wait to see if “Dubya” manages to unite Donkey and Elephant, we will have to content ourselves with music in which there is some kind of tentative “coalition” between styles. Two discs jumped …

Many musicians and hard-core music lovers will swear to you that they never ever listen to music “in the background” while they work. Only some of them are lying. For me, music in the background …