The premise of Tonic’s new rock complexity festival last week was to highlight the ever porous boundary between rock and, for lack of anyone’s better term, contemporary classical music. But as exciting and as new as much of this music sounded, is this really a new idea?

All too often, music works are segregated into “teaching pieces” and “real music.”

In which we pass judgment on Mozart, music, the midwest, and you! (Okay, that last part was just to get your attention.)

Is it possible that today’s collective unconsciousness gives classical music more respect than it actually deserves?

You may recall that the Yale School of Music’s
hundred-million-dollar endowment was one of the biggest news stories of
last year among our kind. The even bigger story was what that endowment
would be used for.

For some reason, the summer seems to have become as busy as the rest of the season: concerts (both in and out of town), award ceremonies, receptions, you name it.

What is a young player? A student? An amateur? A beginner? Whom are we dealing with here?

Summer heat and the Internet combine to make people do some pretty peculiar things…

If you haven’t read Randy Nordschow’s piece on composer bios, read it right away (then come back here immediately). It’s great—so great that I couldn’t resist ganking his subject for further exploration.

Iran commissions a Nuclear Symphony, an orchestra sells itself on eBay, and an insurance company offers to shield you from the RIAA for $19. Is it just me, or do you hear Michael Stipe singing in the background, too?