Perhaps not surprisingly, a handful of local saxophonists responded negatively to the column – one in private email; two in a joint letter to the editor of the Missoulian.
As is customary for matters covered in the paper, I’ll let that back-and-forth stand on its own, with one minor clarification: I’m right and they’re wrong.
Kidding!
But I do think the conversation reflects two broader points that are near and dear to my heart. And if you’ll hear me out, I promise a fun little treat at the end! [Read More...]
On Sunday, July 10, the Missoula Colony gathering of theatre artists gets down to business with its first event, a day-long discussion and workshop covering the particular challenges of scriptwriting for television. It is a topic known well by workshop leader Ron Fitzgerald, a writer with long-time Missoula connections and a resume stacked with impressive projects, including the Showtime series “Weeds,” NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” and the upcoming NBC series, “Prime Suspect.”
The day’s events culminate with an 8 p.m. staged reading of “Mississippi Queen,” a script for a television pilot by Missoula filmmaker Paige Williams. Based on her own life and autobiographical documentary of the same name, the script – Williams’ first – sets the stage for a fictionalized television series about a young lesbian woman growing up in a fundamentalist family in Mississippi.
As much as the day’s events aim to convey useful professional guidance to participants in this year’s Colony, they also speak directly to the underlying spirit of the annual gathering, now in its 16th year. [Read More...]
In case nobody Tweeted you the news yet, today is the second annual National Day of Unplugging. Organized by Reboot, a network of “young thought-leaders and tastemakers” who aim to rejuvenate Jewish traditions in the 21st century, the idea is that, from sunset tonight through sunset tomorrow, we all should shut off our computers, televisions, cellphones, and other electronic umbilical cords, in order to “help people become more aware of their dependence on technology and not to allow it to interfere with the important things in life.”
I learned this, of course, via the Internet, where Reboot has created a Web site devoted to the cause, as well as Facebook and Twitter feeds. (Actually, to be perfectly clear, I learned about it from a friend’s Facebook status, where he posted a link to his blog, where I found the link to the organization’s Web site, www.sabbathmanifesto.org.)
At the Web site, I learned that the idea behind the National Day of Unplugging is to encourage people to slow down and “reconnect with friends, family, the community and themselves.”
California’s E.A.R. Unit wants you to open up your ears to new ways of making music. Founded back in 1971, the two-woman, one-man group has devoted itself to performing the oft-maligned music of modern-day classical composers.
In the concert hall, that might seem a tough row to hoe. Over the past 100 years, contemporary classical music has developed an increasingly bad reputation among audiences.
Starting, ironically, at the very point in history when orchestral, operatic, and chamber music had reached its zenith of public popularity – at a time when the daily doings of the local symphony was considered relevant news for the masses by newspapers; and when the names of notable conductors, singers, and composers had become household names in much of the Western world – composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern and others began to experiment in new forms of music that at times induced passionate public outcry and even, in some instances, riots.
Yet the types of music in question here – those works that break with traditional notions about rhythm, melody, harmony, and texture – are hardly unfamiliar to modern ears. [Read More...]
Years ago, as a teenager, I attended a meeting of my church youth-group led by a guest minister. I still remember how he arrayed our group in a circle, and without any explanation, whispered something in the ear of one of our group members.
She laughed, turned, and whispered in the ear of the person next to her, who then passed the message along around the circuit.
The secret eventually got around to me. Now, 20-plus years later, I don’t remember much of it, but it had something to do with a bicycle, a list of items from the store, and some places and names. “Pass it on,” I was told.
Eventually, the circle was completed. The minister asked the last person in line to say what he had heard out loud. Then, the minister read from a piece of paper the original message he had whispered in the first girl’s ear.
Neither a single fact nor even the basic gist of the story had made it all the way around the circle. [Read More...]
Curt Olds, director of MCT Community Theatre’s recent production of “The Mikado” and the man responsible for writing a controversial lyric about Sarah Palin, has responded to critics with a letter clarifying the background of his decision to employ the lyric.
This video, from the always-awesome TED series, made my heart race and tore it out too. A brilliant talk by one of the most interesting people in music today. I dare anyone to take part in his “experiment” and not be moved. (Thanks to Diana Bauer for pointing me to it…)
It’s a harmonic convergence of interstellar and astrological proportions; and it’s happening right here in Missoula.
It all began on Tuesday night, when the University of Montana opened its staged production of “Hair.” For those who’ve somehow missed the point, “Hair” is a rock ‘n’ roll musical from 1967 that challenged many of the culturally established notions of conformity in that era.
That theme is spelled out forthrightly in the first act, during the spoken introduction to the song, “My Conviction.”
“You know kids, I wish every mom and dad would make a speech to their teenagers and say kids, be free, be whatever you are, do whatever you want to do, just so long as you don’t hurt anybody. And remember kids, I am your friend.”
For those who’ve somehow missed the point, “Rocky Horror” is a rock ‘n’ roll musical from 1973 that challenged many of the culturally established notions of conformity in that era. [Read More...]
Today is the 20th anniversary of the death of Leonard Bernstein, the composer and conductor who almost single-handedly managed to keep classical music relevant and vital to the general public during the early years of the rock-n-roll age. Though his influence in that regard arguably died somewhat earlier than he did, I look back on his death as a significant blow to the fortunes of classical music in general, which had long suffered a disconnect from everyday people in America, for reasons I won’t get into here. Others have addressed his influence eloquently; and on today’s anniversary, other authoritative voices have added thoughtful tributes, including Bernstein’s own son.
In that context, I figure I should stick to my personal experience with Bernstein. [Read More...]
For the past week, my head has been spinning at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. After spending the past two decades carefully curating a CD collection that includes around 300 classical titles, I’ve suddenly found myself awash in LPs – more than 500 of them, all classical, many older than I am.
My music world has been turned upside down.
It all started when I received a call from local documentary filmmaker and avid record collector Doug Hawes-Davis. Actually, for Doug, the story started several months ago, when he received a phone call from an elderly man in Helena who had seen Doug’s “wanted” ad for used records on Craigslist. The caller figured Doug might want to come see his collection, which he had decided to sell.
“How many records do you have, exactly?” Doug asked.
“Oh,” the caller said, pausing for effect, “about 35,000.”
Doug had no way to deal with that many records; but together with fellow record collector Mike Steinberg, he rented a moving truck, drove to Helena, and brought home about 10,000 of the records, which the man had collected, carefully catalogued, and graded for quality since the late 80s.
Since then, Doug and Mike have slowly dispensed of many of the records they bought. Among those that remained was a sizeable collection of classical music. Doug’s not a classical music listener, but he knew I was. Hence his call to me. [Read More...]
Last week, I revealed my longtime dislike for the sound of saxophones. Since then, I’ve realized I’m hardly alone. There is a Facebook group devoted to the anti-sax “cause,” and a lovely song by Sean Na Na, and a pretty awesome tee-shirt…It seems “I hate saxophones” almost qualifies as a meme.
It all began on Tuesday night, when the University of Montana
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