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Performances Reviews

Young composers take over Green Umbrella

And now for some info on the new music scene in LA.

You never know quite what you’re going to get at a Green Umbrella concert, and that’s a big part of the fun. The L.A. Philharmonic’s new music series is designed to be surprising. The rule of law has been loosened here. Composers can do what they want, without the worry of commercial consequence. Audiences (large ones, as a matter of fact) arrive in the spirit of adventure; they remain unfazed by whatever is thrown at them. Actually, the weirder the better.

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Performances Reviews

Bang on a Can All-Stars – The Audience Calls the Tune

The Times reports how fan funding is allowing Band on a Can to play works of young composers.

When concertgoers think about how music is commissioned, they tend to consider it other people’s business: somehow the money is raised to pay for the works, and presumably the musicians decide what composers to invite. But the composers who run Bang on a Can, the new-music organization, decided that it would be good for the audience to have a stake in the creation of new pieces, and in 1997 they established the People’s Commissioning Fund — a grassroots project through which listeners could make donations toward commissioning works from young composers.

The resulting scores are performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars in an annual People’s Commissioning Fund concert that is also part of the New Sounds Live series at Merkin Concert Hall.

The composers who benefited from this populist largesse this year were Lok Yin Tang and Kate Moore, whose works were played on Thursday evening.

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Performances

Seattle Composers Salon on March 6

From the Seattle Composers Salon:

The Seattle Composers’ Salon is an informal presentation of new music by regional composers. The salon meets the last Friday of every other month, and features finished works, previews, and works-in-progress. It brings together composers, performers and audience members in a casual setting that allows for discussion and experimentation.

Next Salon:
March 6, 2009
8:00 PM
Chapel at Good Shepherd
4649 Sunnyside Ave N (in Wallingford)|
4th Floor
$5-15 donation

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