The Welcoming Spirit of Composer John Metcalf

John Metcalf

Composer and Artistic Director of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music

On May 7, I'm heading to Wales to attend the last three concerts of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music.  The Festival, which this year runs from May 1 through May 11, is dedicated to celebrating the work of living composers from all over the world.  This year, for example, two of the featured composers are Danish composer Per Nørgård (on the occasion of his 80th birthday) and Chinese composer Qigang Chen.

And On To a Dazzling CD

cover art by George Mattingly Design
the full CD jacket booklet can be found here

Today, April 24, is the official release date for the first CD from Contemporaneous:  Stream of Stars, Music of Dylan Mattingly. To mark the day, a big day for my personal musical history book, I am taking the unusual step of re-posting what I wrote earlier this month about Stream of Stars.  For more information about the CD, click here.

Gather Ye Blossoms While Ye May (Part Two)

Central Park Conservatory Garden

The sun returned, and we went in search of blossoms once again.

Gather Ye Blossoms While Ye May (Part One)

Japanese Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The calendar turned to April, and we went in search of blossoms.

Crabapple

The News from Minnesota

On March 30 and 31, 2012, the Minnesota Orchestra performed the world premiere of a brand new orchestral composition.  The composition came about as the result of the Orchestra’s first MicroCommission.  Approximately 400 people contributed with donations ranging from 1 to 1,500 dollars.  I'm proud to have been one of them:  the composer chosen for the MicroCommission was Judd Greenstein, whose work I much admire.

Into the Dazzling Air

Herringbone is the one who set the light bulb off for me, when he wrote about Maxwell McKee’s Double Quintet:  “Double Quintet seemed to have a noticeable beat that you could groove too.  I could see Roger Daltrey grabbing the mike and belting something out.”