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Sequenza21 | Contemporary Classical Music Blog - Music
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BBC Proms–Boulez Thorvaldsdottir Hisaishi Reich Gubaidulina – Sequenza21
The Prom on August 4 was presented by BBC Symphony Orchestra, along with the BBC Symphony Chorus and the Constanza Chorus, conducted by Hannu Tintu. It opened with Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna by Pierre Boulez, in commemoration of the centennial of Boulez’s birth. Written later in his life, when
Nine Premiere Performances by Kati Agócs at Banff International String Quartet Competition – Sequenza21
It's rare for a new work to have even a second performance, but Kati Agócs’ Rapprochement received nine plays in a single day. Agócs was commissioned by the Banff International String Quartet Competition to write a composition that each quartet would be required to play in the 2025 competition. T
New CD from Martin Kuuskmann: 3 Concertos for Bassoon & Orchestra – Sequenza21
Martin Kuuskmann performs works for Bassoon and Orchestra composed by Tõnu Kõrvits, Eino Tamberg and Erkki-Sven Tüür, with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts on Orchid Classics ORC 100384 ©2025 by Orchid Music Ltd.Martin Kuuskmann (b. 1971) is an Estonian born, multi
Blushing at the Hem of Redemption: Uva Lunera’s “Trozos De Mí” – Sequenza21
“Not even Arvo Pärt’s Gregorian chants could save her.” When life tears your heart out, music has a way of suturing it back into place before you lose consciousness for good. This is what it feels like to immerse oneself in Trozos De Mí (Pieces Of Me), the latest project from Bogotá, Colombia-based
BBC Proms Barraine, Copland, Shaw (not necessarily the one you might think), Part, Berio, and, of course, Rachmaninov – Sequenza21
The Prom on July 31, presented by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein, as so many of the concerts during this stretch of time, included a work of Rachmaninov, the Symphonic Dances, which ended the concert. It began with Symphony No. 2 by Elsa Barraine, a composer unknown
2025 Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood – Sequenza21
2025 Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood – July 24 - July 28, 2025 Every summer since 1964, the Tanglewood Music Center presents its Festival of Contemporary Music. According to Tanglewood’s materials: The Festival of Contemporary Music (FCM) is one of the world's premier showcase
Dave Seidel – Intercosmic – Sequenza21
Dave Seidel has released Intercosmic, a new album of electronic music featuring tracks recorded in studio and in a live performance at The Wire Factory in Lowell, MA on June 7 of this year. Over the years, Seidel’s works have exhibited a long evolution from classical drones to the present mix of in
BBC Proms Birtwistle Bacewicz Lutoslawski – Sequenza21
The performers for the Prom concert on July 28 were the BBC Scottish Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. The first piece, and, for a certain contingency, the most important was Earth Dances by Harrison Birtwistle. Written during 1985 and 1986, it is one of his major single movement piece
Tobias Picker, NOVA (Recording review) – Sequenza21
Tobias Picker NOVA Various Artists Bright Shiny Things Composer Tobias Picker won a Grammy for his 2020 operatic version of The Fantastic Mister Fox, and many pianists have first encountered him through the diatonic piece The Old and Lost Rivers. Picker has another side to his music
Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music: Orchestra Concert – Sequenza21
2025 Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra July 28, 2025 LENOX - This year’s Festival of Contemporary Music was curated by composer Gabriela Ortiz. Born in Mexico City, Ortiz is one of the most prominent Latinx figures in twenty-first century class
Brightwork Ensemble – My Dancing Sweetheart – Sequenza21
Microfest Records has released My Dancing Sweetheart, a new album that features music by composers Ben Johnston, Bill Alves and Helmut Oehring. The performers are all first-rate Los Angeles musicians and include Stacey Fraser, vocals, Aron Kallay, keyboards, Shalini Vijavan, violin and Nick Terry, p
John Williams’ Piano Concerto at Tanglewood – Sequenza21
The audience greeted John Williams like he was a rock star. Indeed, this composer’s music for blockbuster films like Star Wars, Jaws and Jurassic Park is well known and loved by billions around the world. People, including those in attendance at Tanglewood on Saturday night, July 26, love him for
Bell-Isserlis-Denk Trio and Friends – Sequenza21
Bell-Isserlis-Denk Trio and Friends Midsummer Musicfest at Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y July 9, 2025 NEW YORK - July often finds New York-based musicians playing in summer festivals well outside the city. The 92nd Street Y’s Midsummer MusicFest enticed a small handful of lumina
Peter Garland – Plain Songs – Sequenza21
Cold Blue Music has announced the release of Plain Songs: “Love Comes Quietly”:(after Robert Creeley), a new CD album by composer Peter Garland. As the title explains, Plain Songs consists of seven movements of pipe organ music inspired by the poetry of Robert Creeley. The album artfully blends th
Happy 90th Birthday Terry Riley! – Sequenza21
Terry Riley turns ninety years old today! Happy birthday from us all at Sequenza 21! Today, our friends at Red Hot Org are sharing a raga performance by Terry Riley and Sara Miyamoto. A teaser track, it will serve as the b-side for a July release by Kronos Quartet. Both Riley's raga and the piece
The Met Orchestra Plays Ortiz, Blanchard, and More at Carnegie Hall – Sequenza21
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director and Conductor Angel Blue, Soprano Carnegie Hall, April 18, 2025 Published on Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey NEW YORK - Virtually since its inception, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Met Orchestra for short,
Keith Jarrett – New Vienna (CD Review) – Sequenza21
Keith Jarrett New Vienna ECM Records Keith Jarrett turned eighty on May 8th, 2025, and to fete him, ECM Records has released New Vienna, a solo piano concert recorded on his last tour, in 2016, at the Goldener Saal, Musik Verein in the Austrian city. A previous recording, The Vienna Co
Dalit Warshaw on BMOP (CD Review) – Sequenza21
Dalit Warshaw Sirens Carolina Eyck, theremin Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, conductor Dalit Warshaw (b. 1974) is a multi-threat artist. As a composer and pianist, she has created a distinguished career. Her first orchestra piece was commissioned when she was eight years
Ojai Music Festival – June 6 Evening Concert – Sequenza21
The Friday evening concert was titled The Holy Liftoff, continuing the theme from the morning. There was a solo viola piece by Leilehua Lanzilotti, the USC Cello Ensemble led by Seth Parker Woods, with music by Sofia Gubaidulina, Julius Eastman and Terry Riley. The ever reliable Steven Schick cond
Ojai Music Festival 2025 – Morning Concert, June 6 – Sequenza21
Attending the Ojai Music Festival in person is one of the great musical experiences on the West Coast. The mountains, the town, Libbey Park and great music make Ojai the place to be in early June. One of the festival’s best kept secrets, however, is that the concerts in Libbey Bowl are live-stream
Gwenifer Raymond: “Jack Parsons Blues” (New song) – Sequenza21
Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark by Gwenifer Raymond Gwenifer Raymond will release her third full length recording Last Night I Heard the Dog Bark (We Are Busy Bodies) on September 5th, 2025. Ahead of the release, she is sharing the track "Jack Parsons Blues." A gentle vocal abetted by the ta
Mara Gibson – Unseen World – Sequenza21
Unseen World is a new release by composer Mara Gibson on the Mark Custom recording label. The album consists of five works composed between 2020 and 2024 that are inspired by vivid visual art that is both expressive and complex. Various instrumental ensembles are employed including a piano and cell
Swimming Bell’s Early Summer Serenade – Sequenza21
Swimming Bell Somnia EP Perpetual Doom Summers have been getting progressively hotter in much of the world. Here in the Northeast United States, we have had a mild Spring, but anticipate that summer will be a scorcher. Happily, singer/songwriter Katie Schottland ‘s project Swimming Bel
Alisa Weilerstein’s Fragments 3 Program at Zankel Hall (Concert review) – Sequenza21
Fragments 3: Alisa Weilerstein at Zankel Hall May 20th, 2025 Published in Sequenza 21 By Christian Carey NEW YORK - Alisa Weilerstein is a supremely gifted cellist, and it is hard to imagine being anything less than riveted by her playing. At Zankel Hall last Tuesday, she made decis
Simone Dinnerstein and Baroklyn Perform Glass at Merkin Hall – Sequenza21
Simone Dinnerstein and Baroklyn Perform Glass at Merkin Hall Kaufman Music Center Piano Dialogues Simone Dinnerstein with Baroklyn May 12, 2025 Published on Sequenza 21 NEW YORK - Last Monday, the pianist Simone Dinnerstein brought her Baroklyn project to Kaufman Musi
Quatuor Diotima Plays Boulez (CD Review) – Sequenza21
Pierre Boulez - Livre pour quatuor Quatuor Diotima Pentatone Record CD/download The centenary of Pierre Boulez’s birth has been celebrated with concerts, books and recordings. The Diotima Quartet’s Pentatone CD of Livre pour quatuor (1948-1949, 2017) is a distinctive offering in that i
Stile Antico Sings Palestrina at St. Mary’s – Sequenza21
Stile Antico Sings Palestrina at St. Mary’s March 29, 2025 Church of St. Mary the Virgin NEW YORK - Celebrating their twentieth year, the vocal ensemble Stile Antico brought a program dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s birth to Miller
Miguel Zenón – Golden City (CD Review)
Miguel Zenón Golden City Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón’s sixteenth album, Golden City has been well-received, its plaudits including a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. The eleven original compositions are excellent vehicles for soloing. A standout is “Arts of Exclusio
Seattle Symphony announces 2025–26 season
Seattle Symphony unveiled its 2025–26 season, the first under incoming Music Director Xian Zhang. She brings two steady if unglamorous hands to the wheel of an organization with a troubled recent history, but only a lackluster commitment to exploratory new music.
Preview: Pianists Adam Sherkin and Anthony de Mare: “Composers in Play XV”
The Canadian pianist/composer Adam Sherkin shares music from his home country on an extensive program at Merkin Hall in New York on March 15, 2025. “Composers in Play XV” is presented by Piano Lunaire, an organization launched by Sherkin and his colleagues in 2018. On this occasion he joins forces w
New Single: Khruangbin remixes Arooj Aftab
Khruangbin remixes Arooj Aftab Arooj Aftab’s Night Reign was one of my favorite recordings of 2024. Released today, the Thai funk by way of Texas artists Khruangbin have made a remix of one of the album’s most memorable tracks, “raat ki rani.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2qG0GOpwnI
Satie (CD Review)
Satie Alain Planès, Pleyel piano (1928) François Pinel, piano duets, Marc Mauillon, baritone Harmonia Mundi In 2025, substantial attention is being paid to the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth. Pianist Alain Planès has instead decided to celebrate the centenary of Erik Sat
Remaking a Rug Concert: Boulez at 100
Sound On: A Tribute to Boulez The New York Philharmonic, Conducted by David Robertson Jane McIntyre, Soprano David Geffen Hall, January 25, 2025 By Christian Carey - Sequenza 21 NEW YORK - If you think that audience development is a relatively new practice, then you may not have
Lisa Illean Debut on NMC (CD Review)
Lisa Illean Arcing, stilling, bending, gathering NMC Records, 2024 Composer Lisa Illean (b. 1983) is from Australia and has been based in recent years in the UK. Her work encompasses a variety of techniques, including alternate tunings and sampled electronics. These are means to consummately ex
Compelling and Visceral: “In a Grove” and Arooj Aftab at Prototype
PROTOTYPE – OPERA | THEATRE | NOW defines itself as a “festival of visionary opera-theatre and music-theatre works”. Its presentation of In a Grove (January 16 – 19, 2025) was as close as Prototype comes to conventional opera in the context of eschewing tradition. It was also one of the most compell
Canyons compilation benefits LA Firefighters
Canyons compilation Sequenza 21 friend Nick Norton has speedily put together a digital compilation called "Canyons” to benefit LA firefighters. It is a loaded setlist, with contributions from India Galley, Dustin Wong, Molly Pease, Isaac Schankler, Nicholas Deyoe, Warp Trio, and more. The release
Kalevi Aho’s String Quartets (CD Review)
Kalevi Aho String Quartets 1-3 Stenhammar Quartet BIS Kalevi Aho (1949-) is a prominent Finnish composer whose oeuvre includes a number of orchestral and chamber works and a smaller body of vocal music. His string quartets are from relatively early in his career, the first from quit