Vasks, Evening Music Pēteris Vasks is a contemporary Latvian composer born in 1946. His compositions have attracted increasing attention around the globe, and he has a good claim to being the most prominent composer from the Baltics. Vasks points to his Baptist roots, somewhat unusual … Read more
Jocelyn Hagen, Hands Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980) is an American composer born in Minnesota and raised in North Dakota. Her work tends to focus primarily on choral music although she writes in various genres and has a particular interest in multi-media works. Just as the … Read more
Daniel Elder, Ballade to the Moon I ran across a couple of news articles about the composer Daniel Elder this week. Perhaps you’ve seen them. Elder is (or was) an up-and-coming choral composer living in Nashville. Listening to Elder’s work, it’s clear that he is … Read more
Fazil Say, Paganini Variations Pianist and composer Fazil Say was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1970. He performs much of the standard repertoire in concert appearances and his recordings include mainstays such as all of the Beethoven sonatas. His performance persona tends to be eccentric … Read more
The words “new music” began to instill fear in listeners at the turn of the 20th century. Experiments in radical new styles puzzled the majority of concert audiences across the so-called classical world. These were the very people whose patronage supported orchestras, recital series, and … Read more
