The New York Times

  • New in The New York Times: my feature about Frank London, a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader who has played a major role in downtown jazz, the klezmer and Balkan music revivals of the ’80s, and a whole lot more.

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  • New in The New York Times Sunday Arts & Leisure section: my exit interview with the great trombonist and composer Jim Staley, who co-founded the essential new-music institution Roulette in 1978, and replanted it in his NYC loft in 1980, as he prepares to step away from leadership in June after 45 years.

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  • Jay Clayton, an inventive jazz singer and educator also renowned in contemporary classical circles for her recordings of John Cage and her decade of work with Steve Reich and Musicians, died on Dec. 31, 2023.

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  • A warning, in advance, that what follows is a sentimental wallow. I first came to know the music of Philip Glass in 1983, when – as an ambitious 17-year-old autodidact subscriber to the classical-music division of the RCA Music Club – I forgot to send back the "ship nothing" reply card one fateful month, and

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  • From November 2009: I've spotted Missy Mazzoli at the Met for House of the Dead. One day I'll be here to hear her. Bank on it. — Steve Smith (@nightafternight) November 25, 2009 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js From December 2009: From today's issue of The New York Times: You can read the happy news here, and the original leap

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  • Album review: Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld, Never were the way she wasBoston GlobeApril 28, 2015 Proclaimed "the Neil deGrasse Tyson of the avant-garde saxophone world" in a concert review by some wag who used to write for The New York Times, Colin Stetson has made a beautiful new record with his Arcade Fire colleague

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  • Reinier van Houdt, by Michelle V. Agins for The New York Times Jacob Greenberg and Reinier van Houdt at Spectrum, March 25, 2014The New York Times, March 27, 2014 Two separate recitals by brilliant pianists heard most frequently in group settings: Jacob Greenberg with the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Reinier van Houdt in the Ives

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  • Emerson String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall, March 23, 2014The New York Times, March 26, 2014 My first time to see and hear the Emersons with their new cellist, Paul Watkins. Nice to know that it all still works, and that youngblood has lit a new fire in his crew.

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  • Colin Stetson and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times Colin Stetson with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus at Merkin Concert Hall, March 22, 2014The New York Times, March 25, 2014 This one came out really, really quickly, despite some hair-splitting fact-checking that ran up to deadline hour. Once I had

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  • John Zorn: Masada Book 3 at the Town Hall, March 19, 2014The New York Times, March 21, 2014 The biggest surprise about this particular concert was the fact that I was there; I'd originally been scheduled to cover a different event, but a sick colleague prompted a last-minute shuffle, and here we are. Because of

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  • Zubin Mehta, Diana Damrau and the Vienna Philharmonic, by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, March 15 & 16, 2014The New York Times, March 17, 2014 The whole time Diana Damrau was cavorting on the Carnegie Hall podium – during a long evening's third and final encore, understand –

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  • Alan Gilbert, by Karsten Moran for The New York Times New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, March 12, 2014The New York Times, March 14, 2014 In which I describe Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable," like so: "A seamless sequence of vivid episodes, the piece is a craggy MacGuffin that shouldn’t work but

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  • BBC Singers, by John Wood Classical Playlist: John Adams, Prokofiev, Harrison Birtwistle and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, March 12, 2014 My contributions: MORTON FELDMAN: ‘For Philip Guston’ John Tilbury, pianist; Carla Rees, flutist; Simon Allen, percussionist (Atopos) HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: ‘The Moth Requiem’ Roderick Williams, baritone; BBC Singers, Nash Ensemble, conducted by Nicholas Kok (Signum)

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  • Trinity Choir, by Tina Fineberg for The New York Times Trinity Choir at Trinity Wall Street, March 9, 2014The New York Times, Mar. 12, 2014 A very impressive new concert series is underway at historic Trinity Church: six concerts (not five, as I erroneously reported at first) running each Sunday afternoon through April 13. You

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  • Talea Ensemble at the Austrian Cultural Forum, March 4, 2014The New York Times, March 6, 2014 My report on a Talea Ensemble performance at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, one of many fruitful intersections between those two important institutions. Since there was no Times photographer on hand, I've chosen an older video of Talea's

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  • ArtsBeat Classical Playlists

    A comprehensive list of the recordings I've covered in Classical Playlist on The New York Times ArtsBeat blog since the series started on November 6, 2013, in reverse chronological order. I've listed only my own contributions here; click on each header for the complete ArtsBeat post. Classical Playlist: George Antheil, Haydn, Sibelius and MoreMarch 19,

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  • Classical Playlist: Jenny Lin, Joshua Rubin, David Aladashvili and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, February 19, 2014 My contributions: ‘THERE NEVER IS NO LIGHT’ Joshua Rubin, clarinetist; Cory Smythe, pianist (Tundra/New Focus) PAINE: Orchestral Works Ulster Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta (Naxos) WORTHINGTON: ‘Even the Light Itself Falls’ ensemble et cetera (Populist; available via Bandcamp)

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  • Classical Playlist: Danish String Quartet, Thomas Meglioranza, Gidon Kremer and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, February 12, 2014 My contribution: ‘THE GOOD SONG’ Thomas Meglioranza, baritone; Reiko Uchida, pianist (self-released; available via CD Baby)

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  • Inscape*, by Jennifer White-Johnson Classical Playlist: Andrew Parrott, Jeroen Van Veen, Ildar Abdrazakov and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, February 5, 2014 My contributions: ‘SPRUNG RHYTHM’ Inscape*; Abigail Lennox, soprano (Sono Luminus) MONTSALVATGE: ‘Madrigal’ and Other Works Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Tim Fain, violinist; Perspectives Ensemble, conducted by Angel Gil-Ordoñez(Naxos)

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  • The New York Times building, by Richard Drew/AP I'd intended to make the previous "Days between" post the last…until such time as I once again fall so badly behind that I can't locate the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to flog a bit of my writing for The New York Times here on my

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