State of the Arts Category Archive: Music

Mpls Mayor declares "The Suicide Commandos Day"

Posted at 3:08 PM on November 5, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Here's Mayor Rybak's proclamation, in all its glory:

WHEREAS, in the words of "indie" music industry shaker and mover, Peter Jesperson at New West Records, "The Suicide Commandos are THE Granddaddy's of the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene that later bred The Suburbs, Husker Du, The Replacements, Soul Asylum and The Jayhawks;" and

Whereas The Suicide Commandos put the Minneapolis Music scene on the map; and

Whereas The Suicide Commandos carved a path where there was none before. Many of the Minneapolis bands that went onto big success may not have done so without the Commandos having done so; and

WHEREAS The Suicide Commandos, like other rock bands of the late '70s, such as The Ramones in New York, and other "punk bands," like The Sex Pistols in England, helped shape a rock 'n roll renaissance by peeling back to the basics with a swell sense of humor and rock history; and

WHEREAS The Suicide Commandos helped propel the commercial viability of new, independent labels by taking risks on non-major labels and meeting a hunger in the market for a new rock spirit among fans and music entrepreneurs alike; and

WHEREAS The Commandos, as they were known fondly by fans and media alike, indulged in consistently producing entertaining nights out in now-legendary downtown bars, such as The Longhorn, with, what The Commandos called in their own original rocker, "Complicated Fun; and

WHEREAS this loud, fast trio was among the earliest subjects of pioneering rock video filmmaker Chuck Statler (Devo, Elvis Costello, et al.) with its song "Burn It Down," thus helping to expand the rock video genre (even though the house in the video was one they rehearsed in....); and

WHEREAS drummer Dave Ahl, bassist Steve Almaas and guitarist Chris Osgood have continued to contribute to music culture through their professional careers by teaching (Almaas), creating studios (Ahl) and working with musicians and artists at Springboard for the Arts and students and McNally Smith College of Music (Osgood); and

WHEREAS The Suicide Commandos continue to ROCK special occasions and events for the benefit and enjoyment of the people-- 30-plus years after their initial reign!

Now, Therefore I, R.T. Rybak, Mayor of the City of Minneapolis do hereby declare Saturday, November 7, 2009 as:

The Suicide Commandos Day in the City of Minneapolis

By the way, The Suicide Commandos are playing twice on Saturday, first at the Walker Art Center's Free First Saturday program, and then later in the evening at the Dakota.

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Dan Graham on Bob Dylan's heart

Posted at 2:30 PM on October 30, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

A new exhibit at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis traces the career of Dan Graham. "Dan Graham: Beyond" includes examples of Graham's magazine pieces, films, sculptures and live performances that go all the way back to the 1960s. One of the subjects that Graham has been intrigued by throughout his career is pop music. He's written about the Kinks and the Rolling Stones, punk rock and the place of women in rock and roll. Graham came to Minneapolis for the opening of the exhibit and Minnesota Public Radio's Jim Bickal asked him what music he's interested in right now. Bickal found the response interesting, and passed it my way to share:

"I'm intrigued by Bob Dylan's new persona. On the album "Together through Life" his persona is that of an 80-year-old guy who has a romance in a nursing home and takes his new girlfriend or wife to Niagara Falls. It's 1940s or '50s songs, very trite. There's a lot of doggerel I think. He's using accordion and trumpets. And I think when he had his satellite radio program he got very involved in the '50s and '40s, but his persona is like an old guy now. I think ("Together Through Life") is a great album. It's all about cliches; it's very humorous. I think he's going back to his teenage years.

I think on the new album "Christmas in the Heart" he's trying to be like his hero, Dean Martin. He's always loved Dean Martin. Of course there's the whole idea of if he's doing things from the heart or not; he's dealing with the cliche of doing things from the heart. In "Chronicles" (Dylan's autobiography), he talks about being a normal family man, having a good marriage, but in fact he was cheating on his wife the entire time. So, I think he's trying to portray himself as somebody who has heart."

What do you think of Bob Dylan's image? Do you see an attempt to recreate himself, or to rewrite his history? Oh and if you haven't heard the new Christmas album, you must check this out.

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Looking to conductors for a model of leadership

Posted at 10:57 AM on October 26, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

They walk into a room, say nothing, and suddenly hundreds of people work in complete harmony to accomplish a single goal. Former conductor Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, and what lessons they offer for all leaders

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Sarah Hicks and the Sequined Vests

Posted at 4:54 PM on October 12, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Sarah Hicks admitted to a little larceny in the name of art today. Hicks spoke at the press conference announcing she is the Minnesota Orchestra's Principal Conductor of Pops and Presentations. It's a job which was created back in 1993 for former Tonight Show band leader Doc Severinsen.

Hicks recalled how shortly after she arrived at the Orchestra in 2006 as an assistant conductor Severinsen asked her to give him a hand. He was going to perform a duet with the Orchestra's Principal Trumpet Manny Laureano and realized it would be too complicated to play and conduct at the same time. Hicks said she would be happy to oblige.

However just before she and Laureano went on stage they slipped into Severinsen's dressing room and each selected one of the Doc's famous sequined vests. Then they walked out into the hall where Severinsen and the audience was waiting.

"Doc was shocked and absolutely delighted," she said. "And it was such a thrill for me. One of my first concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra was that concert conducting Doc Severinsen. And that moment is imbued with so much more meaning for me today as quite literally the baton has been passed."

Severinsen retired in 2007, and is now the Orchestra's Pops Conductor Laureate. However Orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson says he and his staff wanted to take their time before appointing a replacement - in part because they knew they could never actually replace him.

So they decided to look for someone different, someone who could lead the pop series in new directions, and expand the boundaries for new audiences.

"The more that we saw of Sarah Hicks in action over the last couple of years, the more we realized she was made for this role, " he said. "She has a real passion for popular music and she has the artistic imagination to develop intriguing new programming for this series."

The Orchestra sees the pops series as critical for the development of audiences, a view Hicks shares.

Music Director Osmo Vanska says he was quite surprised when Hicks told him she wanted the job, as most up and coming conductors want to focus on classical music and as he put it see themselves as the next Bernstein or Karajan. However Vanska says Hicks is the right person at the right time for the job.

Hicks, who was the first woman to get what they call a titled conducter position at MnOrch, says she is very excited about the new gig. In addition to four pops series a year, she'll continue with the popular Inside the Classics series, and also conduct classical concerts as part of the regular Orchestra program.

She sees her new job as being multi-faceted, and it will be a lot of work. In the next two weeks she'll be preparing and performing a series of classical and pops concerts, culminating with piano rocker Ben Folds playing with the Orchestra.

"I met Ben about a year and a half ago at the Mann Center in Philadelphia, and we hit it off immediately," Hicks says." And he said 'I feel so comfortable with you, can you to conduct me as much as you can?' And I said yes."

The concert will include arrangements Folds has done both of his solo work, and with his band the Ben Folds Five.

"It's a really, really fun show, but with fantastic arrangements for orchestra. So it really is us collaborating together and creating this great show for you," Hicks says.

Sarah Hicks is excited about the new job, and all it's possibilities. She and her husband just bought a new house in Minneapolis and are now sorting through boxes. No word however if she's found any sequined vests.

You can listen to our conversation here: Listen

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Celebrating the extended family

Posted at 5:00 PM on October 7, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Music, Poetry, Storytelling

Singer Maisah Blanton and poet/performer Louis Alemayehu are two of the "Fathers and Daughters" performing this Saturday at Heart of the Beast in Minneapolis.

The band Ancestor Energy has been combining jazz and poetry at Twin Cities venues for 26 years now and - while it's not worked too hard to promote itself - in that time its developed quite a family of guest musicians, former band members, and friends. This weekend these jazz veterans pass the musical torch to women of the next generation who are presenting great art in their own right. "Fathers and Daughters" combines poetry, song, dance and storytelling to talk about the importance of the extended family. Founding member Louis Alemayehu says:

Extended family is really important. It's the reason we survive as well as we do, by the way that we make family through marriage and through our community connections.

Women see the world through a different lens, and because that lens has not been appreciated, my impression is that a lot of things are out of order because we don't see through the lens of a woman. As a father, I feel inspired to support the leadership of women.

While Alemayehu says this concert is about supporting strong young women, Maisah Blanton says in turn it's also about saying thank you to her elders.

The music for me is a reminder that although you have a father, we don't just have one father, we have many fathers. My belief and my teaching from my elders has always been "it takes a village to raise a child."

Being able to contribute as an individual affects communities all around. And if you have something positive to contribute - something that will enhance the quality of another person's life - that then radiates out and its kind of like a rippling affect through communities.

As part of the concert Alemayehu will perform new work that pays homage to the work of women. Here's an excerpt from his piece "Living in the Questions:"

Daughters take the swords of your father's songs

And beat them into plow shears

Prepare the New Ground

Be free from the known wisdom

Courage gives birth to Discovery

Daughters you will wash in your father's tears

And know that he was healed and glad for your being

Womanly, Powerful, Transforming all things made new

What does a woman's leadership look like

When she does NOT believe she has to imitate a man to be truly powerful?

Ancestor Energy - and family - perform "Fathers and Daughters" this Saturday at 8pm at Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

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Sound Unseen launches tonight

Posted at 9:50 AM on September 29, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Film, Music

The best in the world of music on film blossoms on Twin Cities movie screens tonight with the opening of the 2009 Sound Unseen Festival.

There is a huge spread of material, ranging from the opening show, the world premiere of "R.E.M. This is not a Show" at the Cedar Cultural Center tonight at 7pm, to "Died Young, Stayed Pretty" at the Walker about music posters, to "In Search of Beethoven" at the Oak Street.

There are also a host of special events including live performances by The New Standards and Tortoise amongst others.

You can find details about times, locations and all the other goodies at the Sound Unseen site

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Arthounds: Norwegians, poems, and early women plays

Posted at 8:54 AM on September 24, 2009 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Fashion, Film, Music

So what are the Art Hounds recommending this week?

Veteran Twin Cities actor Joey Metzger gives the thumbs up to Theater Unbound's "Aphra's Attic: Plays by Early Women Playwrights."

Poet Juliet Peterson is recommending the upcoming reading by Kate Greenstreet and Norma Cole who bring their cutting edge poetry to Micawbers Books in Minneapolis on Tuesday evening. It's part of the Rain Taxi Reading series.

Composer and educator Randall Davidson says we should take to opportunity to check out the Oslo Chamber Choir, a world-renowned Norwegian vocal ensemble touring Minnesota this week..

Also worth checking out: The Pearl Fishers at the Minnesota Opera, and the special events with designer Zandra Rhodes tonight, and tomorrow.

The 1968 Project: The Minnesota Historical Society presents all 24 films made for its national competition to capture the spirit of 1968. There is a free screening from 1 to 4pm at the History Center in St Paul. Then at 5 pm the final awards ceremony will present the winners who will share $10,000 in prize money. Both events are free.

And check out The Global Roots Festival at the Cedar Cultural Center, starting tonight and running all weekend. The Cedar is bringing in world-class bands from all over the globe, as well as some local stars, for a weekend of incredible music.

Don't forget the 2009 Sound Unseen music film festival gets rolling on Tuesday with the world premiere of the new REM film "R.E.M.: This is not a show"

Oh, and we need more Art Hounds! Sign up here.

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Fashion icon Zandra Rhodes has designs on Minnesota Opera

Posted at 4:58 PM on September 23, 2009 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Fashion, Music

For someone who has been at the center of the fashion world for three decades, who has nine honorary doctorates, and holds the rank of Commander of the British Empire, Zandra Rhodes is very approachable.

She also has very pink hair.

Rhodes is one of those people who can pick up a conversation with anyone and soon find a common interest. We chatted away for a while about how she was initially put off when she heard Garrison Keillor reading on the BBC, but now she loves his work.

For the last few days Rhodes has been seeing the sights around downtown St Paul between rehearsals for the Minnesota Opera's production of Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers."

She designed the sets and the costumes for the show which is set in Sri Lanka. As you might expect from someone who is known for her use of dazzling color, and printed fabrics, it's a vibrant rainbow of a production with every surface adorned with an image or pattern.

Rhodes, who had just flown in from London where she had been showing her latest clothes at Fashion Week, first tried her hand at opera design in 2001 when the San Diego Opera invited her to do the costumes for "The Magic Flute." She was asked to return three years later by the San Diego company to do "The Pearl Fishers." It's that production which is about to open in St Paul, although Rhodes says she thinks the show and the set and costumes have matured, and look better than ever.

Rhodes was, in a way, born into the design business. Her mother was a fitter for a Paris fashion house, and taught at Medway College of Art in England, where Zandra was later to graduate with a major in printed textile design.

Her wild use of color and pattern was too much for the British fashion establishment, so she went out and set up her own business, and soon became a leading designer during the punk era. She was a favorite of Princess Diana's, and her creations have been worn by everyone from Jackie Onassis to Paris Hilton.

The designer will be the star attraction of "An Evening with Zandra Rhodes" tomorrow evening at the Ordway.

She will also be one of the featured guests at "Punk and Pearls" a Salon Series presentation which presents elements of "The Pearl Fishers" at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis on Friday evening at 7 and 9pm. Tickets for this event are free, but reservations are required.

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McNally Smith offering B-Girl scholarship

Posted at 4:12 PM on September 21, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Music

The McNally Smith College of Music in St Paul is offering scholarships designed to encourage more women to enroll in its Hip Hop Diploma. The 18 month program which launched this year teaches both the performance side of hip hop and the business and history too.

The scholarships offer $15,000 which is half-tuition for the course. Applications, which will be accepted through December 11th must include an essay and a three and a half minute audio or visual piece.

Selections will be made by a panel with representatives of B-Girl Be, the sponsor of the annual B-Girl summit, (as featured last week on Art Hounds,) Intermedia Arts, which hosts the event, and McNally Smith College of Music.

In a release announcing the new scholarships Toki Wright, who co-ordinates the program, and is one of the performers in the video above, welcomed the news.

"Often in the media, the many rewarding aspects and innovations of women in Hip-Hop are overshadowed by their male counterparts. The 'B-Girl Be Scholarship acknowledges that women's contributions are important and essential to sustaining and expanding Hip-Hop culture. The work of MC Lyte, Tricia Rose, Queen Latifah, and countless industry representatives demonstrate the power, talent and tenacity it takes to make it in the culture and business of Hip-Hop. "

Fourteen students are in the first class in the hip hop diploma, and will graduate in 2011.

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Back to school means the performance halls are open

Posted at 8:55 AM on September 21, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Theater

One of the great things about the new school year is the plethora of cultural offerings at institutions of higher learning available not just to students, but the public as well.

For example Macalester College's Theater and Dance department will present John Cage's landmark 1948 piece, "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano." There are two free performances on Saturday, September 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 27 at 2 p.m. in Macalester College's Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center Theater.

A release from Mac describes the featured instrument in this way: "A prepared piano is one in which the pitches, timbres, and dynamic responses of individual notes are altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and other objects at particular points on the strings." Music Department chair Mark Mazullo will be at the keyboard.

Meanwhile in Northfield at Carleton College the New York-based SITI Company will present performances of a new adaptation of Sophocles "Antigone." The company will present what are called two "dress rehearsal" performances of Irish playwright Jocelyn Clark's contemporary adaptation. The shows are in preparation for the play's world premier in New York in late October. The Carleton shows are on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 p.m. in the College's Arena Theater.

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Music for the birds

Posted at 12:54 PM on September 16, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Photography

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Jarbas Agnelli was reading a newspaper when he noticed a picture of birds on electric wires. Immediately he noticed they looked like sheet music, and decided to find out what song they were "singing." Above is the result (the music actually only takes up a fraction of the video), along with the photo by Paulo Pinto.

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SPCO's Skip Layton James to retire after 41 seasons

Posted at 6:16 PM on September 11, 2009 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Ask Skip Layton James to tell stories about what he has seen during his tenure at the SPCO and he has so many it's hard for him to know where to begin. There have been good times, and hard times. He's worked with seven different music directors.

There were the concerts at what used to be the Arts and Science Center, later the Science Museum of Minnesota.

"Eddie Blitz, the former cellist used to come in and look at the brontosaurus there and start his day by saying "Hi Bones!" James says.

He talks about how the Orchestra used to take the train to gigs in Fargo, and the time the plane due to return the musicians home after playing in Brookings S.D. sank up to its wheel-hubs in the mud after a spring rain.

"We had to call a tractor to pull us out wheel by wheel before we could fly back to the Twin Cities," he says.

"We played the first concert ever at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium over at St Kates. We played the opening concert at the Benedicta Arts Center in the cornfield out at the College of St Benedict. It's a beautiful hall by the way."

And there was the opening of the Ordway, and the unprecedented public fundraiser which saved the SPCO from financial ruin.

There will be a lot of these stories in coming months after today's announcement that James will retire from his position of Principal Keyboard with the SPCO, a position he has held since 1969. He's currently the longest tenured musician with the orchestra. He has conducted and composed during his time with the SPCO, creating cadenzas for Baroque and Classical concertos.

During that time he's established a reputation as a master of many keyboard instruments, from the pipe organ to the harpsichord. He actually built three of the harpsichords the SPCO now owns.

When asked how he came to do that he describes approaching SPCO music director Leopold Sipe at a rehearsal to ask is he could play a Haydn piece.

"What are you going to play it on?" the maestro asked.

"Well, a harpsichord," James says he replied.

"We can't afford one," the conductor responded.

So James said he'd build one.

"That's kind of how it started. I've always loved to improvise and the harpsichord is the perfect instrument to do that on. So I start to build them."

That was in 1970, and it's put James in a somewhat unique position.

"Basically you've been hearing me on an instrument I made myself with music that I make up as I go along, which is about as enabling and ennobling and as wild as you can get as a music profession, I think," he says.

After he steps down at the end of the current season he intends to write a book on trout fishing. He'll also continue to appear as a presenter at pre-concert talks at the SPCO and as necessary onstage at the keyboard.

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A fresh look at a mighty river

Posted at 6:28 PM on August 31, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

MPR Photo/Preston Wright

This weekend composer Eve Beglarian paddled her way through the Twin Cities. Earlier this month she began a trek from the headwaters to New Orleans, which she hopes to finish by the end of the year. And she's inviting historians, linguists, poets, writers and others to join her on the journey. Beglarian's goal is to use the trip as inspiration for some intense music writing, and then journey back up the river with fellow musicians, performing her way back to Lake Itasca.

Beglarian has been feeling the pull of the Mississippi river for a while now. She was inspired in part by Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it wrought. That coupled with the economic crash reminded her of the WPA of the depression, which sent thousands of artists out across the country to paint murals, take photographs, and create sculptures. So Beglarian has come up with her own WPA-styled project.

The River Project, August 1st, 2009 (Day One) from Eve Beglarian on Vimeo.

While she's only been on the river for a month now, Beglarian says the journey has already brought some revelations. Namely, she's struck by the subtle yet still powerful presence of nature in even the most urban settings. "This river is like a secret," she said in a phone interview while taking a break from kayaking. "I did Minneapolis on Friday and you could have fooled me because once you get down there [to the river] it's a different world." She says she imagines when she returns to New York City she'll find herself connecting to the natural world hidden in amongst all the concrete.

You can follow Beglarian's journey down the Mississippi on her website.

Many thanks to MPR's Preston Wright for help reporting this story.

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St. Paul's Concrete and Grass festival line-up announced

Posted at 3:35 PM on August 24, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Concrete and Grass, Lowertown's music festival, is back for a third year, and this year's line-up is just as delightfully diverse as past years.

The music starts on the afternoon of Friday, September 11th in Mears Park and runs through the weekend. Over the course of 55 hours or so, folks can get a sampling of rock. pop, classical, and more. Here are the details:

Concrete and Grass Lowertown Music Festival Schedule

Friday, Sept 11th
Main Stage
3:30 to 4:30 Story City
5:00 to 6:00 The Warblers with Chris Osgood and Dave Ahl
6:30 to 7:30 Minnesota Opera
8:30 to 10:00 Freddy Fresh with Special Guest Mark Wheat

Acoustic Stage
6:00 to 6:30 Dan Newton
7:30 to 8:30 Papa John Kolstad w/ Clint Hover

Saturday, Sept 12th
Main Stage
12:00 to 12:45 McNally Smith Student Ensemble
1:00 to 2:00 Idle Hands
2:30 to 3:30 Aviette
4:00 to 5:00 Moore By Four
5:30 to 6:30 Desdamona
7:00 to 7:30 The Ordway
8:30 to 10:00 Romantica

Acoustic Stage
5:00 to 5:30 Alicia Renee
6:30 to 7:00 Spider John Koerner
7:30 to 8:30 Kid Dakota

Sunday, Sept 13th
Main Stage
12:00 to 1:00 Gospel with Ginger Commodore and Tanner Taylor
1:30 to 2:30: The Schubert Club
3:00 to 4:00 Jelloslave
5:00 to 6:00 Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
6:30 to 8:00 Heiruspecs.

Acoustic Stage
4:00 to 5:00 pm The Flatwheelers featuring Martin Devaney and Jake Hyer
6:00 to 6:30 Luke Wallrich

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What's happening to local music venues?

Posted at 9:16 PM on August 21, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Word came in today about the fates of two bars known for hosting local music.

The Myth nightclub in Maplewood is shutting its doors and has let its staff go, according to CityPages.

Less clear is the fate of The Uptown. The Minneapolis Planning Commission is meeting to decide whether or not to allow the owners to tear down the bar and replace it with a three-story retail unit. According to the Southwest Journal, sources close to the development deal said the restaurant's owners were looking for a new location.

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Where did Dylan get his twang?

Posted at 9:35 PM on August 20, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

On assignment for The Atlantic, correspondant Graeme Wood travels to Hibbing, thinking he might discover the origins of Bob Dylan's particular accent. What he gets is an earful, but not of what you might think.

In truth, Sarah Palin has more of a Minnesota accent than Dylan does.

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Eric Friesen remembers Michael Steinberg

Posted at 11:44 AM on August 19, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Classical broadcaster Eric Friesen was host of "The Music Room" and the Minnesota Orchestra on Classical Minnesota Public Radio from 1991-97, during which time he got to know musicologist Michael Steinberg quite well. He shared his thoughts on Steinberg's passing with MPR's classical music service.

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Life as a musical, part two: Flash mobs

Posted at 3:16 PM on August 12, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Dance, Events, Music, Public Art

Earlier today I wrote about musical numbers, and how they make us feel like we belong to something bigger than ourselves. I cited a video of a public prank, in which a group of performers put on what appeared to be a spontaneous musical in the midst of a food court.

In response, Sharon wrote in with one of her favorite clips of a group taking over a train station in Belgium for a song and dance number:

Such events are called "flash mobs" and they're becoming increasingly popular as technology (internet, cellphones) makes them increasingly easy to orchestrate.

However, as soon as a bunch of creative folk come up with a great idea, it doesn't take long for companies to latch on to them for sales purposes. T-Mobile orchestrated its own flash mob event for a commercial:

Other flash mob events include "flash freezes" in which a large group of people appear to freeze in motion at the exact same time.

Rumor has it there may be a flash event at this year's State Fair... heard anything?

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When life is a musical

Posted at 8:31 AM on August 12, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Film, Music, Public Art, Theater

(500 Days of Summer/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

What if people did break into song and dance when they were really happy? Or sad? Or angry?

"500 Days of Summer" is the most recent film to use a sudden song and dance number to convey the unbridled joy of one of its main characters.

Such scenes do more than express a heightened feeling; they also give us a sense that we're all connected. Suddenly we're all singing the same song and moving to the same beat. We belong to something bigger than ourselves, and we know exactly what we're supposed to do. That sounds pretty reassuring to me.

So what if like was really like that? Well, it would probably look something like this:

The above is courtesy of Improv Everywhere, a group based in New York City whose mission is "to create chaos and joy in public places." Other spontaneous events include large crowds boarding a subway with no pants on, and throwing a wedding reception for a random couple just married at city hall. You can watch the art gallery opening they hosted on a subway platform here.

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Timberbrit: play it again, but slower

Posted at 12:31 PM on August 5, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Music

If you missed yesterday's All Things Considered, I urge you to go back and take a listen to the story on "Timberbrit." It's an opera that takes on the tragic end of Britney Spears, imagining her final hours of life, as Justin Timberlake returns to try and win her love one last time.

Britney Spears? Justin Timberlake? You're probably asking how this story made it to public radio airwaves. But what makes this opera so cool is not just the transformation of pop icons into tragic stage figures, but the metamorphosis of their high-energy music into high-drama. Composer Jacob Cooper slows down Spears' and Timberlake's pop hits into something much more nuanced, dark and compelling. As reporter Claire Happel writes, "Phrases like 'Hit me baby one more time' took on an entirely different and more weighted meaning."

You can see the Timberbrit video to the song "Worst Fantasy" here.

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The Pines: tremolo

Posted at 10:18 AM on August 5, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

It's rare that a cd which lands across my desk gets me excited. I'm the first to admit that music is not my strong suit when it comes to the arts. I usually defer to the excellent taste of my colleague Chris Roberts.

But I have to admit that when The Pines new cd "tremolo" slipped out of a padded envelope, I immediately smiled. I thoroughly enjoyed their first album "Sparrows in the Bell," with it's lonesome midwest pioneer feel and haunting vocals ("Throw me in the River" is a favorite track of mine).

"tremolo" is no disappointment. If anything it goes deeper than their first album, exploring a greater range of nuanced emotions with confidence. This is the kind of music that makes me want to get in a beat-up car and go on a trip across the midwest, taking back roads. It's both nostalgic for another time and yet completely of today. "Lonesome Tremolo Blues" stands out with its driven rhythms, as well as the sad but sunny "Skipper and His Wife" (a re-adaptation of the song by Spider John Koerner). Like Nick Drake, The Pines make melancholy a delicious and beautiful thing.

I showed the cd cover to Chris Roberts, who's just back from vacation. His response? "Well, there's my next story, don't you think?" You can look forward to his treatment of "tremolo" on MPR's airwaves sometime soon.

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Minnesota Orchestra musicians take pay cut

Posted at 12:59 PM on August 4, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Minnesota Orchestra musicians have agreed to contract modifications which will save the orchestra about $4.2 million over the remaining three years of the current five year contract.

Musicians say they agreed to the modifications, which include a wage freeze, a reduction in pension contributions, and the freezing of open positions, to help the Orchestra through the current unsettled economic times.

The reductions follow a few months after the Minnesota Orchestra cut $2.3 million from its 2009-10 budget. Four full-time positions were eliminated, and part-time staffing was reduced, along with salary reductions and wage freezes for Orchestra staff.

Music Director Osmo Vänskä and President and CEO Michael Henson reduced their salaries by, respectively, 10 percent and 7 percent.

In April musicians at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra agreed to take a 12 percent pay cut for the 2009-2010 season.

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War at the Fringe

Posted at 12:20 PM on August 3, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Events, Music, Theater

What do our views of war sound like? Baritone Stephen Swanson has put together a collection of war songs both dark and humorous into a one hour performance in the Minnesota Fringe. MPR's classical host Alison Young interviewed Swanson, who performed a selection of the songs. You can find out more, and take a listen, here.

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Michael Steinberg memorial now available

Posted at 6:06 PM on July 30, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture, Music

My colleagues at Classical MPR and at APM's Performance Today have gathered interviews and other pieces from over the years marking the long and creative relationship MPR had with writer and educator Michael Steinberg, who passed away at the weekend.

You can find it here.

There is also the opportunity to share your own memories of Steinberg.

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Memories of Merce

Posted at 12:00 PM on July 27, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music

Merce Cunningham, who died Sunday age 90, had a long and fruitful relationship with the dance community in Minnesota. He appeared here regularly throughout his career, and had a deep affection for the Walker Art Center, the huge stage at Northrop Auditorium, and the College of St Ben's, where he visited to teach and finally last year to present his huge work "Ocean" in a quarry near St Cloud.

Merce Cunningham in 2008 at the Walker Art Center (Photo courtesy of the Cameron Wittig for Walker Art Center)

I was lucky enough to meet Cunningham several times over the years, and he was always kind and patient as I struggled to find a way to describe for a radio audience what he and his company did.

The first time we met was on the side of the stage at Northrop, where I was told I could have something like seven minutes with him as the rehearsal schedule was so tightly packed.

To be honest, I was having trouble getting my head around how Cunningham worked. His interest was in the moment. He explored the intersection of chance - often in the form of the music - with the beauty of the movement he created for his dancers, a process he usually did through "chance operations," like the flipping of a coin.

Usually the dancers did not hear the music for a dance before the first performance. In the case of this particular Northrop show, the music was produced by a small keyboard attached to several cassette recorders. Before every show the keyboard player would rummage through a pile of pre-recorded cassettes and draw a few at random to put in the players. No one knew what sounds the score would produce on any given night.

As I naively tried to probe for meaning in his dances, Cunningham would giggle gently and keep explaining he didn't know what they meant, it was all up to the audience to decide. I have to admit that as my seven minutes drained away, I felt more and more panicked, and the giggling made it worse. It was only afterwards when I talked to a dancer and really thought about the element of chance in all our lives that it became clear, and I was able to write my piece.

His last performance in Minnesota was a bittersweet event. "Ocean" was a project dreamed up by Cunningham's long-time artistic and life partner John Cage. He wanted to surround dancers on a circular stage first by an audience, and then by an orchestra of 150 musicians. The idea was to bathe the audience in sound. When Cage died in 1992, Cunningham said he thought Ocean was dead too, but interest continued in the piece, and the St. Cloud performance became part of the effort to capture Cunningham's major works on film.

Even as he worked on the performance, Cunningham was clearly fascinated in what he was learning from the challenges of the piece. The potential for the "Ocean" circular stage clearly delighted him.

"Because ordinarily with a conventional stage the focus is front and center, and with something in the round it's all focus or there is no focus," he said. And he laughed that laugh again.

I have to say the strongest image I have of Cunningham came at another event, "Fluxarama," held in the fitness club in the Target Center in Minneapolis. The event was part of the "In the Spirit of Fluxus" show which explored the work and legacy of that iconoclastic group. The idea was to fill a non-traditional space with art, and Cunningham brought his company to perform on the basketball court.

It was a wild evening filled with enjoyable weirdness, but I have to admit I stood and watched Cunningham for several minutes. He was sitting on a folding chair courtside between performances. Few people seemed to pay him any attention as he sat just watching the crowds milling around him. Here he was, the man described as one of the most influential choreographers in modern dance, soaking in the ambiance of the waves of humanity around him.

He had a slight smile on his face, as if he was watching a beautiful dance unfolding before him. And being Merce Cunningham, a beautiful dance was probably what he saw.

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Music writer Michael Steinberg dies

Posted at 3:07 PM on July 26, 2009 by Euan Kerr (4 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Writing

Michael Steinberg, widely recognized as one of the most important writers on classical music of our time passed away this morning at age 80. Steinberg, husband of recently retired Minnesota Orchestra Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis was diagnosed with cancer three years ago.

During his career Steinberg worked as a critic for the Boston Globe, a lecturer at several colleges and universities including Smith College, Hunter College, Brandeis University,
and the New England Conservatory. He was in later years program annotator to the New York Philharmonic while also serving as an advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra.

Born in Breslau in Germany in 1928, he spent part of his childhood in England after his mother managed to get him included in the Kindertransport, the rescue effort which got 10,000 children out of Germany before the outbreak of World War II. He moved to the United States with his mother and brother before the end of the war.

It was in England that he first discovered his love of music. In his book "For the love of Music: Invitations to Listening" co-authored with Larry Rothe, Steinberg revealed it was not in a concert hall, but in an alley behind a movie theater.

"It was Fantasia, the original 1940 version that did me in. I saw it just once, at the Cosmopolitan, a dingy movie house in Cambridge England, and although this was more than sixty-five years ago, I remember it more vividly than most of the movies I have seen in the last sixty-five weeks. I saw it just once because as a schoolboy on threepence a week in pocket money - even in 1940 that bought hardly anything, and surely not more than half a movie ticket - I couldn't afford to go again. Besides the guardians of Good Taste would not have encouraged, let alone subsidized, a return visit. But I also realized I did not need to see it again because the most important part was available for free. Behind the sweet little fleabag where Fantasia was playing, there was this alley where I could stand every day after school, stand undisturbed, and listen to the soundtrack of Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, and Stravinsky. On a recent visit to Cambridge I was happy to see there is still a movie theater on the same site, but it is now called the Arts Theatre and is a lot cleaner."

In a statement today Rothe said this of Steinberg:

"In the last years Michael defined what it means to battle an illness. He
continued to hang tough, determined not to let anything keep him from doing
what he had always done, which was to put listeners in touch with the music.
In his writing and in his talks, Michael knocked down walls with
intelligence, wit, and a broad sense of culture. He was a great storyteller.
He expected much from his readers and offered much. You get a taste of all
this in his books: The Symphony, The Concerto, and Choral Masterworks, three
compilations of his program notes. Another book, For the Love of Music,
gathers his reflections on an array of musical subjects.

Concerts to celebrate Michael Steinberg's life will be presented in San Francisco and Minneapolis at times to be announced.

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Art Hounds: Mixing it up

Posted at 9:17 AM on July 23, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Culture, Events, Film, Museums, Music, Sculpture, Theater

One of the delights of the late summer is that it's time when local arts folks mix it up a little.

Take tonight at IFP Minnesota's Fresh Fete at the Varsity Theater. As the local organization devoted to independent film it will of course be showing films, but blending some chat and a lot of music too. The film comes from local writer director Emily Haddad who won IFP Mn's Fresh Film grant last year and used it to make "Egg Timer" which will premier at 6.30. There will be a conversation between Mystery Science Theater 3000's Bill Corbett and local playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher. The evening will be rounded out by local icon Willie Murphy and the Angel Headed Hipsters and pianist John Sims.

If you haven't seen the Walker Art Center's examination of conceptual art "The Quick and the Dead" - or even if you have - it's worth a visit. There are some 90 pieces by 53 artists, some of which are designed to change over time, hence the value in returning. Take for example Claes von Oldenburg's "The Garden" which involved burying 100 objects and then exhuming and displaying one item per day. He didn't specify what the object should be, but the Walker staff chose lemons, and you can see the results in jars in the Center's lower lobby.

After sell out shows last week the Trylon Microcinema returns with another Buster Keaton film "The Navigator." Live accompaniment is supplied by the Dreamland Faces, complete with singing saws.

If you are considering a little road trip this weekend, there is the final weekend of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, and the always whacky Free Range Film Festival in Webster, about half an our south of Duluth. Movie shorts in a barn, how can you miss?

And for the truly dedicated sports fan the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis is presenting live coverage on the big screen of the Tour de France. You can watch the cyclists sweat while sitting in the finest art deco movie house the Twin Cities has to offer. Admission is free, although they are collecting non-perishable goods for local food shelves, or a $2 donation.

And of course there is all the great stuff ferreted out by the Art Hounds Want to be one of them? Sign up!

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Davis Guggenheim and the feathered fish

Posted at 4:50 PM on July 22, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Film, Music, Technology

Film maker Davis Guggenheim says someone in his team told him just before his film "An Inconvenient Truth" went before an audience for the first time that his movie was "a feathered fish."

"What's that?" Guggenheim asked.

"It doesn't swim and it doesn't fly," came the terse response.

"And this is someone who's supposed to like the film," Guggenheim says. Then a studio executive told them no-one would pay to see the film.

Of course it then went to the Sundance Film Festival, became a box office smash, and won the best documentary Oscar.

"And then going with (Al Gore) to get the Nobel Peace Prize, that was pretty cool," he laughs.

Looking back though, he says they made the film in a vacuum, and that was ultimately a good thing. They were convinced that they had an important message to spread, and they were shielded from common wisdom which might have scuppered them.

Guggenheim was in the Twin Cities to talk about his new documentary "It Might Get Loud." It is is built around the meeting of three rock guitar legends: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, U2's The Edge, and Jack White of the White Stripes.

He says he didn't want to make a traditional rock film, and he has succeeded. He interviewed all three of his subjects separately on their home turf and then put them together on a giant soundset in Hollywood (he say's it's where they filmed "The Perfect Storm") and made them talk to one another.

While nominally about the art and science of the electric guitar, the film delves into what it means to be an artist, and how each of these three musicians developed their own approach to what they do.

And then they jam together. It's a fascinating piece of film as three icons from very different parts of the rock world watch and learn from one other.

The film opens in the Twin Cities in late August. We'll have a piece closer to that time but in the meantime here is the trailer.

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Memories of Michael Jackson

Posted at 2:29 PM on June 26, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

People are sharing their memories of MJ. Johannah Marcott in River Falls, Wisconsin writes:

I was a fan of the man back in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s - after that he seemed to get more eccentric and all the weirdness was in full fledge. I grew up watching Thriller, Moonwalker, listening to the Bad record, and Dangerous.

He was a big musical influence when I was a kid in the 80s. I also wanted nothing more than to go to Neverland ranch and go on the rides and meet him as a kid - it would have been an honor.

And Jeff Achen in Apple Valley, Minnesota writes:

I remember getting out of school, riding home in the car with my sisters. It was our first day in a new elementary school in the eighties in a new town and our mother was excited to share with us a new record she bought for us: Michael Jackson, Thriller.

We grew to love his music and one of my fondest Michael Jackson memories was creating a silly dance to the song "Thriller" that we did for our parents in our living room. My sisters were in Kindergarten and second grade. I was in fourth grade. Since then I've grown up with Michael Jackson's music, his antics and his influence. It's a sad day to lose such a nice man and a generous entertainer.

Online, Pete comments:

In 1983 I was in Jr high at Folwell in Minneapolis. We had a "video" dance which was a traditional school dance with a big screen tv to play videos. When MJ came on, every boy in the room lost their girl to the screaming crowds by the big screen.

Interested in sharing your memories of Michael Jackson? Post a comment below or submit them here.

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Remembering Michael Jackson

Posted at 9:29 AM on June 26, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

As people around the world are waking up to the news that music legend Michael Jackson has died, memorials and memories are pouring forth.

Here in Minnesota, bells will ring at 11am in Minneapolis in Jackson's honor.

People in Harlem are gathering outside the Apollo Theater, where he performed as a child.

LA Times music critic Ann Powers compared the impact of the death of Michael Jackson to that of Elvis.

Meanwhile, people are still looking for answers surrounding the details of Jackson's death.

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Jeune Lune redux; a new chamber group, too

Posted at 3:26 PM on June 24, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Theater

The Southern Theater just announced its 2009/2010 season, which tends to be a long list, since it hosts many events that last only a weekend or two. A couple of items on that list popped out, however.

First, Dominique Serrand and Steven Epp, two of the artistic directors behind Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and the creative duo behind some of the theater's most successful shows, are back in action. While they give no solid details as of yet, they are on the docket to perform a new work October 22-25, 2009. Epp will write and perform, Serrand will design and direct.

Second, the Southern promises not one, not two, but three different performances (in September 2009, and January and April, 2010) by a new chamber music group called "Accordo." The group (which I can't find mention of anywhere on the web) features SPCO principal players Steven Copes, Ruggero Allifranchini, Maiya Papach and Ron Thomas, and Minnesota Orchestra principal cellist Tony Ross.

(Photo © Michal Daniel, 2008)

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Roseville resident makes Barbershop Harmony Hall of Fame

Posted at 11:00 AM on June 24, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

84 year-old Jim Richards has been singing with barbershop choruses for over half a century. The international singing organization, Barbershop Harmony Society, recently welcomed Richards into its Hall of Fame, not just because of his tenure as a singer, but also his role as a teacher. Richards has used his PhD in Physics to teach barbershop singers about the physics of sound.

For those of us who are music theory novices, Richards explains that a "tuned" piano is actually slightly out of tune, in order to divide up the notes into a 12 key scale. Singers can actually hit the "pure" or "true" notes, which he says is much more satisfying to the ear:

When you hear it sung and sung in tune, it is magic. It is pure magic and being part of that, it feeds the soul. That's why it's not a hobby for me, but an obsession.

Richards will be heading to Anaheim, California in the next few days for the Barbershop Singers annual international convention. Two local groups will be performing there - the Minneapolis Commodores (in which Richards sings) and the Great Northern Union.

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Hootenanny: A Community

Posted at 11:43 AM on June 23, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Photography

Every Friday night in the basement of Java Jack's a bunch of musicians get together for a "hootenanny." It's been going on for three years now, and photographer Tony Nelson decided to capture the event on film. His profiles of the Mad Ripple Hootenanny musicians (including Billy Bragg, above) are on display at The Gallery @ Fox Tax in Minneapolis (yes, they do your taxes AND hang art on the wall). It's up through July 24th.

If you want to hear what the Java Jack's hootenanny sounds like, take a listen to a piece MPR's Chris Roberts did.

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Rock the Garden Re-hash

Posted at 4:05 PM on June 22, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Museums, Music

If you missed Rock the Garden, and are getting a little jealous of your friends who keep raving about The Decemberists or Solid Gold or Calexico, you can get at least some of the flavor of the day by checking The Current's photostream here.

(Update: 6/24/09 - You can also read a review, and watch some video clips at How Was The Show?)

In addition, below is a high-speed rendering of the set-up, the crowds and the late night take down captured by the Walker (unfortunately there are a few major time gaps, but still fun to watch the hordes).

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Should music be a required subject in schools?

Posted at 1:07 PM on June 19, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Music

Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch (a.k.a. Florence Henderson) and NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar teamed up yesterday to petition the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan . Their goal is to make music education- or at least the arts - a core subject in a student's education.

Currently, Minnesota standards require just one credit of arts education for a student to graduate from high school. That's compared to four credits of language arts, three and a half credits in social studies, and three credits each in math and science. That art class could come in the form of music, dance, theater, or media arts. In addition students are required to take at least seven electives.

What do you think? What would be the benefit of taking music, or any art class, every year of your education? Would it come at the cost of electives? Or some other core class? Students who have a natural affinity for the arts have the choice of taking those classes as electives, so why force students who aren't naturally interested? What's the benefit?

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Cantus wins award and changes the way it works

Posted at 9:22 AM on June 19, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

In the thirteen years since a handful of St. Olaf students got together to sing for fun, a lot has happened. Cantus, the all-male choir, has been handed the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence by Chorus America. Amongst choirs it's considered the most prestigious award in the U.S. Previous recipients include the Dale Warland Singers, VocalEssence and Chanticleer.

Now, in a move similar to that of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Cantus is transforming itself into a fully musician-led artistic structure. This eliminates the position of Artistic Director (previously held by founding member Erik Lichte) and gives the choir members the ability to choose their own music and progam their own tours as a group. A press release from the choir stated "by handing the programming reins to the singers themselves, Cantus has shown its commitment to chamber music in both form and function."

Pictured above: (top row, l to r) Timothy C. Takach, Dashon Burton, Chris Foss
(middle row, l to r) Eric Hopkins, Aaron Humble, Adam Reinwald
(bottom row, l to r) Paul Rudoi, Gary Ruschman, Shahzore Shah.
Photos courtesy of Cantus

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Does the punishment fit the file-sharing crime?

Posted at 9:33 PM on June 18, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Technology

A jury ruled today that Brainerd resident Jammie Thomas-Rasset willfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs. The price tag? $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million. If you agree the average song lasts approximately three and a half minutes, that amounts to approximately $380 per second of downloaded music.

Thomas-Rasset says it's unlikely the plaintiffs (Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, EMI Group PLC and Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment) will ever see the money, since she's the mother of four kids and has little means.

So what does the decision mean for people who share music files on the web, and for the recording industry? Will it inspire these major corporations to pursue more lawsuits? Will it scare people off of file-sharing?

Some advocates of file-sharing say it doesn't hurt the music industry, and in fact many musicians make their songs available for free on the internet. So who will win out in the long run? Who are you supporting?

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Jorja Fleezanis bids farewell to Minnesota Orchestra

Posted at 10:19 PM on June 11, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

I've just returned from Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis where the Minnesota Orchestra performed Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis." Tonight was the first of three concerts which mark Jorja Fleezanis' last performances as concertmaster. It was a bittersweet night, in which conductor Osmo Vanska started off by saying he couldn't imagine the orchestra without Fleezanis. He said the only thing consoling him was knowing how many students would now benefit from her teaching (she's taking a post as professor at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music).

As I sat up in the nosebleed section, watching Fleezanis' violin flash in the stage lights, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Who gets to keep the violin? The instrument, which was made in 1700, was given to the orchestra for Fleezanis to play. When it comes to 300 year old instruments, I'm guessing it might not be a matter of flipping a coin. (FYI I've put out some calls and I'll let you know what I find out.)

So how was the concert, you ask? You can listen for yourself when MPR's classical network broadcasts it live Friday night. And if you'd like to hear Fleezanis talk about her 20 year tenure at the Minnesota Orchestra, she was on Midmorning earlier this week.

Image courtesy of the Minnesota Orchestra

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Want to sponsor a prop?

Posted at 5:19 PM on June 10, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Funding, Music, Theater

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is taking a unique approach to raising money for its upcoming show, Singin' In the Rain. For anywhere from $10 - $50 you can "sponsor" a prop in the production. Cosmos' gal, a cake, a camera or even the wall - the choice is yours. In return you'll be listed online as an official member of the creative team, and can have the pleasure of pointing to someone's umbrella during the show and saying "hey, that's MY umbrella!" No word on if there's a limit to how many people can sponsor a single prop.

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Music still doing well in the recession - or is it?

Posted at 9:14 PM on June 9, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Earlier today MPR's Chris Roberts reported on how live music events are still selling out, despite the dour economic times. Apparently people are choosing to attend concerts instead of say, a more expensive weekend get-away.

But through MPR's Public Insight Network we're hearing stories about other areas in which music is suffering: namely, kids' music lessons.

Danielle Sells in Minneapolis writes that her spouse has fewer students to teach these days. Jaette Carpenter teaches at Camden Music School. She says students are lining up for "scholarships" - which sometimes amounts to teachers donating their time. And composer Randall Davidson says he's got his fingers crossed that parents will sign their kids up for the Junior Composers' Institute he runs each summer.

In addition to cutting back on music lessons, families are trying to trade in those instruments for cash, too. Musician Kevin Anthony says he's noticed a flood of instruments selling for cheap on craigslist.com.

MPR Photo/Chris Roberts

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Art on the Web: Pulsing lights and pretty sounds

Posted at 3:30 PM on June 9, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

MPR's Stephanie Curtis sent this link my way, and it quickly became addictive. Click on the squares, and make your own rhythmic melody. So what if it's a time-suck? You're being creative!

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Ed Gein: The Musical?

Posted at 12:34 PM on June 8, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Theater

A Wisconsin-based production company is shooting a movie called "Ed Gein: The Musical," about the 1950s Plainfield grave robber and insane murderer. It wouldn't be the first time the man's life has inspired art - he's considered the basis for the Norman Bates character in "Psycho." The filming is taking place in Omro, whose town cry is "In Omro we have it all."

Co-owner of the DaviesRussell production company, Dan Davies (who will be playing Gein), promises a movie that's historically accurate, funny, and filled with great music. A while back the Star Tribune reposted the article dating from Gein's arrest in 1957. Give it a read and see whether you think it has the makings of the next Sweeney Todd.

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St. Paul songwriter dies in his prime

Posted at 9:13 AM on June 6, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

31-year old singer/songwriter Jeff Hanson was found dead in his apartment, likely from a fall. By all accounts his career was heading places and his sweet voice was capturing people's imaginations. Give his music a listen and send caring thoughts to his family and friends.

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