

Jeffrey Arlo Brown
Posts

Why Composers Want to Write Operas for Children
This genre allows artists to tap into their inner child. But it’s absolutely serious work.

John Eliot Gardiner’s Once and Future Orchestras Duel
John Eliot Gardiner’s new ensemble, the Constellation Choir & Orchestra, performed a nearly identical program as his old group, at the same venue.

A Mental Tightrope: When Instrumental Musicians Have to Sing, Too
Artists who take up contemporary music sometimes have to sing and play at the same time. The results can be extraordinarily powerful.

The Exquisite Fragility of Mark Andre’s Music
Andre’s family history is one of precarity and mutability. His works, vulnerable and intricate, aren’t so different.

Wolfgang Rihm, Prolific Contemporary Classical Music Composer, Dies at 72
Likened to a “court composer” for Germany, he wrote more than 500 pieces and was considered one of the most original and independent musical voices...

Klaus Florian Vogt’s Strange, Essential Voice in Opera
Klaus Florian Vogt, a Wagner specialist with an ethereal yet mighty sound, is returning to the Bayreuth Festival to sing in the “Ring.”

What Happened When an Orchestra Said Goodbye to All-Male Concerts
This season, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin experimented with programming works by female composers at every performance. Results were mixed.

These Keyboard Musicians Are Thinking Beyond the Piano
Modern pianos are central to classical music. But some musicians are learning other keyboard instruments, and feel like better artists for it.

At 70, the Composer Georg Friedrich Haas Encourages Self-Discovery
One of Haas’s former students reflects on his time with a teacher who had lessons to offer in music, doubt and influence.

How Cancer Has Influenced Andreas Steier’s Music-Making
“The music stays as beautiful as it is,” said Andreas Staier, an eminent interpreter of early keyboard music who has a rare blood disease.