Yessirree, Bob!
The Mad Macedonian, Culture Critic, returns to blogging performances of the Orange County Pacific Symphony!
A year ago I was invited to become a part of a Citizen Press Corp of Bloggers, encouraged to attend performances, and blog our little hearts out about them. ;-D
Last year I had a blast and, if you enjoy a good concert, and entertaining stories about them, here are my 2008 stories:
Dido and Aeneas: A Night at the Opera
Vladimir Spivakov, Mozart, Shostakovich and the OC Pacific Symphony
Andre Watts, Naughty Limericks, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and the OC Pacific Symphony
The theme for the 2009 American Composers Festival is THE COMPOSERS AND MUSIC THAT BELONGED TO “HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN AGE”.
This season, Pacific Symphony’s 2009 American Composers Festival (ACF) celebrates the art of film music, past and present by exploring the differences between composing for concerts and composing for film—and how the two styles have evolved into what we hear today. This ACF is particularly relevant, considering that film music has been an integral part of Southern California culture since the inception of the movie industry; plus, it has strong connections to the world of “classical” concert music. Once disregarded by the modernist school of composition, film music has now come into its own as a fully recognized art form. And, of course, this recognition is not just academic. Millions of filmgoers have been exposed to—and delighted by—orchestral music through the movies.
The details, and an interesting discourse on the subjects of the series, can be read here.
The folks at the Symphony website have taken to this Blogging thing in a big way this year, taking note of of the success of the small corp of Citizen Bloggers last year, by inviting us back, and by starting their own collection of fun, and informative blogs.
Peter Lefevre has 3 blogs, and the 1st talks about film music stars, trivia and stories.
In a piece about his thoughts on the music of the classic Frankenstei he links to an interesting article on composing for horror films.
Check out the Film Music Fan Club.
On another blog Peter focuses on discussing film music versus concert music in America today.
In his 1st post he explains its purpose this way:
The general theme of this blog is how composers navigate through the two worlds of the movie studio and the concert hall: whether the opportunity to write for film is embraced or avoided, and for what reasons, and how that decision affects the compositional mind.
Check out Keeping it Reel.
The 3rd blog Peter writes is an insider's view of the festival as it unfolds.
Already he's shared a surprising event:
Richard Kaufman, the Symphony's esteemed principal pops conductor, debuted a suite taken from Alexander Desplat's score for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Kaufman read a letter from the composer as an introduction to the work, which framed the score as modestly proportioned, written in the spirit of chamber music.
Read the rest here.
Check out the Concert Events Diary.
The 1st event that I will attend will be tomorrow night, and I hope to see you there!
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