By Curtis Perry on December 2, 2014
Let’s presume this ‘indie-classical’ moniker isn’t going away. We have a cast of certain regular suspects: Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Richard Reed Parry, Max Richter, Hauschka, and Jonny Greenwood. I enjoy these folks’ work as much as anyone, but unfortunately they represent, in aggregate, a systemic issue that listeners ought to leave behind in the classical world. This isn’t anyone’s fault in particular. Dismantling a patriarchal system that took hundreds of years to build is simply going to take some time. It’s why we hear about “women composers” in the papers, but never hear about “men composers.” It’s why there is a lopsided gender ratio among members at the Canadian Music Centre. It’s why we don’t ask men how their gender and maleness informs their music. And this all needs to be reconsidered.
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By Curtis Perry on October 30, 2014
Suffice to say, it has been a long and tumultuous week in Ottawa. For some here in the nation's capital, it was recently capped off with a remarkably timely and well-executed rendition of Liszt's Lenore and the Dante Symphony.
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By Curtis Perry on October 22, 2014
Daniel Spreadbury is Product Marketing Manager for Steinberg’s in-house scoring application. I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly about the ongoing development of computer music standards in the wake of the digital humanities movement, the challenge of building great software, and the future of digital music notation. Learn more about the application’s development at blog.steinberg.net, and follow Daniel @dspreadbury.
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By Curtis Perry on October 16, 2014
I recently started an MA program in Music and Culture further north, at Carleton University, Ottawa. I feel it could be useful to give a few points of advice based on my brief experience to far, for those who may be beginning to consider something similar, as the Fall marches on and the next year's plans come to view. Granted, this is only one graduate student's perspective one month in, but I'll do my best...
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By Curtis Perry on September 25, 2014
Ottawa's electroacoustic music scene? After one discovers it exists, one realizes how vital and vibrant it is.
Jeff Morton greeted the supportive and sizeable crowd on the evening of Saturday September 13th at the University of Ottawa's Freiman Hall in an appropriately mixed combination of grey blazer with dirty red sneakers. "There's a lot to be seen on this stage, but there's a lot of mystery too," he enthused, before promptly giving way to the music...
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By Curtis Perry on August 27, 2014
I believe the question of what a composer is today rests on what basis a composer – a practitioner of sound-art – is capable of accurately reflecting our contemporary rituals and life experiences.
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