In Wednesday’s (1/5) Rochester City Newspaper (New York), Paloma Capanna writes, “If Brad Lubman has his way, your New Year’s resolution will be to attend at least one ‘new music’ concert in 2011. ‘Why does it have to have a label? Just go and try it out,’ says Lubman. ‘The worst thing that will happen is that when it’s over you’ll say, ‘…I won’t be downloading that to my iTunes.’ Lubman is a conductor and composer based at the Eastman School of Music who has led major orchestras and ensembles. His national credits include the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, and Chicago Symphony MusicNOW.” The writer spoke with Lubman as he rehearsed Musica Nova, a new-music ensemble based at Eastman. “It appears that adding to what one might call ‘the problem with new music’ is that there isn’t even a universally accepted definition for the genre. … ‘If you play the first 30 seconds of Richard Strauss ‘Four Last Songs’ and then the first 30 seconds of the Pierre Boulez Piano Sonata No. 2, chances are most people would immediately put those two pieces very far apart. The image that comes to the mind is Romantic-era, late 1800’s and then very, very modern,’ he says, pausing for dramatic effect. ‘Both pieces were written in 1948.’ ”
Posted January 5, 2011
