This year we're celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Ives, born October 20,1874 in Danbury, CT. The pioneering composer, little known in his own lifetime, became for many the quintessential American composer of the 20th century. His music embraces the hymns and popular tunes of his childhood, the spirit of New England transcendentalism, and avant-garde experimentalism. He is the spiritual father of a great host of composers.

To mark the anniversary, The Charles Ives Society is presenting From the Ives Studio, a series of videos with commentaries from writers, performers, and scholars who have contributed to a deeper understanding of Ives and his music over recent decades. This month conductor and Ives editor James Sinclair recorded an Ives CD with Orchestra New England for Naxos that includes – even at this late date – several premiere recordings. 

Julia Perry Centenary  

The centenary of Julia Perry's birth occurs on March 25. Her music has been a noted rediscovery in recent years, with works such as Short Piece for Orchestra and Stabat Mater for alto and strings, receiving prominent performances. Stabat Mater was recently performed by J'Nai Bridges and the New York Philharmonic, and will be performed this month by Josefina Maldonado with the Cleveland Orchestra and Katherine Maysek with Boston's Emmanuel Music. Perry's Piano Concerto No. 2 receives its U.S. premiere at the University of Pittsburgh next month, with soloist Robert Frankenberry. 

The Akron Symphony has digitally released premiere recordings of Perry's ensemble works Homage to Vivaldi for orchestra and Frammenti dalle lettere di Santa Caterina (Fragments from the Letters of Saint Catherine) for soprano solo (Louise Toppin), mixed chorus, and chamber orchestra, along with Pastoral for flute (Barbara O'Brien) and string sextet. Christopher Wilkins conducts. 

Tania León's Dual Residencies

In Raíces (Origins), Tania León celebrates her rich heritage and recalls the street life in her native Cuba, where music and dance were everywhere. The 15-minute work was commissioned and premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner on March 6 in London and March 8 in Bruges. Raíces is the first commissioned work to be performed by the LPO in León’s 2-year residency. The Guardian review stated that Raíces "hinted at mysterious, sun-dappled vistas, holding the attention throughout." 

León also holds Carnegie Hall's Debs Composer Chair. March events include a performance of Axon by Carnegie's Ensemble Connect on the 18th, and Toque by Alarm Will Sound, both in its original septet form and also in an expanded instrumentation by John Orfe on the 26th. On March 30, Carnegie hosts a conversation between Tania and Mitsuko Uchida. 

Photo by Gail Hadani 

This fascinating album represents nothing less than a whole new kind of song cycle.  – AllMusic Guide

Daron Hagen's The Art of Song for six singers and piano has been recorded by Lyric Fest and released on Naxos. Lyric Fest co-commissioned the work with Brooklyn Art Song Society. The AllMusic Guide review by James Manheim describes the tremendous variety found in the 24 songs, grouped by the four seasons.

Manheim writes: "The variety occurs not only between songs but within them; Hagen often sets texts in counterpoint to each other, with multiple singers." The song "Peace Quodlibet" juxtaposes and overlays words from Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Paul Robeson, and Eleanor Roosevelt .   

Hagen's operafilm 9/10: Love Before the Fall, composed and directed by the composer, has received best picture and best original score awards at a number of festivals, as tracked by IMDB. There will be a screening of the film with talkback at Upstate Films, Rhinebeck, NY, on March 25. 

                                                                                         The cast of 9/10, with the composer at back. 

Mieczyslaw Weinberg in Madrid: From Epic to Intimate

Mieczyslaw Weinberg's celebrated opera The Passenger is currently onstage at Madrid's Teatro Real in its original production, first staged at the Bregenz Festival in 2010. The production is directed by David Pountney and conducted by Mirga Gražinytè-Tyla, who "maintained the intensity and emotion throughout the opera" (Seen and Heard International). 

Also this week in Madrid, the Fundación Juan March hosts the Danel Quartet in Weinberg's complete string quartets, heard over 5 days. Danel was the first quartet to record the complete cycle of the 17 Weinberg quartets. 

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