About.com Classical Music

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:33:26 +0000

As I blogged this time last year, there is a brand new $400+ million concert hall being built about an hour south of the town I grew up in and it's much closer to being completed. Kansas City's Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is well under construction and is scheduled to open its doors next season. View the construction photos. The Kauffman Center includes a 1,800 seat proscenium theater and and 1,600 seat concert hall, both of which were meticulously designed to create near perfect acoustics as well as provide optimal viewing for every seat in the house. Hopefully, their design works. Avery Fisher Hall in New York City has been upgraded several times since its original construction, and sadly it is still criticized for it's poor acoustics. I have good faith that the Kauffman Center's acoustics will be fantastic, given that the same firm (Nagata Acoustics and project chief Yasuhisa Toyota) who designed the acoustics for Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall, praised for its excellent sound, is also designing Kansas City's. Again, let's hope it works!

Festival d�Aix-en-Provence: A Little Bit of France in New York City

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:46:13 +0000

Festival d�Aix-en-Provence, founded in 1948, is a six week celebration of opera held in late June through July in Southern France (Aix-en-Provence). With average temperatures in the mid 80s, those fortunate enough to attend the outdoor concerts in the Th��tre de l'Arch�v�ch� (the former garden of the archbishop's palace) enjoy warm evenings with great music and theater. What's that you say? You can't make it to France? Don't worry. For the first time in the festival's history, the July 10th performance of Mozart's Idomeno, R� di Creta (Idomeneo, King of Crete) will be rebroadcast on July 16th in New York City. I know, traveling to New York may still be a bit of a stretch (especially for just one opera), but those of you that will be there on vacation anyway or happen to live in the area, or those of you who can't live without opera especially now that the Met is in its off season, you can attend the performance at The French Institute Alliance Fran�aise (FIAF) located at 55 East 59th Street. For more information, including ticket purchasing, visit FIAF.

World Choir Games

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:35:45 +0000

World Choir Games is an international competition held every two years that brings together more than 20,000 singers from all over the world. World Choir Games, began in 2000, and will host their sixth competition in Shaoxing, China, next year. Mark your calendars, because the next competition after that will be held for the first time in the United States in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 4-14, 2012! Learn more about the World Choir Games.

Happy Birthday Igor Stravinsky

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:44:33 +0000

127 years ago, the early 20th century Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky, was born. Like Beethoven to the Romantic Period, Stravinsky was a 20th Century music pioneer best know for his works, The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of the century, partly due to The Rite of Spring and its infamous riot.

In honor of the great composer, here are a few YouTube videos of his work:

A Profile of Josh Groban

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:15:57 +0000

Since his debut album in 2001, Josh Groban has enjoyed great success. Like Andrea Bocelli, Groban isn't an operatic singer, but his classically influenced voice has mesmerized and captured the hearts of many people around the world, selling over 23 million albums worldwide. Learn more about Josh Groban in this profile!

Aspen Music Festival

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:28:41 +0000

Starting in just 11 days, the Aspen Music Festival in stunning Aspen, Colorado, will present a large variety of classical music concerts and other special events, all within walking distance of downtown Aspen. Though many of the concerts require tickets that roughly range in price from $10 to $80, there are plenty of free events to see including the 4th of July concert which features works by Sousa, Copland, Bernstein, Gould, Brault, Osser and more!

New Guiness World Record

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:03:02 +0000

New York Philharmonic's principal clarinet player, Stanley Drucker, set the new Guiness World Record for "longest career as clarinetist". Mr. Drucker has been performing professionally for over 62 years. (To be exact, 62 years, 7 months, and 1 day as of June 4, 2009.) Drucker will retire this year after playing for the New York Philharmonic for 60 years in over 10,200 Philharmonic performances. He was named an Honorary Member of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York. Congratulations Stanely Drucker!

Classical Music Downloads: HDtracks

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:30:19 +0000

HDtracks is a premiere music downloading service that offers CD to DVD quality music downloads. Its ever-growing catalog features an extensive collection of various musical genres including classical, blues, jazz, and more. If you're looking for another source for great classical music checkout HDtracks. The costs are a little bit higher than the normal $0.99 you're used to paying on iTunes, but you are getting a higher quality audio file.

CD Review: Lost Odyssey Soundtrack

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:32:22 +0000

Video Game Music Review
I know this isn't your typical classical music, but video game music is closely related. For some of you this is uncharted territory - don't worry, it's is a great soundtrack. If you're willing to try something new, join me in reading this review of Lost Odyssey.

Handel Festival in Germany

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:30:20 +0000

About.com's Germany Travel Guide, Birge Amondson, sent me news of the exciting festival celebrating the life and music of Georg Friedrich Handel now taking place in Halle, Germany. (Thanks, Birge!) The festival started today and will end on June 14th. Those of you living nearby or those of you on vacation in Germany would surely benefit by taking a trip out to the Handel Festival! For more information, visit Handel Festival 2009.