Innovative “Homer in Cyberspace” breathes new life into ancient heroes
by David Chute
Getting Aphrodite Off the Ground
In the surreal virtual universe of Mel Shapiro’s “Homer in Cyberspace,” the gods of ancient Greece have been deposed, “shrink-wrapped and imprisoned” by a new race of digital/electronic deities known as the iGods.
Struggling to return home to his loyal wife […]
And now for something completely different. I love how, in the first transition, he slaps the lower manual to emulate a drum. He keeps WATCHING me through the whole piece, feels almost creepy.
I wonder what the history of performers playing 2 keyboards at the same time is? People around in the 1970s remember Keith […]
On Sunday, Daniel invited his uncle and aunt, Tita [aunt] Eden and her husband Nelson, their sons and daughters and their children to our house for the afternoon. We had a dozen kids under the age of 13 here and I have to say they were the best behaved children I’ve seen in years When […]
This just in from Prof Waterman. Get down, but not too much.
In 1976, America was all excited about being 200 years old and many of its major orchestras participated in consortium commissioned works. One of those works that I loved was called “Final Alice” by David Del Tredici. In fact it wasn’t only I that loved the work, the piece got standing ovations no matter […]
Yesterday Daniel and I got to see the first complete run-through of HOMER IN CYBERSPACE. I think we may have a hit on our hands. The pacing is excellent, the story is sexy, compelling and entertaining, everyone will like the music, the actors are terrific and everything will only get better as we still have […]
Portable Concerto for viola and electronics was written through and NEA commission. Three composers (me, Gary Philo, and Wm Thomas McKinley) wrote pieces for three violists (Walter Trampler, Marcus Thompson, and James Dunham) who each were to play the all the pieces in different cities. It was Paul Reale who convinced me to not “write […]
I lived with my family in Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1960 to 1963. One of the memories I have of that time is the SMELL of spring. Spring in the desert. And later, when I lived in Wisconsin or Boston, every spring I would smell the western desert calling me back.
[I take the bus these days. Sick of paying so much at the tank, and you see a lot of stuff you don’t otherwise see. It seems a good source of blog stories, so here.]
On the way home today, the back of the bus was dominated by 5 boys, probably 14 to 15 years old. […]
The doorbell rang this morning. I wasn’t expecting anyone so I peaked through the side window and saw a creature that resembled Cousin It in the Addams Family. My heart thumped not being sure what it was. I went to the door, opened it and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi […]
Rufus wants us all to participate in a “turn your electricity off” on June 21. He has a webpage describing what is behind this effort, and it is laudable.
And while you’re at it, you can purchase a bust of Rufus for your piano, or your famous composer bust collection.
Tonight I went to a concert, and after the second piece on the 2nd half, I was FULL. I had a hard time listening to more. The music went in my brain, but I didn’t aggressively take it in as I did when I was fresh. It wasn’t that the music was bad, it was […]
I first heard Ketjak in Fellini’s SATYRICON and then later when I studied Indonesian music as an undergraduate. Last year I heard a riveting realization of Ketjak in the film BARAKA. (see below) I love the first performance (above) for its raw power. I was taught that this was an example of hocketing, or […]
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