This American Life: Music Lessons

I don't know how many of you listen to podcasts, but "This American Life" is always one of the top rated downloads on ITUNES.

This show, about music lessons, is a re-release from Chicago Public Radio.

It's original air date was June 5, 1998 and it's available right now from ITUNES. I've not listened to it yet, but it looks quite promising . . . I encourage you to check it out and let me know what you think. I've downloaded it and will listen to it soon.

Here's a portion of the description of the show:

104: Music Lessons

What's frustrating about music lessons, what's miraculous about them, and what they actually teach us. This show was recorded in front of a live audience at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, with help from KQED-FM, during the '98 Public Radio Conference in San Francisco.

Prologue.

Durrell was a professional musician. He toured Asia, Brazil, Canada, gigs in Paris. Now he teaches chorus at a high school on Chicago's south side. Touring was easier. Durrell explains the frustrations of being a music teacher. We hear him try to cancel the last concert of the year...and how his students try to change his mind.

"Extraordinary": New BYU recording of Whitacre's music

Eric Whitacre made this announcement on his blog a few days ago:

The new BYU Singers recording is out . . . . but it's only available here, from their website. Extraordinary recordings. We'll get them up on iTunes as soon as possible, but for now, that's the only place to get it.

Eric then points us to an interview he and Ron Staheli had with Marcus Smith. Eric describes it this way:

Marcus asks some very deep, very insightful questions; he really pushed me on a number of interesting subjects. If you've got the time and the interest I think it's worth a listen.

Look on Eric's site for the interview.

And here for the new recording.

Bruffy's Spotless Rose Looks Spectacular

Check out a new release by Charles Bruffy called "Spotless Rose." I just downloaded it on Itunes after listening to this podcast.

I was immediately drawn to "Regina Coeli" by Cecilia McDowall (a composer I did not know but will very soon). David Vernier, of classicstoday.com
had this to say about the recording:

For me, the highlights of the disc are Javier Busto's two Marian pieces, Ave, maris stella and Ave, Maria. Written (as his works usually are) with such seeming simplicity and yet overwhelming beauty--an unusual, deeply felt, knowing understanding of voices that many choral composers just don't have--these two pieces will certainly have you pressing the repeat button many times. The notes by Kathryn Parke also must be cited for their extraordinarily engaging and interesting discussion of the music and the subject of Marian legend. Don't miss this.

It looks like one of the greats--give it a look.

ChoralNet Podcast #1: Brad Holmes, Millikin University

The 2007 ACDA National Convention was one of the best that I’ve ever attended. One of the most memorable choirs was the University Choir of Millikin University under the direction of Brad Holmes. I thought a conversation with Dr. Holmes about his thoughts on their performance would be a fantastic discussion for one of our first ChoralNet podcasts.

It was my pleasure to interview Dr. Holmes and talk with him about his choir’s performance, the music he selected, and other artistic elements that went into his incredible performance.

Download the podcast here. (29.6 MB)