A few weeks ago, a composer I was in correspondence with mentioned that it had been a while since he’d last cruised through Baltimore, but that he suspected Charm City’s new music scene was in need of some fresh energy to get things revitalized. With more than a little bit of hometown cheerleader excitement, I shot back: Something like this, perhaps?
Admittedly, the fact that the curator of the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern music series, Brian Sacawa, is my husband means that I can in no way be counted as a credible source of unbiased opinion in this matter. Still, the lineup of repertoire and performers, the debut this season of a serious collaboration with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the supportive audience and media environment, and, um, the fact that Sacawa lets me toss in (a.k.a. shout from my office) my 2 cents re: programming ideas from time to time? I’d say that’s a situation–a pretty sweet one, as far as homes for new music go.
Mobtown Modern’s 2010-11 season kicks off next Tuesday night with an all-Ligeti showcase. If you’re in the area (or even if you’re not–the shows are walking distance from the train station, and I’ve been on late night subway rides that took longer to get me from Queens to Brooklyn than from NYC to Baltimore, I swear) we hope you’ll stop by! Powerhouse pianist Jenny Lin, BSO violist Karin Brown, a sax quartet, a 16-voice choir, and 100 metronomes will be in the house for what seems set to be a killer opening night.
And by “office” she means “kitchen table.”
I’d just like to add that it’s not only relatives who feel this way. Mobtown Modern has been an amazingly wonderful addition to the arts scene in Baltimore. Their buzz extends far beyond the normal new music community to include writers, artists and anyone who is interested in an exciting musical experience. Their programming is phenomenal and the are avid and energetic.
And this season looks AMAZING!
Out of towners might want to come here to Charm City to see what’s cooking.
– David
The season is very impressive. It’s nice to see local composers presented, even if there is still a lot of talent imported from NYC – the usual situation of contemporary classical. (And there might even be a downtownish bent, which makes it even a segment of NYC.) I wonder if there is any city in the Northeast outside of NYC that could claim a genuinely autonomous new music scene (i.e. programs where the clear majority of the composers are local and locally trained.) Boston might be the closest. And in a country of 320 million, perhaps only Chicago and San Francisco could make a similar claim.
There are 8.4 million people in the Baltimore combined statistical area. That is far more than enough people to create an autonomous cultural zone. Art is by nature communal. Our cultural lives will be healthiest when most major urban areas have cultural lives free from NYC.
Think of places with unique cultures like Miami, New Orleans, Denver, Austin, Phoenix, Des Moines, Boise, or Seattle, and dream of what it would be like if their classical new music communities were really local, autonomous, alive, and important as NYC’s. So I think your composer friend still might have a point.
P.S. As an example of the implications of my idea, 63% of the people in Baltimore are African-Americans. What if 63% of the composers on the Mobtown series were black? Of course, it’s not the fault of the curators that it’s not, but it helps us understand the meaning of culture and that something might be a bit amiss with our cultural lives.
William, something would only be amiss if we assume that composers and contemporary classical music are equally important to African-American culture as they were to Euro-American.
Hello Steve. Nice to hear from you. Yes, it is a difficult question. In my view, many Americans rationalize this situation with the assumption that African-Americans have their own rich musical traditions and are simply not interested in classical music. I feel such views represent a form of aesthetic segregation. Of course, the talents of African-Americans are as manifest in classical music as in jazz and pop. I don’t think the paucity of African-Americans in classical music has been a free choice. I think it has been determined by a racially informed class system. And as I discuss above, this same class system also affects whites, because it concentrates the power centers of classical music in a few financial centers and leaves the rest of the country relatively impoverished.