It appears New York Times writer and Time Out New York music editor Steve Smith is the latest victim of the Siren Twitter's call.But what is this? My heart be still: it looks like he's going to Tweet about receiving CDs in the mail and getting off the phone with interviewees! Does it make me the Biggest Publicity Nerd in the Land if that's the best news I've heard all week? Showered with beauty by today's mail: new CDs from Christopher Tignor, Peter Garland, John Luther Adams, Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola.12:30 PM Apr 6th from web Just off the … [Read more...]

(From Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes blog)Take a gander at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston's rockin' "Rivals in Renaissance Venice" microsite:Intriguing, informative, and aesthetically-pleasing. Triple-threat!Will Schirmer's new SchirmerOnDemand have cool e-musicologists - or perhaps even e-versions of the composers themselves?? - guiding us through their scores? My registration is pending, but Molly Sheridan has her review of the site here. … [Read more...]

I'm on a use-me-and-abuse-me kick. I want to be pitched more when I'm inside venues, in case you didn't get the message here and here. I saw the movie Sunshine Cleaning two weekends ago, and for the first time was interested in every single film that was previewed. They were, in order, Sleep Dealer, Brothers Bloom, Cheri, Adventureland, 500 Days of Summer, The Soloist (but only because I spotted the back of Esa-Pekka Salonen's head in the preview and got excited), and The Limits of Control. I anticipated that the "Feature Presentation" would be … [Read more...]

I roll my eyes at myself when I write about manicures, facials, etc. on this blog, so I can only imagine how you all react. That said, there's no use pretending I'm something I'm not, so, onward...I got a facial at a lovely little shop called Ling on the Upper West Side a couple weeks back. Turns out, the place was a hotbed (hot...compress?) of good marketing ideas. At one point during the facial, the woman Wendy asked how I'd heard about Ling. "New York Magazine", I said. A listing in New York Magazine? "No, a friend-of-a-friend works there … [Read more...]

From The Guardian today: Consolidating its position at the cutting edge of new media technology, the Guardian today announces that it will become the first newspaper in the world to be published exclusively via Twitter, the sensationally popular social networking service that has transformed online communication...A mammoth project is also under way to rewrite the whole of the newspaper's archive, stretching back to 1821, in the form of tweets. Major stories already completed include "1832 Reform Act gives voting rights to one in five adult … [Read more...]

In a time when nearly every classical music writer has a personal or publication blog, Parterre Box's James Jorden has started reviewing for The New York Post, an honest-to-goodness newspaper. His first review, of The Metropolitan Opera's La Sonnambula, was printed on March 4, 2009. Click here for his next review, of Rusalka, also at The Met, and then here for his coverage of The Met's 125th Anniversary Gala. Having an extremely popular opera blogger write for a print paper - that we'll just safely assume is in trouble - is shrewd. Jorden has a … [Read more...]

There's a Family Guy episode where Peter, Lois, Chris, Stewie and Brian are drowning and, certain they are all about to die, Peter admits to not liking The Godfather. "It insists upon itself, Lois," he explains. "It insists upon itself."It may actually be impossible not to stand at the end of the Broadway revival of Hair. Whether you like the musical, or even like musicals at all, the cast of and the creative team behind this production - transferred from The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park last summer - simply demand you to buy into … [Read more...]

Few things crack me up like spotting classical music celebrities. I perk up and think Oh! There's so-and-so, knowing full-well that no one else on the street recognizes the person. And then I laugh, laugh, laugh to myself at the silliness of the classical music celebrity concept for the rest of the day. (I'm pretty easily entertained.)For example, I just saw Juan Diego Florez on the corner of 65th and Broadway, looking spiffy in a leather jacket and black jeans. I hopped to the left so he could pass and gave him the ol' twinkly-eyed … [Read more...]

Are there any classical music-specific iPhone applications? If there aren't, shouldn't someone hit that? Maybe a variation on Shazam, where you hold the phone up to the speakers when classical music is playing and it finds the score for you. Critics could use it during performances! Shazam aside, maybe the application could pull the score if you're just listening to classical music on your iPhone. Calling all music publishers...? This is never going to get new fans for the art form, but it would certainly be exciting for existing music dorks. … [Read more...]

Making a rare appearance across the Brooklyn border, I met with choreographer Chase Brock and members of his company The Chase Brock Experience (click for an excellent website) on Tuesday. One thing we all discussed was how it's more fun to go see your friends dance than it is to see performances when you don't know anyone on stage. Of course seeing total strangers is intriguing in its own ways/shapes/forms, but prefer it or not, the experience is more detached.  I've written before about how much I enjoy my clients' performances because I … [Read more...]

You know what my press releases are lacking? Balls references. And ironic quotes. I love how "shows" is written here, like, allegedly that's what they're promoting but who even knows. "Eric Owens makes his Carnegie Hall 'recital' debut this April." Courtesy of a blogger friend:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE3/25/09** Das Racist - Backpack Trap Rap to Dance To! **Lacing electronic, dubstep, and hip-hop beats with worldly freak folk lyrics, Das Racist kicks your balls into outer space. Influenced by rap duos like Kid 'N Play, Bert 'N Ernie, and Ghost 'N … [Read more...]

A writer I work with a lot just forwarded this, let's say "pitch", along:I do hope you'll list this unusual concert - lots of beautiful young peopleand three world premieres, by very sexy composers: [lists three composers]."...three world premieres"-yessss we're going to talk about music and...and...noooo, you should write about this concert because of all the hot-hot-hotness.Groan, I say. And not in a sexy way. … [Read more...]

I asked my friend Megan to text/e mail me a marketing reports for the blog from South by Southwest:i was thinking about marketing things from sxsw and came up with absolutely nothing.  i mean.....it's the same as every other live music show or festival but just on steroids.  there's like a million product promotions (and always the same products.  soco and dewars own the hipster booze circuit i swear) and branding events and whatever but it's all the same.  metallica played to promote their guitar hero game....but that … [Read more...]

I throw my computer into various purses (or "bags", says the semantics police) like it's a wallet. I'm constantly killing an hour, two hours, between meetings, and if I don't work during those gaps, I'll just spend money. It's 5pm on Saturday and I'm meeting a friend to see a movie at the AMC Loews "Lincoln Square" at 7:15. The Starbucks behind the Barnes & Noble is gross, so...ah! Alice Tully's "At 65 Café", a coffee shop/lunch spot/ bar in the lobby of the new Alice Tully Hall. I walk in and ask the host if there's a seat with a plug. … [Read more...]