Springtime in NY: Mavericks and more

No, I am not talking about the NBA teams of Dallas and New York assaulting each other at Madison Square Garden (even though it will probably happen).  Springtime in New York always signifies the visits of a number of the world's orchestras to Carnegie Hall.  The Berlin Philharmonic just appeared and the within the next few months a number of others will bring extremely interesting programming to our nation's cultural capital.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony have proven that an orchestra can program contemporary music, perform it well, and keep the patrons coming back for more.  One has to wonder if this is a phenomenon limited to the Bay Area, or if the model would work elsewhere....that is probably a discussion for another time.  Still, Thomas and his band bring a four-concert residency to Carnegie and the programming could be no further away from the conservative nature found in most of America's halls.  Here's the line-up:

Tuesday, March 27:

• JOHN CAGE Selections from Song Books
• HENRY COWELL Synchrony
• JOHN ADAMS Absolute Jest for String Quartet and Orchestra (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the San Francisco Symphony)
• EDGARD VARÈSE Amériques

Wednesday, March 28:

• CARL RUGGLES Sun-Treader
• MORTON FELDMAN Piano and Orchestra
• CHARLES IVES A Concord Symphony (orch. Henry Brant)

Thursday, March 29:

• HARRY PARTCH Daphne of the Dunes
• MASON BATES Mass Transmission (NY Premiere)
• LOU HARRISON Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra
• DAVID DEL TREDICI Syzygy

Friday, March 30 (Zankel Hall):

• STEVE REICH Music for Pieces of Wood
• MEREDITH MONK Realm Variations (NY Premiere)
• LUKAS FOSS Echoi
• MORTON SUBOTNICK Jacob’s Room: Monodrama (NY Premiere)

May 7-12 brings the "Spring for Music" Festival to Carnegie (although I long to spend those times in Prague).  Unfortunately I am ale to do neither.  Still the array of ensembles is quite interesting and their programs even more so, with a large number of NY premieres scattered among the concerts.

May 7:  Houston Symphony, presenting an all-Shostakovich program.

May 8:  Edmonton Symphony, with works by Canadians Robert Rival, John Estacio, Allan Gilliland, and the first symphony of Bohuslav Martinu.

May 9:  New Jersey Symphony:  works by Varese, Weill and Busoni.

May 10:  Alabama Symphony:  works by Avner Dorman, Paul Lansky and some guy named Beethoven.

May 11:  Milwaukee Symphony (led by Madison, WI resident Edo de Waart!):  works by Messiaen, Debussy, and Qigang Chen.

May 12:  Nashville Symphony:  Charles Ives, Terry Riley, and Percy Grainger(!!!!!)

What a fantastic time to be in New York City!  And it gets even better:  tickets to EVERY concert are $25 each.  For more information, look here.