After finishing my master's in Ohio, I was pretty excited to get back to the D.C. area where I grew up. Despite attempts to convince myself otherwise, the East Coast (or at least the Mid-Atlantic) will always run through my blood for better or worse. However, because I spent six years of my life living in the Midwest I do have enough perspective to realize that the East Coast is not all that there is in the U.S. in terms of life, culture, music, etc. Therefore, I have been somewhat stunned and disappointed upon my return to realize how much New York City seems to cast a shadow over East Coast new music culture.
Even a couple of weeks ago we had a guest speaker at Peabody who told us that he had been slightly appalled by a joke that he heard recently at a new music party in Brooklyn. Someone said something along the lines of, "Wow, if a bomb were to go off in this building right now, what would that mean for the future of American music?" Obviously this is incredibly anecdotal and is also just your typical elite party talk, but it still ticked me off because of its arrogance and ignorance.
New York City is a wonderful place for music, without a doubt. It is one of the few cities in our country that has a vibrant scene with regular concerts and thousands of talented musicians and artists. But American music, by its very nature, should encompass the music of all of America, not just the music of one city. Because of the university system, local music programs, and regional orchestras and new music ensembles, we know that there are amazing composers working all across the country in rural and urban locations writing a wide range of avant-garde and traditional music.
Having lived near Minneapolis/St. Paul and in Cincinnati, I know that both of these urban areas have their own vibrant new music scenes. Minneapolis/St. Paul not only is the location of the American Composers Forum, but it is also home to the Minnesota Orchestra, which offers opportunities for talented young composers through the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. Cincinnati has a wonderful orchestra and an active new music scene with groups such as concert:nova and festivals such as MusicNOW. I am currently discovering that Washington, D.C. and Baltimore also both have incredibly rich new music scenes with groups such as the Verge Ensemble, Great Noise Ensemble, and Cantate, and with venues and concert series such as An Die Musik and the Evolutionary Concert Series, respectively. The D.C./Baltimore area also boasts several orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony and the National Symphony. Honestly, I could go on about dozens of other cities, as well (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc., etc., etc.).
New York, I love you, but I promise that American music exists outside your city limits.
Posted by Natalie
No comments:
Post a Comment