Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Andy Druckenbrod on PNMNet

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Phil

Pittsburgh New Music Net gets a very nice shout out from Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic Andy Druckenbrod. Here are some snippets from his post in his blog, Classical Musings.

Pittsburgh has a surprisingly vibrant new music scene for a town with not a ton of 20 and 30 somethings. In my years here, I have tried to support it whenever I can… (snip) But my role at the Post-Gazette as generalist (yes, most people would think that the classical music critic is a pretty specific post at a newspaper, but it is actually impossibly large of a beat, covering many genres and centuries), has kept me from covering contemporary music as well as I would like to…

But this is all to say that Pitt composer Phil Thompson is doing a great job catching what I miss by following the scene closely in his niche blog, Pittsburgh New Music Net. I am officially adding it to my blog roll (which is in serious need of an update). Enjoy!

He’s absolutely right about the level of new music activity going on in the Burgh. Soon after I started blogging the new music scene here I realized that I could easily post every day and not run out of things to talk about. It’s a good problem to have and I hope PNMNet helps to fill out the picture of cultural life in Pittsburgh.

Alia Musica to Perform Trouble

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Phil

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Alia Musica Pittsburgh will perform Trouble on their spring concert titled Encore! Directed by Federico Garcia, Alia Musica is a composer/performer collective made up of young Pittsburgh composers. I’m thrilled to be the featured guest composer for their upcoming concert. The performance takes place on Tuesday, March 31 at Synod Hall, Oakland. You can read the full press release below the fold. Continue reading →

WQED interviews IonSound about Hometown Heroes

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Phil

Jim Cunningham interviewed IonSound Project members Peggy Yoo, Eliseo Rael, and Rob Frankenberry about their March 8 concert. You can listen to the audio

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. I get a shout out about halfway through.

IonSound, KnotDance, and Trouble

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Phil

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Two more performances of Trouble coming up in March

Posted on February 21, 2009 by Phil

I’m pleased to announce two more performances of Trouble coming up in March:

7 p.m. March 8, University of Pittsburgh, Bellefield Hall Auditorium: IonSound Project will perform Trouble with choreography by KnotDance Company in a program titled Hometown Heroes. The concert will also feature music by Pittsburgh Symphony composer of the year John Adams, and Pittsburgh-based composers Patrick Burke, Johnathan Kolm, Eric Moe, David Stock, and Roger Zahab. Read the press release here.

8 p.m. March 31, Synod Hall, Pittsburgh: I’m delighted to be the featured guest composer with composer/performer collective Alia Musica. Alia Musica will perform Trouble as part of a program as includes works by Ivan Jimenez, Kerrith Livengood, Ayo Oluranti, Mark Fromm, and Matthew Heap. (Press release hasn’t been posted on their Web site yet; I’ll update when it is.)

(Archived post from a previous version of this site.)

Trouble to be Performed at Trinity Christian College

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Phil

My compoisition Trouble will be performed at Trinity Christian College on March 7 as part of a symposium on The Psalms, The Arts, and Worship. Fellow Pitt Alum Mark Peters is organizing the conference which will feature Theologian Marva Dawn as the main speaker. You can find out more about the symposium here. Trouble will be performed as part of the final Festival of Psalms.

(Archived post from the previous version of this site.)

City Paper profiles Pittsburgh New Music Net

Posted on January 8, 2009 by Phil

The Pittsburgh City Paper ran a very nice write-up today about Pittsburgh New Music Net, the blog I launched to gather information about contemporary music here in Pittsburgh. You can read the article here, and of course, don’t forget to stop by PNMNet.

(Archived post from a previous version of this site.)

Two New Projects

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Phil

I’m pleased to announce two recent projects which will allow me to contribute constructively to musical life in Pittsburgh. First, I’ve been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society where I’ll be helping with marketing and publicity strategies. PCMS is a tremednous cultural force in the City and it’s a great privilege to be able to help with the Society’s ongoing efforts.

Second, after consulting with a number of composers and performers in the area, I’ve launched a new blog about contemproary music in Pittsburgh called Pittsburgh New Music Net. I launched the site just before Thanksgiving and there’s been a very enthusiastic response from the local contemporary music scene and steadily growing traffic as well. Although the focus is on music and musicians in Pittsburgh, I think Pittsburgh New Music Net will be of interest to anyone engaged in the alt-classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

(Archived post from a previous version of this site.)