Gabriel Kahane News

It takes a special artist to push past the boundaries of their chosen genre and expand their mastery of craft and concept in unique directions. Volume 16 of National Sawdust's Digital Discovery Festival is devoted to these Trailblazers, performers and composers who force us to rethink our assumptions about what music can or should be, creating a new way forward for artists and audiences alike.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops today announced seven additional composers for their ongoing commissioning initiative, The Fanfare Project, bringing the total number of commissions thus far to 20.

As Musikfest (July 31-Aug. 9) gets set to kick off tonight at 7 p.m. EST, Michigan-based indie-folk trio The Accidentals have shared the first song from the 90-plus performances scheduled for this year's festival. The band will 'perform' tonight, July 31, 8 p.m., as part of a lineup that also features Andrew Leahey & The Homestead, Shamarr Allen and Reverend Horton Heat.  

With over sixty total events featuring more than 100 artists over a four month span, National Sawdust's ongoing Digital Discovery Festival is the rarest sort of story in NYC's post-COVID live music world: an unalloyed success.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Cincinnati Pops today announced a new initiative, The Fanfare Project, borne of the Orchestra's heritage as a champion of the music of its time and of the role of music to unite us in uncertain times. The inspiration for the initiative is Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, commissioned by CSO Music Director Eugene Goossens in 1942 in support of Allied efforts and as a testament to the American spirit during World War II. The Orchestra gave the world premiere on March 12, 1943. 

On Friday, May 22, 2020, GRAMMY-winning choir The Crossing, led by Donald Nally, releases CARTHAGE, an album featuring six striking pieces by composer James Primosch, on Navona Records. Internationally recognized and prolific, Primosch is the 2020 winner of The Virgil Thomson Award for Vocal Music from The American Academy of Arts and Letters.

NYFOS and its Emerging Artists bring the eclectic and uplifting program THE ART OF PLEASURE to the world today and tomorrow.

Grammya"?-winning new-music choir The Crossing, led by Donald Nally, gives the world premiere performances of Michael Gordon's Travel Guide to Nicaragua with cellist Maya Beiser in presentations by co-commissioners, the Annenberg Center on Sunday, March 22, 2020 at 7:00pm in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 7:30pm in New York City. Before the Carnegie Hall performance on March 25, Donald Nally and Michael Gordon will have a 6:30pm pre-concert conversation with John Schaefer, host of WNYC's New Sounds and Soundcheck.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Music Director Louis Langrée have unveiled details of the Orchestra's 2020-21 season, encompassing a wide range of artistic experiences and a diverse roster of artists.

The Annenberg Center will present Grammya"?-winning new-music choir The Crossing in the premiere of a newly staged theatrical production, Knee Plays, on Friday, February 21, 2020 at 8pm and Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 8pm at the Harold Prince Theatre. The program, part of the Center's #GLASSFEST celebration, features a rare opportunity to hear Knee Plays from Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach and David Byrne's New Orleans-inspired contribution to Robert Wilson's large scale project, the CIVIL warS. The premiere will be narrated by popular Philadelphia actor Dito van Reigersberg.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale announced today the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors: Alex G. Romain, Laura Smolowe and Andrea Williams.

Aluminum Overcast features the music of Early Gray, a cross-genre music duo consisting of guitarist Drake Duffer and pianist Owen Dodds. They will be joined live by bassist Garrett Hilliard, and in recording by the vocals of Gabriel Kahane and Tanner Porter. An exploration of space, time, home, and loneliness, this immersive experience features film, puppetry, and animation in a multi-disciplinary debut performance. The innovative new music hails from Early Gray's upcoming record, which is currently in production.

The Crossing has received an extremely generous $200,000 gift from long-time friend, advocate, and supporter Thomas Kasdorf of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The extraordinary unrestricted funding will support The Crossing's 2019-2020 season, with commissions of Edie Hill, Tawnie Olsen, Gavin Bryars, Daniel Felsenfeld, Aaron Helgeson, Gabriel Jackson, and Michael Gordon at venues such as Crane Arts Icebox, the Met Cloisters, the Hal Prince Theater and Zellerbach Theaters at the Annenberg Center, Holy Trinity Rittenhouse Square, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and at The Crossing's home, the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.

Calling all musical adventurists! The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's new CSO Proof series offers a novel way to experience performances at Music Hall. Imagine artists and audience members sharing the stage in casual, intermission-less concerts with elements of music, theater, lighting and dance. During the 2019/2020 season, three CSO Proof performances will help celebrate the Orchestra's 125th anniversary by presenting artists collaborating with different curators who craft themes connecting orchestral music to listeners in adventurous ways.

Fresh from its two Grammy Award wins last February, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has added another CD to its extensive discography: recent Boston Symphony Orchestra commissions of works by American composers Timo Andres, Eric Nathan, Sean Shepherd, and George Tsontakis. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in recordings made live at Symphony Hall from February 2016 through February 2018.

Oscar- and Grammy-nominated composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevensreleases his acclaimed score for Justin Peck's ballet The Decalogue today via his own label, AKR.

Music Kitchen, an organization founded and led by concert violinist and entrepreneur Kelly Hall-Tompkins, will make its debut at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Oscar- and Grammy-nominated composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens debuts pianist Timo Andres' recording of “IV” from The Decalogue today.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale announced today that the Abbott L. Brown Foundation (ALBF) has awarded a challenge grant to support the organization's mission and programs. The ALBF will match up to a total of $100,000 funded contributions to the newly formed Leadership Circle, founded by Abbott L. Brown and Jerrie Paula Ortega-Brown.

Oscar- and Grammy-nominated composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens will release his acclaimed score for Justin Peck's ballet The Decalogue October 18 via his own label, AKR. Performed by the pianist Timo Andres, the recording is the first time the score, premiered during the New York City Ballet's 2017 season, is available to the public.