Where I like to Conduct, a magazine piece about me!

Classical Artists-QAmbassador Posted 2012-05-06 Glen Roven/Photo: Ahren R Foster Glen Roven-Conductor "I wish I had a more exotic answer to this question: Bangkok, St. Petersburg, Kuala Lumpur. But the fact is, I love performing in New York City, my home town. And more than anything I love performing at Carnegie Hall. Of course it’s one of the most acoustically perfect halls in the world: violins never sound as lush or flutes as sweet, that’s a given. But it’s more than the mere brilliant acoustics. It’s the history, it’s the legendary status, it’s just…well, it’s Carnegie Hall. Before my debut, I was fortunate enough to have performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues; I even conducted four Presidential Inaugurations on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. So I was a bit blasé about the concert. But then I stepped on the stage and the whole Carnegie Hall legend washed over me like a tsunami -- I almost swooned. There I was, little me, standing on that stage, getting ready to conduct my Violin Concerto; there in front of me was that auditorium; there behind me was the legendary ornate quasi-rococo baroque/classical wall ornamentation. And there was the iconic conductor’s podium with its thick, gold-barred surround to prevent even the most athletic conductor (Lenny?) from tumbling into the audience. I regained my composer, said hello to the ghosts of Mahler and Tchaikovsky, and stepped up to the podium. So that’s what all the practicing was for!" Glen Roven, a four-time Emmy winner, has conducted The Israel Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Munich Philharmonic, The Radio Luxembourg Orchestra, The American Symphony, as well as many others. Roven has produced for Julie Andrews, Kathleen Battle, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G., Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Quincy Jones, Kermit the Frog, Patti LaBelle, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross to name a few. The conductor is also the co-founder of GPR Records, along with Peter Fitzgerald and Richard Cohen, issuing Broadway, Classical, Spoken Word and Children's Music.

A nice piece about Laurne

MUSIC MONDAY | Twenty Questions with soprano, Lauren Flanigan Posted on April 30, 2012 by Christie Connolley, OperagasmUptempo Magazine found some time to catch up with Lauren Flanigan, who Time Magazine dubbed, ‘the thinking man’s diva’. This famous soprano has performed in over 100 operatic roles all over the world, from the Metropolitan Opera to Teatro La Scala to Glyndebourne and beyond. She has earned awards and accolades from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the New York City Opera, and the Center for Contemporary Opera. Not to mention her star turn as the Ice Skating Diva in the movie Death to Smoochy.Lauren Flanigan has always championed modern composers and contemporary works, and her recent project (incidentally perfect for Mother’s Day) is no exception. A recording of Glen Roven’s new compositions based on Margaret Wise Brown’s masterpieces, Goodnight Moon: Lullaby for Soprano and Orchestra and The Runaway Bunny Concerto. Are you ready to play twenty questions with this celebrated diva? Here we go! If Hollywood made your life into a glamorous biopic what actor would you want to portray you on the big screen? Laura Linney Your favorite book? Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale East of the Sun West of the Moon Nordic fairy tales and stories Funniest mishap onstage? Irish wolfhound pulled me off stage in La Boheme while I was singing Musetta’s Quando m’en vo. What is the one item in your closet you splurged on? Paloma Picasso Handbag If you could undertake any role in any opera, regardless of fach or gender, what would it be? Any comic role. I’m tired of killing people onstage!! Last TV show you watched? Animal Planet’s My Crazy Cat from Hell Favorite composer? Verdi If you weren’t a singer, what would you be? Public Advocate, social worker, nun What do you consider your trademark characteristic? Stage animal If you could have any superpower, what would you choose? I’d like my hearing back Your celebrity crush? Chow Yun Fat Where is your favorite place to relax and recharge? Garden or bar Your favorite comfort food? Martini or bacon, but not together What character in history do you feel deserves, but has not yet received the operatic treatment? Virgin Mary Dream vacation destination? Venice Italy Who is your hero? Feminists Team Edward or Team Jacob? Team baseball Your favorite hobby? Gardening Guilty pleasure? Hanging with my dog Seamus and no cell phone You are stranded on a desert island with one recording of your choosing what would it be? Anything by Bill Evans or Caballe

More Five Boroughs Ink

by Stephen Eddins Five Borough Songbook is a project of the Five Boroughs Music Festival, a collective of musicians whose goal is to bring topnotch musical performances to parts of the city whose audiences aren't likely to have access to conventional Manhattan concert experiences. In 2011, the festival commissioned 20 New York-area composers to write songs about the city, and the result is an attractive assortment of vocal pieces. Half of the composers took advantage of having a number of singers available, and there are vocal duets, trios, and quartets as well as solos. Pianists Thomas Bagwell and Jocelyn Dueck and violinist Harumi Rhodes artfully negotiate the varied accompaniments. The soloists include sopranos Mireille Asselin and Martha Guth, mezzo-sopranos Meg Bragle and Blythe Gaissert, tenors Javier Abreu and Keith Jameson, and baritones Jesse Blumberg, Scott Dispensa, David McFerrin, and David Adam Moore. They perform with polish, complete investment in the music, and disarming youthful energy. While there is considerable stylistic variety in the music, most of it still lies within the broad parameters of post-Modern lyricism, or, in some cases, a traditional post-Romanticism. In what is probably the most affecting and powerful piece, On Leaving Brooklyn, Yotam Haber uses four voices deployed chorally, accompanied by violin. Its minimalist-inflected harmonic stasis, a poignant balance of the acerbic and sweet, and its fragile, intricate textures beautifully convey the yearning of Julia Kasdorf's reimagining of Psalm 137's lament for Jerusalem. Other highlights include Ricky Ian Gordon's vibrant, brawny setting of Whitman's O City of Ships; Christina Courtin's intensely lyrical Fresh Kills; Daron Hagen's skillful, Broadway-tinged duet, The New Yorkers; Jorge Martín's exuberant honky-tonk City of Orgies, Walks, and Joys!, based on Whitman; Scott Wheeler's lovely, distinctive setting of Charles MacKay's At Home in Staten Island, for soprano and violin, which has the unmannered, memorable melodic directness of an Appalachian ballad; and Richard Pearson Thomas' giddily frenetic The Center of the Universe. The sound quality is adequate but not especially lively. The album offers an intriguing snapshot of the world of New York song at the end of the first decade of the century and should especially interest fans of new vocal music.