CutCommon, and more
Dear reader,
Well, I know this is an occasional blog, but I didn’t realise it had become more occasional than not.
But here I am, back again to tell you about a newly discovered (for me) online music review and article website called CutCommon, which you can find at: https://www.cutcommonmag.com
Sub-titled ‘The new generation of classical music’, it does seem to offer fresh views on all things classical music, and as such I thought you would like to know about it.
On the home-front, I was lucky enough to be able to attend an extraordinary production by the Blue Mountains Musical Society of ‘Urinetown: The Musical’ (music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis). As described by Wikipedia, this is a satirical comedy musical that premiered in 2001. ‘It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics. The show also parodies musicals such as The Threepenny Opera, The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, and the Broadway musical itself as a form’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinetown). As local director and artist, Naomi Livingston, said to me, the musical ‘The Book of Mormon’ would probably have not been possible without ‘Urinetown’ as a precursor. I was impressed by the quality of this performance from our local community musical society, and shocked by the story. With a wonderful set designed by local designer Anna Gardiner, under Naomi’s great direction and a great band on stage, this was really worth seeing.
I had the honour once again of being invited to assess a category of the Art Music Awards, presented each year by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre, and have enjoyed looking at the nominations to this category over the last few weeks. The quality of Australian music and music-making never ceases to amaze me, making it particularly hard to rate one nomination over the other. A pleasurable challenge to have, indeed. See http://apraamcos.com.au/awards/2018-awards/art-music-awards/
And Music Australia brings to us a subject close to my heart – music and health – in its article on ‘Medical Professionals Examine the Benefits of Combining health and culture’, which you can find here:
https://musicaustralia.org.au/2018/05/medical-professionals-examine-the-benefits-of-combining-health-and-culture/
This week’s featured music, ‘Resting’, is for my friends Martin and Peter, whose birthday is coming up this Sunday, and comes from the album ‘Places with high levels of natural beauty’. Happy Birthday, dear twins!
Until next time,
Peta
PS Scroll down to the bottom of this web page to play the featured music.
As always, for more details go to http://www.petawilliams.com.au/music_cd_baby/ .