Limited Edition Gigi Burris ‘Classical Music is Dead’ T-Shirt

List Price: $1,000.00
Our Price: $20.00

The shirts have arrived! More pics coming soon. Get them while you can, because there are a limited quantity in existence and some of our Kickstarter backers have already got dibs on them. At $20 a pop, these soon-to-be highly-coveted and unattainable tees are truly a deal. You can snag one here.

Get ready to be envied! Hope you can handle the overwhelming amount of attention this shirt may attract. We’d love to hear about any reactions, so feel free to send along photos and stories to info@nouveauclassical.org.

Coming Soon: ‘Classical Music is Dead*’ Tee Version 2.0

People are aware of all sorts of important causes and precious endangered species going extinct…but what about the survival of classical music? Or at least its relevance to people outside classical music-dom. Like philately (which used to be one of my favorite hobbies before the miniature works of art went adhesive), classical music has become one of those hobbies that contain a handful of middle-aged aficionados, who I’m sure want to see classical music (ahem, concert music) live beyond their lifetime.

So let’s make it happen! Our new and improved ‘Classical Music is Dead*’ tee, exclusively designed for us by Gigi Burris, will help get classical music in people’s heads and get you loads of attention. It sure did for Rachel, read about her shirt shenanigans here. These limited-edition gems are rare, so you’d better nab one fast and get ready to be stalked by paparazzi! Shirts arrive February 5…more info and pics coming soon.

Publicity for $1?! Your name in lights (ok, more like in ink on quality paper) at our next event! Details here.

We Heart You, Conan

“I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now.”

-Conan

form/figure

For form/FIGURE, we curate art, fashion, and music that take a direct cue from established or traditional elements.  Musicians will wear garments by fashion designer Gigi Burris, who draws inspiration from 1930’s icons Elsa Schiaparelli and Isabella Blow in creating her elegantly disheveled pieces.  Edward Lorenz adds a modern edge to extremely classic men’s wear. Artist Chris Rini takes historical New York City architecture and saturates it in bright colors. The musical selections on this program utilize forms and styles that stem from the past.  This concert offers examples of how perspectives on fixed things can still change over time.

Publicity for $1?! Your name in lights (ok, more like in ink on quality paper) at our next event! Details here.

Partying with Hil

Headed to Hilary Hahn’s Bach Party on a block in the West Village at LPR, where I saw Alex Ross for the first time. He is way hipper looking than I imagined. The door girl asked for his name, and when she scanned her list to see if he was on there, I thought, Are you kidding me? But it turned out she was trying to play it cool. I told her she did a damn good job because I sure as hell thought she didn’t know who he was.

We hung out in the standing room as Ms. Hahn made a casual introduction and then proceeded to perform

Helmut Lang sweater. Fornarina cut-off shorts. Wolford tights Underground England Shoes. Dedicated to Citizen Couture!

’something short,’ as she said: the Ciaccona from the Partita in D minor. It was pretty much flawless, but what I loved the most was how thoughtful and engaging it was; intense moments were almost palpable. Following this performance was an arrangement of the second movement from the G minor flute sonata, accompanied by Orion Weiss, who studied with the same teacher Rach and I had, Miyoko Lotto. (What up!) Weiss had the una corda down the entire time and released it partially for bigger dynamics, and used an inaudible amount of pedal, which made for a dry, small sound. I wasn’t feeling the una corda at the beginning, which started out rather cold, but Weiss opened up by the second variation and made the music more alive…then that u.c. made more sense, an actual intimate character. Weiss also had some lovely ideas and crystal-clean ar-tic-u-la-tion.

Afterward Fred Sherry played some arrangements of Bach Cantatas with Michael Nicholas. Sherry arranged them himself, and one of the most delightful moment from the concert happened when he flubbed a part, simply stopped, and said something to the degree of, ‘Oops! I messed up my own arrangement! Sorry, my fault!’ and got a laugh from the audience. Loved it. (I’m pulling that move next time that happens to me. Hopefully I also get it right the second time.)

Then there was a point of transition to an artist talk, where the performers sat in a row on stage. That was our cue to leave…what more was there to talk about really? Isn’t this a party of some sort? When do we party? I would have preferred to talk to Hilary after the show and photograph her in her sexy dress. I also just don’t dig artist talks. Artist talks are a tricky thing; they either get really academic or just plain boring. This isn’t always the case, but it seems performers have talk because they’re worried that lay people just won’t get it unless given some sort of explanation, giving a classical concert an educational twist rather than an entertaining one.

I didn’t stick around to find out if this was one of those talks. I was worried that I’d be missing more Hilary, but I really needed a burger. Luckily, as it turns out, I left at the right time. Baching finished.

Publicity for $1?! Your name in lights (ok, more like in ink on quality paper) at our next event! Details here. We’ll be writing this at the bottom of every post until March 19 deadline to let everyone know about our kick-ass Kickstarter campaign!

For Kicks!

The Nouveau Classical Project is now on Kickstarter.com! We’re fund raising for our upcoming event entitled form/figure, where we curate art, fashion, and music that take a direct cue from established or traditional elements. Featured are fashion designer Gigi Burris, whose work recently appeared in Italian VOGUE and Bazaar Magazine, and Brooklyn-based artist Chris Rini. Our eclectic program will include music by Philip Glass, Johan Halvorsen, and Danielle Schwob, among others.

This is really exciting because not only do you get recognition as a supporter of The Nouveau Classical Project on our printed programs (for as little as $1!), but you can also snag some valuable gifts for pledging beyond the minimum amount, such as comp tickets or a limited-edition (as in, less than 100 in existence!) ‘Classical Music is Dead*’ tee designed exclusively for us by Gigi. It’s important to get your pledges in ASAP, as Kickstarter.com’s all-or-nothing policy allows us only to receive funds if we make 100% of our goal by March 19 at 12:01 am, EDT.

So show us some love and get on Kickstarter.com! On top of our undying love for you, your name will be famous for at least the duration of the concert! Our sincerest thanks in advance.

A Day of Gigi (yay!) and Orange Mountain at LPR (yay-ikes!)

After an inspiring meeting with quirky fashion designer Gigi Burris, who we are SUPER juiced to work with for our next event, we headed to (le) Poisson Rouge for the Orange Mountain Music concert, where we were also inspired…for about 12 minutes.

The evening began with Trevor Gureckis‘ graceful, melancholy Les Adieux Suite for Piano Quartet, arranged from a score for a friend’s movie of the same name. This conventionally pretty piece does not serve as an example of the extent to which Gureckis is capable, but is a crowd pleaser nonetheless. Definitely worth having around for evenings when you’re thinking about your life and wondering if you’re always gonna be alone, and asking yourself if you’re ever finally meet someone…I mean how hard is it, right? I’m smart, decent looking, and a great cook! I…uh…<clears throat>. Anyways, you can get it on iTunes.  And definitely visit the composer’s website to check out more of his stuff.  (As some of you know, Trevor is a good friend of NCP. HOWEVER, if we didn’t actually like his piece we just wouldn’t say anything. We only write what we mean because we’re bitches like that.)

Speaking of crowd pleasers…actually that was all the crowd pleasing of which to speak. While the crowd got more than $15 worth of music time-wise, quantity truly trumped quality tonight. Joel Harrison’s segment was supposed to feature Wendy Sutter on a solo cello piece, but Ms. Sutter was unfortunately ill. Instead Harrison and his Fojoto String Band had an interminable jazz jam session. INTERMINABLE! It sounded unintentionally all over the place. Mick Rossi had this look on his face like, God, WHAT am I doing up here? as he mechanically tapped out some percussion. And the sound was like hoe-down music not at a hoe-down and then more jam session fare. And the kora, an instrument that kiiiinda sounds like a guitar, makes it all…ethnic-y? Unique? It was cool to hear an unconventional instrument, but the band’s music overall was largely uninteresting.

Now to Mick Rossi. One of the people at our table, exhausted after Harrison’s set, left after Rossi’s first piece, which mixed styles, like sort of classical, then sort of honky-tonky, ragtime-y, jazzy. It was amusing and got a giggle from the crowd. Lacked the same element of surprise when it happened again a piece or two later. From Harrison to Rossi’s segment the crowd was getting thinner. It just felt looooong and you can sense from the energy in the room that people just wanted to go home already. Like Harrison, Rossi’s music sounded like the kind of jazz that one would expect to hear at a BYOB type of joint.

Orange Mountain Music just recently started producing artists on their label in addition to Mr. Glass. There are a bunch of cool people there and you have to give it to them for putting out music that you might not find anywhere else. And even though we might not have loved all of it, we’re happy to have had the opportunity to see what’s out there. And who are we to say that you won’t love it?  (Yes, that was basically our disclaimer to not seem like total a-holes. But like a-holes opinions are. Anyway, it’s true that you might like the stuff we weren’t into.) Well, we’re looking forward to seeing who Orange Mountain puts out next. And if they have another concert, we’re there!

Hello, 2010

It’s good to be back in New York…relaxing is all good (and not to mention, essential), but I really do go a bit nuts when I’ve been on vacation for a bit too long (in my mind, 2 weeks) and worry that my atrophied brain (a result of the enriching suburban activities in which I participate during the holidays) will be unable to recover. And I apparently start to use more than a comfortable amount of (parentheses). Anyway, I also come back refreshed and ready to work!  And definitely ready to hit the streets, as I miss what NYC has to offer.  It’s freezing outside, but there are some fabulous events in heated venues that will make leaving your warm, cozy, most likely tiny, apartment worth leaving.

I’m particularly excited about Philip Glass’s Orange Mountain Music concert at (le) Poisson Rouge this Sunday the 10th, featuring music by Trevor Gureckis, Joel Harrison, and Mick Rossi.  Not only is the music going to rock out, but the composers will be there and I’m sure they’d love you to pull a groupie move and talk to them afterward. I know at least one of these three guys is a down-to-earth cat (haven’t met the other two). And LPR is absolutely one of our favorite venues–totally hip yet unpretentious, fun crowd, nice owners. Click on the composers to hear some samples and get tickets here.

by Su Blackwell

Last night I went to see the Museum of Art and Design’s Slash: Paper Under the Knife.  This incredible exhibit features artists who cut, fold, and use paper in exceptionally innovative ways. Much of the work involved such meticulous craftsmanship, and some of the larger scale works are so beautiful and voluminous they make one want to literally jump into them. (But don’t do that, obviously.)  I’d suggest going on a Thursday, when the admission is pay-what-you-wish from 6-9 pm.

So take off that Snuggie, pull on your boots and slap on some blush for some ear-opening music and shredded paper that is not meant for the recycling bin!

Happy Holidays!

We hope you have an amazing holiday and see you in 2010!

*xoxo* The NCP Team *xoxo*

The Morning After

I would have to say last night was pretty good.  Not the most amazing I’ve ever had, but a solid good.  Marc-André Dalbavie was my favorite with Lei Liang coming in second.  Didn’t get to discuss Liang’s piece much at all last night.

The most interesting thing about Liang’s Verge was the manipulation of the strings to emulate Mongolian sounds.  I’m looking forward seeing how Asian influence in classical music pans out, as I don’t think it’s fully settled in yet (or maybe it’s my ear that hasn’t settled in)…seems to still be in its experimental stages.

In other news, the super cool-looking, instrumentalist-free installation, Stifter’s Dinge by Heiner Goebbels, takes place this weekend at the Park Avenue Armory as part of Lincoln Center’s New Visions thang.  I wonder if they’re aiming for a younger audience at all?  While it’s probably worth it, I don’t see, both at our age and in this economy, and during this season, many 18-34’s dropping $55 to see this (and it says nothing about student tix on the site)…whatever, ramen every day next week doesn’t sound too bad, right?