Celebrating the Westchester Philharmonic one night, I found myself breaking bread with Jamie Bernstein, daughter of the late and great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. Jamie is a narrator, writer and broadcaster, all of which reflect her lifetime devotion to music and her family legacy. We reminisced about the Young People’s concerts led by Bernstein […]
Jazz people love labels. They just can’t help themselves. That’s probably because their music defies explanation and often challenges logic. Ask Gerry Malkin, the 63-year old tenor sax player, who calls his ensemble “post bop.” Hard to explain, he told me. He used the old Alec Baldwin line: “it’s complicated.” He threw out themes like stretching harmonies and aggressive interpretation of bebop. Finally, he invoked […]
Alysa Haas is a chip off the old block…in a good way. She comes by her musical talent through her genes, so to speak. She is the daughter of Bira Rabushka, a violinist for 40 years with the New York City Ballet orchestra and the founder of the sorely missed Northern Westchester Center for the […]
I looked up from my computer this morning and was struck with the realization that summer is almost over. That led me back to my computer to check out the last few weeks of Music in the Air. Yes, there’s still a reason to pack a basket and a blanket and sit out under the […]
Some folks say lefties have more fun. With that in mind, and, because I had rotator cuff surgery on my right arm yesterday, I tested out that theory. In between ice packs and Advil, I dusted off my best left-handed hunt and peck and soothed my anxiety about spending the next six weeks in a […]
It was perfect synergy to be sitting in the historic Music Room at Caramoor on the day that Pete Seeger passed away. Yes, I am old enough to remember the Weavers, the group that brought Pete Seeger to lasting fame. For those of you who have ever had a Kumbaya moment, you can thank and […]
It is probably heresy for an arts advocate to admit it, but I had the best time last week at a rip roaring, foot-stomping Merle Haggard concert at the Tarrytown Music Hall. The truth is that I love a good ole “who dun me wrong song” and the 75-year-old legendary country singer and former prison […]
On a Sunday afternoon, in between intermittent rain, I set out for Merestead Estate in Mount Kisco. It was the culminating event for Cultivate, the Copland House residency program for young composers. For the uninitiated, American composer Aaron Copland lived and wrote music here in Westchester, specifically in Cortland Manor where he spent the last thirty […]
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