Miss Music Nerd’s Zydeco Debut!

Hé, toi!
As I hinted at briefly in my last post, I got a chance to do some impromptu music-making while I was in Austin, Texas this past weekend at the Netroots Nation convention. I hadn’t expected to perform until Sunday morning, when I was to play for the Multifaith Worship Service. But when life provides [...]

Hearing With New Ears?

Cross-posted at the Detroit Symphony Blog.
Sometimes before I go to an orchestra concert, I think to myself, “I should listen to a recording of the pieces on the program before I go, so that I can better appreciate the music when I’m hearing it live.” But actually I tend to reject the idea, though, because [...]

A Lucky Day for Detroit!

Cross-posted at the Detroit Symphony Blog, because I am so famous and in demand!
If you’re superstitious, you probably already have your lucky rabbit’s foot or some such charm or talisman at the ready, tomorrow being Friday the 13th and all. I would say that tomorrow is a very lucky day for Detroit, though. [...]

Two LoveNerds Celebrate One Year!

I’m back after a few days off from blogging! I needed a little breather after completing the NaBloPoMohttp://missmusicnerd.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=292&message=1&_wp_original_http_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fmissmusicnerd.wordpress.com%2F challenge, and of course McDoc and I had our 1st wedding anniversary to celebrate!!!
We had a lovely, if too brief, getaway in Windsor — where, by the way, everyone else was visiting to watch the Red Bull [...]

A Classical Riot!

One of my favorite stories from music history concerns the audience reaction at the première of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), which was given in Paris on this day in 1913 by the Ballets Russes. (I mentioned the piece during my May Day Spring Celebration post at the beginning [...]

Mahler’s 9th, part 3: Getting Gotten

NaBloPoMo Day 22!
You know, I have a confession to make: I thought it would be pretty easy to capture my experience of hearing Mahler’s 9th last Sunday; after all, it hit me like a velvet anvil — something you don’t soon forget! And I didn’t expect my review to become a series — I thought [...]

Mahler’s 9th, part 2: Floating Motives

NaBloPoMo Day 21!
Yesterday I gave a bit of history and background about Mahler and his 9th (including the rather important role his music has played in my life! ). Today I have a few reflections on the piece, which I heard performed by the DSO this past Sunday.
Hearing a live orchestral performance brings [...]

Mahler’s 9th, Part 1: A Little Background [to the] Music

NaBloPoMo Day 20!
My first real date with McDoc (which, I told him, was not a date, just as our two previous dates had also not been, I said, because I was status-post-heartbreak, courtesy of Mr. Wrong-but-I-was-the-last-to-realize-it, and I “wasn’t ready”… aren’t I lucky that he was so persistent? ) consisted of dinner at a [...]

Thwarted!

NaBloPoMo Day 19!
Well, rats! :grr:
I wanted to write my review of Mahler’s 9th today, and it occurred to me that it would be great if I could listen to a recording while following a score. So I bopped around two counties to see if I could lay my hands on the needed materials… getting a [...]

Hard Thoughts: A Renaissance Woman’s Dilemma (part 1)

NaBloPoMo Day 18!
This afternoon I attended the Detroit Symphony’s performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no. 9. I’m going to write about it, you can bet your bottom dollar, but I haven’t quite peeled myself off the ceiling yet (I hope it’s obvious that I mean that in a good way! ), so I’ll sleep [...]