In a few hours, Osmo Vanska will conduct something called “Future Classics” over at Orchestra Hall. I had the flyer on my desk for weeks, hoping to go. Alas, I can’t, but I hope many people do–it’s the signature event of the 2007 Composer Institute and it’s proof that orchestral music didn’t die, as many radio stations would have you believe, with Tchaikovsky.
Vanska has long supported new, even avant-garde music, and this show features some of the country’s most talented emerging composers. I’m certain he’d like to perform more of it here, but frankly, we need to show up. I’d guess we’re more adventurous than most cities–the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has actually done very well introducing new music. But still, the next Mahler could be composing major new works on a piano somewhere and we’d probably never know it. Events like this, marketed well, might help steer more orchestral music into the 21st century. Or at least the 20th.
On Nov. 6, the Walker will host a screening by indie-film favorite Todd Haynes: “I’m Not There,” the latest and undoubtedly strangest entree into the Bob Dylan tribute club. After all, who’s playing Dylan but six different actors, including Christian Bale, Richard Gere (wha?), even Cate Blanchett (yes, the female actress). It won big at the 2007 Venice Film Festival; let’s see if it can win over the hometown crowd, so to speak. Tickets on sale since Wed., Oct. 24.
Lastly, here’s a conceptual art project we heard about at the Arts Commission–an MCAD artist named Marcus Young who’s drawn a two-mile chalk line over sidewalks, across streets from the MCAD gallery into downtown Minneapolis to…well, we’re not supposed to tell you. The point is finding out. But if you see a thin blue (I think) line running beneath your feet downtown, take a few minutes to follow up–while poking your head up once in awhile, of course. More info is here:
http://www.mcad.edu/showPage.php?status=1&pageID=1665
