Even though I have been to plenty of superb performances this year there are a few good ‘uns that I’ve missed. Work, the Olympics and a family holiday have scuppered John Wilson at the Proms, the Proms weekend at the Bristol Beacon, a trip to the Berlin Music Fest for Ives IV and more. However, there are certain Copland works that I consider to be filed under “Cancel all engagements”. Music for a Great City is one of those. I only found...
For the last few years I have been thinking how I might celebrate the 125th anniversary of Aaron Copland’s birth. I am now ready to share the vision for Copland 125! The idea in...
Aaron Copland died on 2 December, 1990. I had just turned 20 and was at Swansea University. I watched the BBC News and there was an obituary. I can remember the black and white...
I bet you didn’t realise there was a link between Aaron Copland and Muhammad Ali? Neither did I, but sometimes the stuff I turn up seems to be like buried treasure that is just...
Like most people I have plenty of Bucket List entries that I want to tick off in my life. Many of these are of course associated with the music of Aaron Copland and one...
I love my city – Bristol. For sure, there are things that annoy me – the lack of a mass transit system – why? And certain derelict buildings that have stood like eyesores for...
At heart I’m a city boy. Even though my job involves working with farmers and I love country walks and nature spotting, I feel the need to be close to where culture is. I...
A couple of weeks back I started wondering about the number of monthly listeners on Spotify that Aaron Copland gets. It was a short hop to comparing this number with that of his modernist...
I really like contemporary dance and I love modern classical music. It’s not often I see them combined as it’s hard to keep one’s eyes peeled on all the listings and besides many events...
Throughout Aaron Copland’s life there were very important women who played a major role in inspiring his creativity towards producing his unique sound and some of his most iconic works. His career choices and...
