J. M. SmigJan 13, 2024

I finally found my old journal with my ticket for Laurie Anderson's lecture at the Peabody Essex Museum in 2000 and the Salem News article.

I can't fit the article here but you can read it on my Facebook feed along with my journal entry with extra details:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0VSaYVoESgHu2dF4v1Eq9ga4RDb87a2mjVt75VUNNmy1kAKExYZcRYRdjk3Z3qPB6l&id=100004736865841&mibextid=Nif5oz

#LaurieAnderson #avantgarde #womencomposer

Show threadJ. M. Smig

Another souvenir found in my journal though I can't find the ticket. Boston Modern Orchestra Project at New England Conservatory, 2001. Frank Zappa bookending lesser known composers. The program began with "Dog/Meat" and ended with "Be-Bop Tango", "Outrage At Valdez", and "G-Spot Tornado".

#bmop #contemporaryclassical #newenglandconservatory #zappa

Jan 14, 2024 at 2:42amWeb
Show threadJ. M. SmigJan 16, 2024
Journal: "Saw BMOP on Friday...Played Zappa as bookends to two newer composers. One, a Dutchman from the European stiff-is-hip school of music, gave us a piece that included a guest appearance by some European 'avant-garde' trio...one of whom occasionally squeaked back and forth on a rickety chair so as to give the piece avant-garde credibility. At the end of the piece, I turned to [my companion] and asked 'Wasn't it the Dutch that used to walk around in wooden shoes?'" (Cont.)
Show threadJ. M. SmigJan 16, 2024
"The other composer...was introduced as a 'virtuoso guitarist'...'happened' to mention Steve Vai...an attempt to associate himself with the composer who was the reason that any of us were there.
"[My companion] kept checking out one of the cellists who had asked [him], while we were outside during intermission, how he liked the show.
"I think [one of the composers] tried to check me out at the urinals."