Author: Mark Berry

Go See My In-Laws’ Art

If you’re in Charlotte in March, take some time to check out my father-in-law’s and sister-in-law’s show at the Max L. Jackson Gallery at Queens University.

Sabrina (the sister-in-law) is up at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She sculpts metal, using blacksmithing tools to create some beautiful, surprisingly delicate work. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Murray (the father-in-law) studied art at Florida State University–and took piano lessons with Dohnanyi while he was there. Between then and now, he joined the Air Force, “worked for the government,” went to medical school and became a doctor, got married, raised his children, and started painting again.

The show runs all March, but there’s a reception on March 10, 5-7 PM.

Better Know a Composer: Roy Harris

As Beth Levy points out, you’ll see the words log cabin, Oklahoma, and Lincoln in the opening sentence of almost every biography ever written about Roy Harris.

Although he was a Sooner for only five years, almost everyone in music circles identified him as being quintessentially Western. Arts patron Mary Churchill had this to say about her meeting with Harris in Paris, where he was studying in the late 1920s: “[he was] wild and worn; but gave off a wonderful western farmer air in the middle of the Place de la Concorde.”

Serge Koussevitzky said that “nobody has captured in music the essence of American life–its vitality, its greatness, its strength–so well as Roy Harris.” That Harris shared a birthday with Lincoln–both were born on February 12–only added to the mystique.

Harris (1898-1979) certainly didn’t dispel any of the myth making, and even helped cultivate it. He was a lot like Bob Dylan that way: both built personas to promote themselves that have ended up enveloping–and even overshadowing–their music.

Orchestra Death Watch: Detroit Symphony Negotiations Grind On

Two million dollars is what the Detroit Symphony and the union are fighting over. Management wants to keep that money for community outreach; the musicians want it for their salaries.

Once again, the musicians whine for the short gain instead of going for long-term engagement with the city and the people that, ostensibly, will help sustain their organization.

The orchestra says that they’ll need to cancel the rest of the season in “two days” if they don’t reach a settlement. I thought that ship had already sailed. It seems as if the strike has been going on forever. 

Football Makes for Lousy Music

I heard Kate Jacobs’s “Rey Ordonez” yesterday. It’s one in a long line of baseball odes, and there are lots of songs about hockey–but why doesn’t anyone write about football?

Maybe it’s because football isn’t fun. Baseball and hockey have crazy fun-loving characters and lovable losers (I’m looking at you, Maple Leafs). Football has psychotics that (literally) commit horrible violent crimes; winning’s not the main thing, it’s the only thing.

So, this Super Bowl Sunday (don’t sue me NFL), check in with Brian Wilson (who’s making a case to be the next Bill Lee, apparently), find out why Gerry Cheevers’s mask was so creepy, and listen to some music:

And if I’m wrong about football, let me know.