The best composers in the world will still need some type of feeling to strike them in order to produce their great work. What makes art significant is that it contains something more than the pure physical nature of the piece itself; there are human thoughts and feelings conveyed in it (if it is art).

A composer will not get these inspirations from studying music all day in their room; they come from experiencing and reflecting on life. There is a fuel that music is created on, and it can come from anything from other works of art to events that happen in life. Beethoven used to take walks that would often lead to musical inspiration, and without that, his composing prowess would be worth nothing.

Leisure time is when humans can develop this inspiration. The mind can be free to let thoughts come out that would normally be suffocated by everyday concerns and momentary tasks. You can afford to let yourself contemplate things outside of your immediate concern that have more emotional and intellectual weight, and this is what leads to the type of inspiration necessary to create meaningful music.

Most great artists were known to require leisure time in order to really function at their best, and the reason for this is that art is not a mindless task; it requires a world view and the skill to convey it to the senses. So if you are wondering how you can improve your composition, remember that it is not just about the pure craft.

One of the most common rebuttals for not listening to a wider variety of music is that people don’t like other styles as a whole, or so they claim. This is probably because they hear a few songs that may not be the best a certain style has to offer and then make a judgment about the whole lot based on it.

In any style of music there will be only a few good artists at the top of the heap, and those are the only ones you should bother with, so to discount a style without taking the time to hear the very best is irresponsible if you want to consider yourself a music lover.

Instead of exploring other styles, many people just end up listening to countless bands in one narrow genre that become simple copies of each other and can offer nothing more than mediocre reminders of what the best of them used to be able to do. There is no reason to start scraping the bottom of the barrel when there is a whole world of music out there waiting to be heard, and plenty of artists in it that are at the top of their game.

People should be more critical and hard to please when it comes to music, because the fact is that there is so much of it out there that you can and should afford to become picky. Your time in this world is valuable, you might as well spend it listening to the best there is.

The exhibition is a Royal Opera House collaboration with The Lowry arts centre in Salford, and will also illustrate works by the artist LS Lowry himself. Lowry is most famous for his melancholy factory scenes and match-stick men, but was also a keen ballet-goer who attended many performances when the Royal Ballet company travelled up to Manchester on tour. For the first time, his love of ballet and its influence on his oeuvre will be explored in a public exhibition.

Highlights of the show include a recreation of Margot Fonteyn’s dressing room, and a variety of set and costume designs by designers and artists including Pablo Picasso, Edward Burra, and Yolanda Sonnabend. These will join numerous letters, press cuttings, music manuscripts dance notation scores, posters and other memorabilia.

Of course, ballet is not a static art – to bring the exhibition to life, dancers from The Royal Ballet will pay a special visit with an hour-long programme of highlights from the Company’s eight decades of history. Devised by Dame Monica Mason, Director of The Royal Ballet, The Royal Ballet – Step by Step will include extracts from works by choreographers including Frederick Ashton, Ninette de Valois, Wayne McGregor and Kenneth MacMillan. This unique once-off performance will take place on Thursday 21 October 2010.

This special performance will underline what a huge contribution to the world of dance The Royal Ballet has made, with luminary key figures such as Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. Ashton was a commanding presence in the growth of The Royal Ballet from its humble origins in the 1930s, to his role as its director from 1963 to 1970 when it became one of the greatest companies in the world. He created more than 100 ballets over a 60-year career, including Cinderella, La Fille mal gardée and Sylvia. His successor, Kenneth MacMillan’s works are also now staples of The Royal Ballet, including his redeveloped contemporary re-workings of Romeo and Juliet and Mayerling.

The exhibition is drawn almost exclusively from the extensive Collections of the Royal Opera House with additional key items being loaned by private collectors and public institutions. The Lowry Estate is supporting the exhibition with new loans and material relating to Lowry’s interest in ballet. “Invitation to the Ballet” forms a part of The Royal Opera House’s efforts to extend its reach beyond Covent Garden, the On the Road Programme which is focused primarily in the North West and the East regions and includes touring productions, education projects and exhibitions. The exhibition runs from 23 October 2010 until 6 March 2011at The Lowry in Salford at Salford Quays.

Original article on freemusicarticles.com

About the Author: The author is working with a top London theatre venue and has had extensive reviews published on the choreographic works of Kenneth MacMillan and Frederick Ashton, including Sylvia.

Bruder has reignited a songwriting passion that he had allowed to run dormant after many years. He had been a well-known performer on the New Jersey Shore scene back in the 1980’s getting praise and support from people including Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren and Edgar Winter before going into a virtual seclusion from the public for the next few decades. “Name stereotypical bad behavior in the music business and I probably did it,” says Bruder. But the passion and desire never died as he grew older and wiser.

Then through his rock comedy web television series “Who the Hell is Dan Bruder,” about a slightly delusional, middle-aged wannabe rocker who can’t let go of the dream, The Dan Bruder Band was created and jumped off the screen into real life playing at Ace of Clubs in NYC in June and a Gibson Guitar event in July. Bruder explained, “The Ace of Clubs show was streamed live and the reaction from the audience and viewers confirmed that we had something significant going on.”

“The biggest surprise to people checking out the band is how good the music is,” says Bruder. “I am like a kid in a candy store and it is all as new and novel as it was 25 years ago.” The live act is high energy, sweaty, unapologetic rock that can quickly bring you to an intimate, emotional place and then revs up the engine again with in-your-face, foot stomping music.

The songs are straight up Americana rock with influences as varied as the members. The classic, nostalgic rock influences of Allman Brothers, Billy Joel and Springsteen are evident, but the attitude and passion of the music and lyrics is new and compelling. “I write songs that celebrate both the beauty and ugliness of life because it is all part of the journey,” Says Bruder. The title cut, Act of Kindness, conveys the notion that it is just as easy to be kind as it is to be mean, and Song For A LuckyManreminds us that wealth cannot win over love. The stories The Dan Bruder Band shares have been told before, but they are delivering them in a relevant, fresh way.

Bruder takes great advantage of flexing the bands musical muscle by seizing many opportunities to cameo the members soloing.”I will shamelessly feature these guys where everand whenever possible because they are all masters at their craft. Who wouldn’t?”

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Music Preview:
www.danbruder.com

About the Author: Sherri Halgerstad is a NJ based entertainer and free lance music critic.

“The Plurals” are on the attack, and the listener does not at first know how to grapple with them. “Honah Lee,” on the other hand, entices the listener to get comfortable with the assurance that “you know what you’re going to get.” For example, the third track of the “Lick It EP Split” EP is “The Plurals’” “Party It Up Part III.” It’s pretty unconventional in its format, most notably defined by bassist Nich’s brash vocals and the very abrupt ending.

The next song on the EP is “Honah Lee’s” “I Hate My Job,” which begins with a line to which almost any listener could relate: “I hate my job. It really sucks.” In general, “Honah Lee’s” songs are rhythms and lyrics that most listeners will embrace on the spot. If I still had my meaningless job at that publishing company, I would have blasted “I Hate My Job” each and every day on my way to work. The song is almost a rallying anthem in which the masses can unite, but ultimately as Tim shouts “You gotta do it if you wanna get paid.”

“Honah Lee” sings about what is universal. These guys would have been writing songs about girls ten years ago. Now, they write about the monotony of work and the general ambivalence that we all feel towards life at times. The final song of the EP, “Sobered, So Bored,” which is an absolute gem in my mind, is punctuated by the line “I don’t wanna go home; I don’t wanna stay here. There’s just no goddamn place to go.”

While “The Plurals’” songs may not initially be as digestible as “Honah Lee’s” they certainly get there. The nuances of each song are appreciated further after a few listenings. The harmonizing that ends “Won’t Come To You” between drummer Hattie and guitarist Tommy sounds so natural that you feel as if you’ve heard that line before. The droning, solemn-sounding drums that fill the first minute of “Sheep Dive,” which I believe is “The Plurals’” strongest effort, contrasted with Tommy’s high pitched, bright “Honestly, honesty isn’t your thing” provide an awesome juxtaposition of dark and light.

And it was kind of cool after a few listens to understand Nich’s muttering as “party it up, part three” halfway through his song. It’s intricacies such as these that one may not get on the first listen but that make “The Plurals’” effort all the more enjoyable.

Ultimately, I do think these two bands work well together. The reason: They are both obviously having a lot of fun doing this, and it shows in their music. There is no “downer” music here. While some of the topics may be slightly bleak, the music takes a lighter approach, which in some instances (see “I Hate My Job”) is slightly ironic. The music produced says a lot about the musicians behind it, and in this case I think it alludes to the fact that these are intelligent and talented individuals, who from the sounds of it are probably a good time to hang out with, as well.

www.myspace.com/thepluralsrock
www.myspace.com/honahleemusic
www.myspace.com/goodtimegangrecordings

Original review on freemusicarticles.com

About the Author: Alejandro is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia, PA.

In an interview with Whatsonstage.com Thomas revealed he has a fascination with “trashy” celebrity figures like Anna Nicole. In the interview he went on to say “Anna Nicole Smith’s tragic life story is a classic American tale about celebrity and the price you pay for trying to escape your roots – it’s intrinsically operatic!”

The Royal Opera House director of opera, Elaine Padmore, is quoted in The Guardian stating “it is not going to be tawdry; it is going to be witty, clever, thoughtful and sad.” Padmore compared the work to Zeit-oper, the German subgenre of opera which was popular in the 1920s and 30s, in which socio-political issues of the times were depicted. She went on to say that “opera suffers from an image of being old, European, archaic. New works on popular topics are good”. This kind of production places the Royal Opera House as a leader in innovative and contemporary opera productions, and Padmore hopes it will appeal to a wide range of audience.

The well established cultural venue in London’s Covent Garden has plenty of other contemporary productions in the new 2010/2011 season, complimenting its repertoire of classical opera such as Rigoletto, Aida and favourites such as Bizet’s Carmen. Music director Pappano has recently featured in BBC Four’s series Opera Italia, in which he traces the history of Italian opera. In the first installation of the series he covers works from classical composers Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart and Rossini, with footage from Royal Opera House productions such as Le Nozze Di Figaro and The Barber of Seville.

Such operas from Italy and across Europe have shaped the image of opera in public minds, but the Royal Opera House and other established venues are also willing to innovate in new, modern themed productions. The more contemporary operas are proving an effective way to attract new audiences who have previously been of the thinking that opera is too high-brow and only for the enjoyment of the upper classes.

To maintain a balance in pleasing the traditionalists and innovating in new opera productions is not an easy task, but the variety of productions in the new season should whet the appetites of both. With experts such as Pappano and Padmore developing the programme, there will surely be more interesting productions appearing on the London stage in the future.

Original article on freemusicarticles.com

About the Author: The author is working for a well established London Opera and ballet venue whose repertory includes Le Nozze di Figaro and the ever popular opera comique Carmen.

This argument against downloading music has nothing to do with the fact that it is illegal, or that in some cases people have been prosecuted for it. While those facts are true, the real case against obtaining music for free is a moral and practical one. Let’s start with the moral since it is at the root of the issue and leads to the practical.

Downloading music without paying for it is stealing, there’s no way around it. Whether the government has declared it illegal or not, it is an immoral act. You are taking something that people worked hard on and not paying them what they deserve for it, and the argument that you are only stealing from a big record company doesn’t work either; record companies have employees who are people too, they deserve compensation for their work just like you would expect.

Add to this the fact that it is mostly the smaller record labels that cannot survive plunging record sales, and you can see the problems that are being caused. This is where the moral moves into the practical; the record labels producing new and exiting, less-popular music are having the most trouble, and this means that the music industry is losing what little creativity and drive that it has left.

The issue goes farther than just the record sales though, because labels and bands cannot make money from album sales, they have to raise concert ticket prices. So many of the people downloading albums end up paying more if they want to see a band in concert. This may be fine, but what about the bands who cannot make up the difference by touring? Well, you will probably see less of them around.

An age is coming where more and more individuals and bands will be selling their albums themselves from their own websites or wherever. Can their so-called fans continue to steal from them in this direct fashion? The consequences of downloading music on the more original and exiting artists will become more and more clear, and hopefully, people will see that in this new digital age, some voluntary morality on the part of consumers will be required if they want to continue to have great music in the future.

Original Article on freemusicarticles.com

Review By Martin Leese

This is the fifth album from the Boston-based bar room heavies The Hold Steady, their Bruce Springsteen inflected albums carved out their own special niche with frontman Craig Finn maintaining a narrative by holding conversations over songs, often from several different perspectives, rather than singing. Their stream of consciousness hard rock has picked up a loyal fan base, as rather than being pretentious, their songs are always rooted in sympathy and affection for the scenesters, druggies, skinhead mobsters and born again Christians whos life stories they interconnect and unravel.

Their latest album is without curly moustached keyboardist, accordionist, and supplier of vocal harmonies Franz Nicolay. This raised the question of wether this would lead to a return to the rough, improvised feel of The Hold Steadys first three albums, rather than the slightly overblown fourth album Stay Positive in which they seemed to be writing songs for an audience and effect, rather than the prior effect of desperation and that they were compelled to play for themselves and to tell their charactors stories.

For the first time, Craig Finn had taken vocal coaching, dropping his trademark vocal style of sounding like he was being interrogated in a police cell, instead trying to be tuneful. The musicmanship was impressive, the album complex, but where was the fun? The excitement and thrill of being taken along on a druggy, messed up road trip with low lives watching over their shoulder was replaced with a more mature sense of impending doom, Craig Finn is getting older, and knew better this time, and told a cautionary tale. Recklessness replaced by repentance.

For a new listener, this is a good album; strong singles, religion baiting lyrics, beligerant choruses and a band tight and confident from constant touring writing huge crowd pleasing songs. They have supported Springsteen and The Rolling Stones and are regulars on the Letterman Show in latter years as they lean more toward being everyman hard working rock and rollers.

The album has strong potential singles, with hurricaine J and the weekenders guarenteed to get airplay but the quieter moments have the lasting impression. The self reflective barely breathing and the line where were you when the blood got spilled/they almost killed me. Are a reminder of the bizarre nostalgia for street fights and police shakedowns of past albums and for a band whos first three albums had no quiet moments, it is the quiet moments which have the greater impact here.

Heaven Is Whenever will gain them more success and fans, and few bands deserve it more than one of the hardest working bands around. But unlike previous albums I doubt that this will make them anyones favourite band.

Original article on Music Articles and Reviews

About the Author: I have previously had live music reviews printed on teletext cult page Planet Sound.

Johnny Love attracted a crowd of fans on New Years Eve at the Casanova Hotel this past Thursday night. The crowd cheered when he and the group sang to the tunes of Johnny’s previous releases as well as some new titles he’s been preparing for release under a new album titled Johnny Love – Una Serie de Amor. This is a series of songs, some previously released, and some brand new that follows the rise of one of Merengue’s top independent artists in Miami’s music scene.

After the show we were able to get to talk to Johnny for a few minutes and get some insight into his plans for the future. “To tell you the truth I see Merengue coming back. I’ve been doing my part to give fans more of what they like, blends of different latin styles with the Merengue that makes them want more,” explains Johnny. And its true, if last night is any indication, things are definitely making a turn for best with Merengue at the forefront of the Miami music scene this year, as artists bring to the stage more of what the people want in latin music: popular, danceable, and freshly fused Merengue with a style like Johnny Love’s.

One of the best ways to get better exposure for yourself as a private music teacher is to use Craigslist. This is a classifieds site that will let you post an ad for your services that could get you a few new prospects. Craigslist is a very high traffic site in most areas, and it can prove to be one of your most valuable resources as a private teacher, but be weary of the spam advertisements and replies that can sometimes get through.

Besides Craigslist, there are many other listing sites that you may want to check out. One of them, which is more specifically for private music teachers, is the music lessons directory. This is a private music teacher listing that will give you a more permanent ad placement than Craigslist and will attract more specific traffic as well. Though not as high traffic as more popular sites, this is another free option that you might as well use.

Getting your services as a private music teacher listed on various sites is a good way to start, but there are a lot of more creative ways to get some exposure online. One of the best is to use YouTube and upload some video lessons by yourself or just some information about you as a teacher. If you can get some traffic to your videos and build up an audience, it can prove to be a great long term option for promotion, and might even provide some income on its own.

You can also try blogging or creating a website that in some way promotes you as a musician and teacher. This will attract people interested in music who may turn into prospective students, or it might just spread the word about you as a teacher and give you some added credibility as a musician.

There are tons of other options for those willing to explore what the internet can offer a private music teacher in the way of promotion. Make sure you experiment and try to come up with new ideas that can make you stand out. The possibilities are virtually endless with the web, and private teachers are in the perfect position to benefit greatly from it.