PORTO – July 26, 1985 Porto (or Oporto in English) has an important organ in its cathedral. I was looking forward to this concert. However upon arrival at the consulate, I was told by Teresa the cultural attaché (also known as “Beluca”), that I’d be playing at a modern church with a modern organ. Not one of those old things.… Read more →
Tag: composer
#5 of 7 – BERTOLOZZI 1985 STATE DEPT CONCERT TOUR OF PORTUGAL
ÉVORA – July 23, 1985 (Part II) There is a another organ in the Cathedral up over the Gospel side of the altar (on the left as you look at the altar). The architecture of the altar area is in a baroque style quite different from the nave and certainly the outside, which dates back to the 11th-12th century. The Gospel Organ was built… Read more →
#4 of 7 – BERTOLOZZI 1985 STATE DEPT CONCERT TOUR OF PORTUGAL
ÉVORA – July 23, 1985 (Part I) At the university town of Évora, I encountered an instrument largely untouched since its installation, c. 1562 by Heitor Lobo. Pasquale Caetano Oldovini added the fashionable horizontal trumpet in 1772 and Flentrop did a restoration in 1967. This is one of the oldest extant playable organs in the world. The Sé (or cathedral) of… Read more →
#3 of 7 – BERTOLOZZI 1985 STATE DEPT CONCERT TOUR OF PORTUGAL
ÓBIDOS – July 20, 1985 Remember how I said southern Portuguese doesn’t sound like it reads? Óbidos is pronounced “HO-beech.” The “H” is a gutteral “CH sound as in “Bach.” Only the people who live in the area pronounce it this way; the attaché at the Embassy didn’t. When our English-speaking driver Carlos (KAR-loosh!) picked us up at the train station and… Read more →
#2 of 7 – BERTOLOZZI 1985 STATE DEPT CONCERT TOUR OF PORTUGAL
LISBON My wife Sheila accompanied me on this tour as page turner/assistant for the concerts as she had in 1982’s European tour. We landed and went to our hotel. Though the whole itinerary was arranged from train tickets, buses, connections, lodging, ground transport, etc., we had to make a connection with the Embassy first. Asking for directions was a little daunting.… Read more →
#1 of 7 – BERTOLOZZI 1985 STATE DEPT CONCERT TOUR OF PORTUGAL,
A 30th ANNIVERSARY RETROSPECTIVE OF JOSEPH BERTOLOZZI’S ORGAN CONCERT TOUR OF PORTUGAL FOR THE US STATE DEPARTMENT – 1985-2015 When you play the organ, you usually don’t own your own instrument. You have to go somewhere to play and even to practice. So it’s natural to go out and try better and better instruments. It can lead one to the great cathedrals and concert halls… Read more →
BRIDGE/TOWER MUSIC DOCUMENTARY VIEWING TONITE
The first viewing of NOISEMAKERS, a documentary about composers working in experimental forms will be tonite, Thursday May 14 at 7pm on the State University of NY at New Paltz campus in Lecture Center 102. The showing is free and open to the public. Directed by Kevin O’Connor it features a segment on both Bridge Music and Tower Music. I personally cannot attend… Read more →
FIRST MIXES OF TOWER MUSIC
I am going to the studio today where the sound engineer, Paul Kozel, is doing the preliminary mixes of “Musique de la Tour.” You may remember Paul as the lead audio engineer on the Eiffel Tower with me. Here we are back at the Paris apartment in 2013 discussing the day’s recording sessions. Read more →
THE NEXT BRIDGE MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Bridge Music apears in a senior thesis film about experimental music from the State University of NY at New Paltz. Here’s the film crew in my home in front of The Bronze Collection on March 26, 2015: Kevin O’Connor, Shia, Joseph Bertolozzi, Dante Corrocher, Lauren. If there is a public screening I’ll post the details. Keep track of Tower Music on… Read more →
BRIDGE MUSIC BEGINS ITS SIXTH SEASON
Starting today, composer Joseph Bertolozzi’s Bridge Music is back on the tower landings of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge and available for the public to enjoy along with the majestic views of the Hudson River. “The Bridge Authority is proud to be able to host this unique and groundbreaking musical composition for a 6th year,” Bridge Authority Executive Director Joseph… Read more →