George Crumb

Reporting from Media, Pa. ? Despite having turned 81 less than three weeks ago, American composer George Crumb remains deeply absorbed in his craft. The native of Charleston, W.V., has been nestled in his suburban Philadelphia home for 45 years. Thanks to an Emeritus professorship at the University of Pennsylvania, he can afford to not compose on commission. "I have always been a slow writer," he confesses. Slow he may be, but he is by no means uninspired. He composes every morning and rewards himself with a scotch and water ?

It's unlikely that the lunch crowd in the Haiku Asian Bistro is aware that one of the world's most progressive classical music singers is giving an interview in their chattering midst. But that's how it is with Dawn Upshaw. She blends right in with the suburban moms in this boutique New York suburb, a brief drive from the town where Upshaw lives with her 17-year-old son. Her 21-year-old daughter is away in college. However, it's safe to say that Upshaw, 50, is the only one in the restaurant talking about her love for the contrapuntal music of 81-year-old composer George Crumb.

The music of George Crumb revels in magic and flourishes on ceremonial mystery. So a concert devoted to the 75-year-old composer, and one in which he is on hand to discuss his haunting music, will necessarily be -- unless something is very wrong -- a magical mystery tour. Sunday night, when such a concert occurred at the Orange County Performing Arts Center as part of the Pacific Symphony's American Music Festival, most everything was right.

Green Umbrella: George Crumb Focus Who: Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group with conductor Jean-Michaël Lavoie Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, downtown L.A. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday Tickets: $42.75 to $61.25 Information: (323) 850-2000 or http://www.laphil.com

Antoinette Perry brought exceptional artistry as percussionist to her Tuesday night recital in the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at USC. Acknowledging pianist Perry thus merely underscores the perspective of her challenging program. In music of Schoenberg, Bartok, Shostakovich, George Crumb and Donald Keats, Perry exploited those possibilities of the piano that graphically emphasize its historic assignation to the percussion family of instruments. And she did so with the same intense care and respect that she has brought to Mozart and Beethoven.

George Crumb's music is eerie, full of strangely primordial, ghostly sounds. It functions in the realm of shadows: It enters into the world of mysteries and rituals, and death often comes calling. Some of the scores are written in beautiful, symbolic graphic notation, with musical staffs drawn in almost unplayable circles. There is other symbolism galore in the music--number systems or astrological charts might generate structure; certain intervals or chords might stand for good and evil.

"Time and its erosion can be cruel and merciless," says composer George Crumb. "But I don't want to sound too melancholy. The American public is always interested in newer things, so it's only natural that younger composers get their time on stage." Crumb, now 67, speaks softly, with no apparent longing for his own days as a "young composer." Back then, in the 1960s and '70s, his distinctive sonorities and sense of theatrics made his name virtually synonymous with the musical avant-garde.

Green Umbrella: George Crumb Focus Who: Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group with conductor Jean-Michaël Lavoie Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, downtown L.A. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday Tickets: $42.75 to $61.25 Information: (323) 850-2000 or http://www.laphil.com

It's unlikely that the lunch crowd in the Haiku Asian Bistro is aware that one of the world's most progressive classical music singers is giving an interview in their chattering midst. But that's how it is with Dawn Upshaw. She blends right in with the suburban moms in this boutique New York suburb, a brief drive from the town where Upshaw lives with her 17-year-old son. Her 21-year-old daughter is away in college. However, it's safe to say that Upshaw, 50, is the only one in the restaurant talking about her love for the contrapuntal music of 81-year-old composer George Crumb.

The concept seemed charming: a suite called "Mundus Canis" (A World of Dogs) and based on personal experiences of five of the composer's pets. At its West Coast premiere at the Claremont Colleges Sunday night, George Crumb's recent work, subtitled Five Humoresques for Guitar and Percussion, turned out to be charming enough. But much more than that: These are serious mood-pictures genuinely probing into the character of each animal.

Reporting from Media, Pa. ? Despite having turned 81 less than three weeks ago, American composer George Crumb remains deeply absorbed in his craft. The native of Charleston, W.V., has been nestled in his suburban Philadelphia home for 45 years. Thanks to an Emeritus professorship at the University of Pennsylvania, he can afford to not compose on commission. "I have always been a slow writer," he confesses. Slow he may be, but he is by no means uninspired. He composes every morning and rewards himself with a scotch and water ?

The music of George Crumb revels in magic and flourishes on ceremonial mystery. So a concert devoted to the 75-year-old composer, and one in which he is on hand to discuss his haunting music, will necessarily be -- unless something is very wrong -- a magical mystery tour. Sunday night, when such a concert occurred at the Orange County Performing Arts Center as part of the Pacific Symphony's American Music Festival, most everything was right.

Wonders of Estonia "Action Passion Illusion" Nordic Symphony Orchestra. Anu Tali, conductor. (Warner Classics) *** The vanguard of women conductors tended to appear, of necessity, masculine or, at least, sexless. That may finally be changing. Anu Tali -- a gifted, statuesque blond Estonian conductor in her early 30s who founded the Nordic Symphony a few years ago -- is not afraid to make a kinky statement.

George Crumb's music is eerie, full of strangely primordial, ghostly sounds. It functions in the realm of shadows: It enters into the world of mysteries and rituals, and death often comes calling. Some of the scores are written in beautiful, symbolic graphic notation, with musical staffs drawn in almost unplayable circles. There is other symbolism galore in the music--number systems or astrological charts might generate structure; certain intervals or chords might stand for good and evil.

The concept seemed charming: a suite called "Mundus Canis" (A World of Dogs) and based on personal experiences of five of the composer's pets. At its West Coast premiere at the Claremont Colleges Sunday night, George Crumb's recent work, subtitled Five Humoresques for Guitar and Percussion, turned out to be charming enough. But much more than that: These are serious mood-pictures genuinely probing into the character of each animal.

Dawn Upshaw is the most versatile soprano I know. And also the bravest. She may be a favorite at the cautious Metropolitan Opera, as well as an acclaimed singer of popular song and a hip heroine to living composers, but she still remains restless, willing to try just about anything.

Wonders of Estonia "Action Passion Illusion" Nordic Symphony Orchestra. Anu Tali, conductor. (Warner Classics) *** The vanguard of women conductors tended to appear, of necessity, masculine or, at least, sexless. That may finally be changing. Anu Tali -- a gifted, statuesque blond Estonian conductor in her early 30s who founded the Nordic Symphony a few years ago -- is not afraid to make a kinky statement.

Dawn Upshaw is the most versatile soprano I know. And also the bravest. She may be a favorite at the cautious Metropolitan Opera, as well as an acclaimed singer of popular song and a hip heroine to living composers, but she still remains restless, willing to try just about anything.

"Time and its erosion can be cruel and merciless," says composer George Crumb. "But I don't want to sound too melancholy. The American public is always interested in newer things, so it's only natural that younger composers get their time on stage." Crumb, now 67, speaks softly, with no apparent longing for his own days as a "young composer." Back then, in the 1960s and '70s, his distinctive sonorities and sense of theatrics made his name virtually synonymous with the musical avant-garde.

Antoinette Perry brought exceptional artistry as percussionist to her Tuesday night recital in the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at USC. Acknowledging pianist Perry thus merely underscores the perspective of her challenging program. In music of Schoenberg, Bartok, Shostakovich, George Crumb and Donald Keats, Perry exploited those possibilities of the piano that graphically emphasize its historic assignation to the percussion family of instruments. And she did so with the same intense care and respect that she has brought to Mozart and Beethoven.