Oscar Peterson, 1925 - 2007

Oscar Peterson, whose dazzling piano playing made him one of the most popular jazz artists in history, died on Sunday night at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, outside Toronto. He was 82.

To read the entire New York Times obituary, click HERE

To read another article from the Chicago Tribune's Art critic, Howard Reich, which includes a discography of notable Peterson recordings, click HERE

NPR Music site launched

The halls of National Public Radio are abuzz after the launch of the new NPR Music site. Today, NPR and twelve (12) public radio partners launched the free, multi-genre Web site which presents the best of public radio music.

NPR Music aims to be as diverse as its audience's interests and curiosity. That's why Jazz Profiles lives alongside World Café and Classics in Concert, and why the site features everyone from Aaron Copland and Aaron Neville, to Dan Zanes and Joe Zawinul.

The site includes new artist pages, music blogs, and archived concerts. There is also a new media player which allows you to set up playlists of favorite NPR stories.

To read more about this new site, click HERE

Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna

From The New Yorker's Alex Ross:

"In a handsome twist of fate, [Arnold Schoenberg] the most famously difficult composer of the twentieth century is now the most instantly accessible: possibly no modern artist has such a large Web presence. On the site, you can read immaculate digital reproductions of Schoenberg’s correspondence, listen to his complete works on streaming audio, examine his designs for various inventions and gadgets (including a typewriter for musical notation), and follow links to YouTube videos of him playing tennis..." [Oct. 22, 2007]

To see to the Schoenberg Center's website, click HERE

To read Mr. Ross's entire article on, "The Well-tempered Web: the internet may be killing the pop CD, but it’s helping classical music ", click HERE

Movies' Unforgettable Music

Danny Elfman has created the music for dozens of movies and TV shows, from Tim Burton's Batman to The Simpsons. But when NPR asked the film composer to name his favorite movies to watch, he couldn't quite decide.

To read and listen to the entire interview, click HERE

Eric Clapton Looks Back at His Blues Roots

Eric Clapton has been reinventing himself musically for more than 40 years. But the strong pulse of the Blues has powered his guitar playing since the beginning: from the Yardbirds when he was 18, through his stints with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Derek and the Dominoes, to today.

To read and listen to the interview from NPR's All Things Considered, click HERE

Backstage at Lyric

A new series called "Backstage at Lyric" from the Lyric Opera of Chicago features in-depth interviews with the singers, conductors, and creative minds behind the productions of the 2007/08 season.

The series launches with an engaging and informative interview with soprano Elizabeth Futral and tenor Joseph Calleja, who are currently rehearsing
La traviata.

Lyric Opera dramaturg Roger Pines hosts this first episode. Download and enjoy!

Two Musicians win MacArthur grants

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of the MacArthur fellowships. The fellowships, or "genius awards," as they are commonly called, recognize people in a variety of fields for their creativity and promise. Each new fellow receives an award of $500,000, which is meant to encourage future exploration and comes with no strings attached.

Among the 24 winners for 2007 are two musicians:

Corey Harris, a blues musician who is leading a revival of Mississippi
Delta blues by infusing traditional styles with influences from jazz,
reggae gospel, and African and Caribbean folk styles.

To read more about Corey Harris, click HERE

Dawn Upshaw, a master vocalist who stretches the boundaries of operatic
and concert singing and enriches the landscape of contemporary
performance through her advocacy of established and emerging composers.

To read an article about Upshaw from NPR's Tom Huizenga, click HERE