Any time you see "paradigm," chances are there is some smoke being blown somewhere, probably in your direction. It's meant semi-jocularly here, although from where I sit, the situation to be re-paradigm'ed is vexing enough.
This is the time of the year when many arts organizations release both their summer and entire fall season programs, an avalanche of adjective-laden prose — some justifiably so, some not — cascading down. What to do about these trumpet calls, especially in the abbreviated form of this column?
Neglect is wrong because this is just about the only publication around which deals with the subject. So mostly quick editing/shrinking is applied, and on rare occasions, some interpretation and evaluation. Preferable as the latter approach is, lack of available time and sufficient space among the many other potential music news mitigate against it, and such meaningful reporting is too rare. The time has come to try something new.
With the help of generous friends and colleagues, who actually pondered the announcements, here are some reports with evaluated and annotated information about upcoming seasons.
Pushing boundaries, I have also asked some trusted artists to toot their own horn, modestly, and in the two examples below, Greg MacKellen is writing about his 42nd Street Moon season, and OEBS Music Director Michael Morgan describes the season he put together. There will be more to come in future issues