Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth is one of 2019’s most memorable recordings; Donnacha Dennehy’s The Hunger, a meditation on the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th-century, leaves an indelible impression; Derek Bermel’s Migrations is a grand celebration of one of America’s great living composer at the top of his game.
Derek Bermel
Classical Concert Review — A Far Cry’s “All-American” Finale
One takeaway from the concert: music can be forward-looking and even provocative without being off-putting and ugly.
Classical CD Reviews: John Harbison’s “Winter’s Tale” (Soloists, Boston Modern Orchestra Project/Gil Rose) and Derek Bermel’s Canzonas Americanas (Alarm Will Sound/Alan Pierson)
If you think contemporary music is the domain of fusty academics and has no bearing on (or relationship to) the outside world, you really need to check out “Canzonas Americanas.”