(Posted this morning on the TONY Blog)
Over the weekend, Judd Greenstein (left) -- composer, bandleader, scene activist and founder/codirector of New Amsterdam Records
-- e-mailed to share the sad news that ICO Music (formerly VIM:
Tribeca), the vital new-music concert series he ran with Kimball
Gallagher at the Ico Art & Music Gallery (formerly Gallerie
Icosahedron), had come to an end. For reasons Greenstein didn't go into,
he and Gallagher had been fired from their positions as cocurators of a
series that they had designed and developed.
This morning, composer Anthony Cornicello revealed all the sordid details on the new-music community blog Sequenza 21, and the situation is much uglier and more depressing than we'd figured. According to a memo posted by Cornicello, ticket prices are going up. Presenters and artists will be paying a guarantee against potential losses. No more intermissions. No more student discounts. And -- unspoken but evident -- no more fresh, adventurous new music of the kind Greenstein and Gallagher were booking. The timing was especially unfortunate since the series has really been building up an impressive head of steam over the last few months, with performances by top-notch young artists like mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, pianist Michael Mizrahi, flutist Alex Sopp and violist Nadia Sirota, and a full slate of impressive offerings scheduled through May.
Greenstein and Gallagher will surely bounce back -- Greenstein in particular will no doubt be happy to spend more time booking New Amsterdam showcases, releasing CDs and, hey, just composing. And happily, new music is welcome in more spaces around the city than ever before. Still, it's sad to see so vital and promising a series get squashed so quickly and ignominiously.
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