Modern Classical Music at DCCC
By Bob Small
Modern Classical Music, like alternative political parties and alternative religions can be seen as a subculture followed by those of us who don’t always trust the dominant traditional cultures.
Most people’s perception of classical music has been both Eurocentric and empire-centric, to say nothing of being male-centric. There should be room for music based on alternative visions of gender, race, and culture, and celebrating peace instead of wars and militarism.
For many, the enjoyment of new modern classical music lies in both the discovery phase and re-listening when possible. Hearing repeated live performances of new works is an extremely rare occurrence, whereas we can hear Bach, Mozart, Puccini, Beethoven and Verdi on an endless loop. Depending on how you get your music, there is usually a very limited choice of other composers presented. Though WRTI, our local classical FM station, tries to be diverse, it is rather limited in its diversity. For example, on March 8, which was International Women’s Day, the all-women-composers playlist included some composers only to be heard on that day, and some of their compositions were only partially played.
The new music performance groups I used to follow were Relache, when I lived in Philly, and Orchestra 2001, when it was at Swarthmore College.
Lately, I have discovered the new music program at Delaware County Community College (DCCC).
On the March 2 program of new music at DCCC, the duo Melomanie, consisting of harpsichord and flute, played works by Larry Nelson, Chuck Holdeman, Mark Hagerty and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
The first time I attended one of these programs at DCCC, I was one-third of the audience. Last Thursday night, I was one-tenth of the non-composer section of the audience. I had a challenging and enjoyable evening.
The next concert in the series is 5 p.m., Thursday, March 23,and features the Lang/Rainwater project. General admission is only $10.
