Category Archives: Uncategorized
LSO Concert Celebrating America’s 250th
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th July 2026A video of the second half of the Lubbock Symphony’s May 23, 2026 concert is below. The conductor is David Cho, the LSO’s music director.
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Charles Craig – English tenor
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th July 2026Charles Craig was born in London on December 3, 1919, and died on January 23, 1997. He came from a large, unmusical family – he was the youngest of fifteen children. As a child, he was fond of the recordings of Enrico Caruso, though he didn’t consider a career as a singer. Craig worked in…
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El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th May 2026The Met’s new production of Gabriela Lena Frank’s opera El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego was telecast today. It was the final show of the 25-26 series of broadcasts. The opera takes place on Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), November 2, 1957, the year of Diego Rivera’s death and three years…
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Michael Tilson Thomas Dies
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th April 2026Conductor, composer, and educator Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) passed away on April 22, 2026, at age 81 at his San Francisco home, following a battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer. As the San Francisco Symphony’s music director laureate, he was celebrated for his transformative 25-year tenure (1995–2020), which established the orchestra as a…
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Music for America’s 250th Birthday
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th April 2026The program notes for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s May 23, 2026, concert marking America’s 250th birthday are below. Tickets can be purchased here. American Salute Composed in 1942 at the height of World War II, American Salute by Morton Gould stands as one of the most exuberant and enduring expressions of American musical patriotism. The…
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De Minimis
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th March 2026A small, bright life once pranced about my hand,A surge of joy that filled each silent room;With darting eyes that seemed to understand,He chased away the darkness and the gloom. With steps so light that left their mark so deep,Each move a grace upon my heart’s constraintAnd now the silence where he used to leapFalls…
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The Greatest Musical Composition Ever – VII
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th March 2026I already covered this piece four years ago. It’s so grand that I decided to do it again with a musical analysis and a different solist and transcription. The Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 is likely the greatest work in Johann Sebastian Bach’s organ repertoire and therefore the greatest work for the…
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The Met’s 26-27 Season
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th February 2026The Metropolitan Opera officially announced its 2026–27 season today, revealing a scaled-back schedule of 17 productions – the fewest in over 60 years due to ongoing financial constraints. There are also three special events. General Manager Peter Gelb announced he will retire in 2030. He noted that the reduced season is a response to budget…
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New Insight Into the Cause of Lupus
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th January 2026Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs, causing widespread inflammation affecting skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, and brain, with symptoms like fatigue, fever, rashes (especially a butterfly-shaped facial rash), joint pain, and mouth sores that vary in severity and occur in flares and remissions,…
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Program Notes for Falla, Márquez, and Lalo
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th December 2025The program notes I wrote for the upcoming Lubbock Symphony Orchestra concert (January 24, 2026) are below. Tickets can be purchased here. The Three-Cornered Hat Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929) was a Russian art critic, patron, and impresario who founded the Ballets Russes company in 1909. Over the next 20 years he commissioned some of the leading composers of his…
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