Mobtown Modern receives BCF Grant
The Contemporary Museum‘s Mobtown Modern Music Series was recently awarded a grant from the Baltimore Community Foundation. Mobtown was among fifteen arts organizations recognized by the BCF for making “significant contributions to Baltimore’s vibrant arts and cultural scene in 2009.” Needless to say, we’re humbled and thrilled to have received this recognition.
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Happy Holidays from Baltimore
Last weekend there was a pretty significant snowfall in Baltimore. And because so many people park on the streets, there was a lot of this going on. Almost a week after the snow, it’s still not completely gone, and people are really getting into the Christmas spirit with displays such as the one above. Ho, ho, ho!
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Unsilent Night Baltimore 2009 Pix
Mobtown Modern played host to Baltimore’s 4th Annual performance of Phil Kline’s ambient Christmas masterpiece last weekend. It was a fun, fun evening as always. And also as always, thanks to Rob McIver for his awesome photos.
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Have an Unsilent Night in Baltimore tomorrow
This is the fifth year that I’ve organized a performance of Phil Kline’s ambient Christmas masterpiece Unsilent Night (a.k.a. the boombox Christmas parade). It’s the fourth time I’ve done it in Baltimore and the first time it’s been presented under the auspices of the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern series. As always, simply show up with a boombox (or not if you just want to follow along), I’ll provide the tapes and CDs (N.B. eager participants who have audio capabilities can download a sound file of...
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I’m working on my diabolical laugh
A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by Jason Policastro, a freelance writer for the website BmoreMedia.com. He was writing an article about “young Baltimore innovators” and wanted to include me in the story based on the work I’ve done with Mobtown Modern. Flattering, to say the least! The story is up today and you can check it out here.
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New York City or Bust?
Sound strange? Find out why I feel that way by reading my guest post over on Baltimore Sun music critic Tim Smith’s blog, Clef Notes.
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Spotted with Ms. Maryland
I just realized that I’ve been not reporting the small things on SLN as much anymore because of the Twitter, but I think I’ll try to get back in the habit. What better way to start than with this: The Baltimore paparazzi caught me at Artscape this weekend with Ms. Maryland. Gasp! That’s right, people, new music series curators in Baltimore are like David Hasselhoff in Germany. Perhaps this post will undermine any possible blackmail attempts by a certain music critic who might have the...
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New Metro Gallery website
I dabble a bit in web design. Well, I should qualify that: I’ve become pretty good at tweaking code to make it look how I want. I’ve used my limited skills in the past to make websites for myself (SLN) and my own projects (Mobtown Modern). But I finally made my first site for an actual “client”, Sarah and Guy at the Metro Gallery. Seems as though they’ve had several incarnations of the site for the venue; all of which had their downfalls. So they...
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It’s a Werner!
Visuals at new music shows can be a slippery slope. There’s the danger that the visual component is so prominent that it overshadows the music or that it’s done so poorly that it ends up detracting from the performance. I’ve seen it go both ways. Yet, when done well, adding a visual element to a performance can do a great deal to enhance the total concert experience. At least that’s what we believe at Mobtown Modern. We’re fortunate to be in good visual hands at...
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Double trouble
In what is perhaps my greatest media coup to date, this week’s City Paper has picked both events I’m producing as Weekly Highlights and Critic’s Picks. I’m speaking of course of this Friday’s performance of Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night and Monday’s Mobtown Modern show Hard As F#@!. So, like, be there or be square. (N.B. Click here for information about Unsilent Night in Baltimore and here for more on Mobtown Modern.)
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The fat lady sings at BOC
Unless you live in a cave, you’ve no doubt heard about the big financial crisis the country’s currently enduring. That hit home today in Baltimore when the Baltimore Opera Company filed for Chaper 11 bankruptcy protection, something that had been rumored for a good month. (Baltimore Sun classical music critic Tim Smith broke the story yesterday afternoon.) As a result, the BOC will be canceling its remaining 9 performances this season while it enters a reevaluation phase. This announcement comes hot on the heels of...
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