Mike’s Listening Picks
Contributed by: Michael Beert, cello faculty at The Music Academy
One thing a lot of people don't know about me is that I'm a product of the 60's and 70's. My parents had me listen to Bizet, Grieg, and Wagner but I had an older brother that listened to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the Blues. I received a great education in a wide variety of music in my formative years!
I developed my own tastes in music over the years but I still love to go back to the "basics". In my high school and college years, I developed a love for the music of Jean Sibelius and later on, the music of Mozart. Some people joke that I have a shrine to both composers in my home!
I also have a deep love of Motown, Rhythm and Blues as well as Art Rock or Prog Rock. King Crimson, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin can be found playing on YouTube as well as Debussy or Stravinsky at my house. They all bring me joy!
In regards to "New" music, I've lately been listening to the chamber music of Kenji Bunch, a violist who writes in a wide range of styles and emotions. I recently played a piano trio of his that was exquisite and tonal.
Another new composer I've enjoyed is Caroline Shaw, a composer/vocalist with a Suzuki violin background and a Pulitzer Prize winning composer. She collaborates frequently with "Pop" performers and isn't afraid to mix styles.
Other "New" composers I admire are Jennifer Higdon and Chicago Symphony Orchestra composer-in-residence, Jessie Montgomery who had her Cello Concerto performed last year. A breathtaking piece!
In regards to "Old" works, I am currently cycling through the Tone Poems of Jean Sibelius and have latched on to his works inspired by the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala. In particular, the short works Luonnotar, the Bard, the Oceanides and Night Ride and Sunrise. The last one has a stunning aural depiction of a sunrise that rivals any other work depicting this phenomena.
My daughter Aria (a Music Academy graduate) and I have been listening to a lot of operas as she is a violin and voice major at Wichita State University. She recently sang the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and she is delving into new operas. Over the holidays, we listened to works by Mozart, Leoncavallo, Verdi and Puccini. What a learning experience for me!
I read a lot of interviews online and there are too many to remember but one stuck out recently. There was an interview with one of the drummers that worked in the Prog Rock group King Crimson that I liked. His name is Pat Mastelatto and has worked on various groups since the 1980's including the once-popular group Mr. Mister (songs Kyrie and Broken Wings).
To put it in context, the groups he works with now use unusual meters and hardly ever play in a simple 4 beat pattern. Very dense and complex music. Similar to Stravinsky's Right of Spring or the complexity of a Bach four-part fugue.
His interview struck me because he is in a similar age group as me and yet his advice rings true at just about any age. Practice to achieve muscle memory and technical faculty and then perform with great ferocity and as passionately as possible because it could be the last time you play that work. Great ideas to live by I think!
Wild Card: My son Ian Beert has a new set of songs he's written that sounds similar to Bruce Hornsby, the Eagles or Tom Petty. Fun Country Rock, check him out here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EyF5LDGSCec?si=yo2Y2Nw4vLu7ro4S
Listen to anything from the above composers and performers. Find something you haven't heard and give it a good listen!