Recent visits to the New Orleans Opera and
Louisiana Philharmonic for the premieres of
the New Orleans-inspired works - PONTALBA
(Thea Musgrave) and 03: THIS NEW, IMMENSE,
UNBOUNDED WORLD (Robert Kapilow) - and
Houston Grand Opera's commissions -
SALSIPUEDES (Daniel Catan) and LYSISTRATA
(Mark Adamo) - have brought the tragedies of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita closer to home to
those of us safe in New York. G. Schirmer's
offer to donate music for concerts benefiting
musicians affected by the storms has yielded
responses from ensembles as far from the Gulf
as Seattle and Minneapolis. Our hearts go out
to the victims and their families and we hope
as the communities rebuild so too will their
musical institutions.
