glass notes
No Glass ceiling for 76-year-old composer

Diavolo-685x250_0
Diavolo Dance Theater

Finland's YLE reports on Philip Glass' first ever visit to perform in Finland.  Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble were in the Czech Republic on Friday night for a marathon performance of Music in 12 Parts. Sunday night Glass was in Helsinki performing his solo piano concert. Tonight it's Koyaanisqatsi with Orchestra (the Helsinki Philharmonic), and tomorrow it's the PGE Retrospective show.  Considering I get winded from a trip from New York to New England by car, I find Glass' superhuman ability to maintain this type of schedule at 76 years old quite amazing.  There are video highlights of the Helsinki press conference here, starting about 2 minutes in.

These Finland concerts are the last hurrah for the summer and the last performances (that I know about) in August.  September begins the 2013-14 season which will include all sorts of goodies though it will be hard to top the 17 productions of Glass' operas worldwide which took place in the spring of 2013. 

Looking slightly ahead, September features some really exciting events including Symphony No.3 at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic set to choreography by Diavolo Dance and conducted by Bramwell Tovey; September 8th is the world premiere of the Reggio film Visitors at the Toronto International Film Festival with Glass' orchestral score played live by the Toronto Symphony and conducted by Michael Riesman; our friends at the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra will open their season with a performance of Glass' Symphony No.3 conducted by Anne Manson; ICARUS: At the Edge of Time is being done in Russia and Holland;  performances of Violin Concerto No.1 in Russia and Romania, Symphony No.3 in Paris, Saxophone Quartet Concerto in Lichtenstein…and on and on…always check the PhilipGlass.com performance calendar for the latest updates.

Glass and the PGE in the Czech Rep. on Friday

1 thought on “No Glass ceiling for 76-year-old composer”

  1. Glass performed in Bergen for the very first time three years ago with Koyaanisqatsi.
    He went on a European tour in May of 2010, and I too am amazed at his touring this month!

Leave a Reply