Paul Petrescu

[dude]

I had been disappointed that most excellent young performers were not Americans.  This lad restores my faith in the future of American youth!

Seven-year-old Paul Petrescu played classical music for more than two hundred kids at the "Back-to-School" event. Location: Pleasant Hill, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US September 21, 2021

 

[Cole Parker]

He needs the foot pedals raised to meet his feet, and amazingly, he is able to reach octave spans with him small hands.  

Mike, you used to listen to From the Top.  It's still on, and it still provides us great confidence that America's youth is still incredibly talented.  I'm associated to a degree with an outstanding youth orchestra in L.A., and I can assure you, we don't take a back seat to anyone, anywhere, when it comes to the ability of kids playing incredibly difficult classical music.  I was in the audience at the Disney Hall when they gave a performance which included music from John Williams' The Cowboys Overture.  The crowd gave them a standing ovation.  John Williams was in the crowd and was standing and clapping along with everyone else.  Then he got the same ovation when he was recognized.

There's no reason to despair America's young musicians!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPCpccUo8Lwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPCpccUo8Lw

 

C

[dude]

Cole,

I'll agree that there are some great young musicians in the US but our culture doesn't give them much notice. 

I stopped listening to KUSC Los Angeles a few years back as their programs featured so much "movie music" from "contemporary" composers such as John Williams. 

The station is heavily funded by Hollywood studios so it tends to play "movie themes" instead of "classical music"  That's why I haven't listened to From the Top in a long time.  

 

[Merkin]

John Williams made his mark on the Boston Pops decades ago but luckily the brahmins in charge at Symphony Hall and WCRB/WGBH still know which side their bread is buttered on and the classics prevail.  The current camel nudging it’s nose under the tent at the Pops is Celtic music, somewhat strident at the present moment but I have great confidence that the baton will swing back as it always does in staid New England.

[Cole Parker]

10 hours ago, dude said:

Cole,

I'll agree that there are some great young musicians in the US but our culture doesn't give them much notice. 

I stopped listening to KUSC Los Angeles a few years back as their programs featured so much "movie music" from "contemporary" composers such as John Williams. 

The station is heavily funded by Hollywood studios so it tends to play "movie themes" instead of "classical music"  That's why I haven't listened to From the Top in a long time.  

 

I don't listen to KUSC as much as I used to for the same reason: they play a lot of music I don't like.  For you, Mike, it's music made for films.  More me, it's Baroque composers, guys like Vivaldi, Handel, Scarlatti, Telemann, Corelli and Purcell.  Their music comes on and I run to the radio to turn it off.  Okay, not run.  Shuffle.

But I don't hear much film music at all when the radio's on.  There are times, like around the Oscars, where they'll play a lot of it, and I agree most of it isn't worth much, but most of the time, they don't play film music at all.  Oh, another exception to that would be when Jim Svejda has a film composer in studio and is interviewing him.  Then he'll present lots of that guys scores.  Another great time to shut the thing off. 

My music tastes parallel my writing preferences: Romantic.  Brahms, Strauss, Rachmaninoff, Mendelsohn, Chopin, Dvorak, guys like that.  They don't play enough of it!

C

[dude]

10 hours ago, Cole Parker said:

My music tastes parallel my writing preferences: Romantic.  Brahms, Strauss, Rachmaninoff, Mendelsohn, Chopin, Dvorak, guys like that.  They don't play enough of it!

Total agreement and your tastes mirror mine!  

[dude]

 

[Cole Parker]

That generates a huge helping of WOW!

 

C