Podcast appearances and mentions of simon woods

"The composition is made samples cut from the original field recording, with a little additions, looped and rearranged. It finishes with a nod to a Paris Jazz great." Jazz show at Le Baiser Salé, Paris reimagined by Simon Woods. 

"The composition is made up of samples cut from the original field recordings, samples used as wavetable for wavetable synths and loops. These samples were: train rattling over gaps, train moving, the distinctive horn toot, passengers laughing  "The non-sampled from the field recordings are string machines, Latin percussion, Mellotron and guitars." Wooden tram in Soller reimagined by Simon Woods. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

"The composition is made up of mostly drums building to a crescendo. One traditional instrument, one string sound and one synth – that's all." Mt. Kenya National Park and Forest reimagined by Simon Woods. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

“The composition is made up of bell samples cut from the original field recordings. No other sounds were used. They have been cut, filtered, echoed, reversed and extensive reverberation added to create a dream like quality, but maybe verging on a nightmare." La Merced bells reimagined by Simon Woods. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

A UK-based startup is working on carrying out a bold plan to fix the decline of sea ice in the Arctic. Real Ice's ultimate plan is to re-freeze the Arctic by thickening ice to slow down the damage caused by climate change. Co-founder Simon Woods says this is their third winter of research - and it's promising so far. "We're chasing a moving target here - but at current levels, 1.2 meters of ice should survive the summer, and that's what we want." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The composition samples the original field recordings, mainly drills and the tools from the roadworks. These make up the percussion track and are the waves in several Wavetable synths. "Added to this are the sounds of various plumbers and joiners who have visited my home over the last few weeks." Roadworks in Treviso, Italy reimagined by Simon Woods. 

Simon Woods brings more than 30 years of experience working with orchestras to his leadership role as president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras.Simon is known throughout the world of classical music as a highly trusted mentor and advisor to orchestra management professionals.His leadership includes regular columns in professional periodicals about the future of orchestras, as well as lectures and speaking engagements at conferences and orchestra boardrooms around the country.  I was fortunate enough recently to host a panel discussion with him on the subject of the presentation of classical music.Prior to joining the League in 2020, Woods served as CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; he was interim executive director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, president and CEO of the Seattle Symphony, chief executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as well as serving the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Born in London, England, Woods earned a degree in music from Cambridge University and a diploma in conducting from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He currently serves on the boards of Astral Artists and the Performing Arts Alliance.

"The composition is made up of samples cut from the original field recordings. These samples were: commentator's voice, other voices, clapping etc. These samples have been mangled, chopped and diced and served with synths, white noise and drum machines." Padova velodrome reimagined by Simon Woods.

"The composition is made up of samples cut from the original field recordings. These samples were: Voices, gears, doors, announcements etc. These samples have been mangled in sequencers, wavesynths and any other gear they could be put in.  Synths were added to taste." Paris metro line 3 reimagined by Simon Woods. 

"The sound of the migrating terns is replaced by violins playing a the same rhythm as a short loop of the field recording. This pattern is faded in and out with other orchestral string instruments playing similar tern patterns." Migrating terns reimagined by Simon Woods.

Pride and Prejudice (2005), we did the 2005 romantic drama film Directed by Joe Wright. Joe also directed Hanna, Peter Pan, Darkest Hour, Atonement. This is based of the 1813 Jane Austen novel of the same name. Pride and Prejudice is the story of Elizabeth Bennet, played by Kiera Knightly. Elizabeth lives with her 4 sisters at a rural English estate. Her sisters consist of, Jane played by Rosamund Pike, Lydia played by Jena Malone, Kitty played by Carey Mulligan, and Mary played by Talulah Riley. Her father is Mr Bennet played by Donald Sutherland and her mother Mrs Bennet is played by Brenda Blethlyn. These girls are all single and all pining for their chance at love. This comes to a head as the eligible bachelor Mr Bingley played by Simon Woods arrives in town at a ball along with his relative and another eligible bachelor Mr Darcy played by Matthew Macfadyen and his sister Caroline Bingley played by Kelly Reilly. This launches a runaway train of love, loss, heartbreak, heartache… and the story of… Pride and Prejudice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The field recording runs quietly in the background having had sections copied and brutally mangled / filtered / granulised to make musical sounds. Synths added for flavouring." Cape Town flower market reimagined by Simon Woods.

"The filed recording runs quietly in the back ground having had sections copied and brutally mangled / filtered / granulised to make musical sounds. Synths added for flavouring." Manchester overpass reimagined by Simon Woods. 

This reimagining is made entirely of the sound of the Wylfa Waves. Filtered, edited, Wavetable synth etc to make a double tempo, upbeat, dancing on the beach tune! Waves at Porth y Wylfa reimagined by Simon Woods. 

Waves in Anglesey reimagined by Simon Woods - "the reimagined composition uses waves of synths and white noise to complement the sound of the waves."

"An ambient piece of dropping off to sleep to the sound of waves." River Thames boat traffic reimagined by Simon Woods.  Part of the Music for Sleep project - for more information and to hear more sounds from the collection, visit https://citiesandmemory.com/music-for-sleep/

"A rhymical piece with plenty of Guiro action." Insects in Bolivia reimagined by Simon Woods.  Part of the Music for Sleep project - for more information and to hear more sounds from the collection, visit https://citiesandmemory.com/music-for-sleep/

"Some bird sounds are from the field recording and some are synthesised." Napo Wildlife Centre reimagined by Simon Woods.

"A reflective piece remembering the train disaster of August 1974." Zagreb station reimagined by Simon Woods. IMAGE: Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

"Starting with a short rhythmical section of a train on the Hungerford Bridge, the sounds build up with more and more added as the rush hour becomes more congested." Hungerford Bridge reimagined by Simon Woods. Image: Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Guest: Celebrated theatre actor Graham Hopkins joins John to chat about his lead alongside Fiona Ramsay in ‘Hansard' that is currently happening at the Baxter Theatre.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Salto do Rosal in the Azores reimagined by Simon Woods. "The original waterfall sounds have been filtered in many different ways. Added to this are recordings water with contact and standard microphones. "Synths sounds of water both analogue and FM based before conventional synth sounds finally added."

"A journey through Manchester on a Piccadilly line tram, taking in a few musical sounds of the city. The background sounds are made up of fragments of the tram sounds." Piccadilly station in Manchester reimagined by Simon Woods. 

Elizabeth Line opening day reimagined by Simon Woods. "The 'Kaoss' of the title refers, not to any chaos that may or may not have occurred on the opening day of the Elizabeth Line, but to the use of Korg Kaoscillator and Kaoss Pad in the composition. All the percussion is made from sounds of the doors closing or other bangs and crashes on the journey. The two chords are from the tone of the train moving."

"The entire piece, representing a rattling journey on an old tram, is made up of sounds from the original field recording. These sounds have been cut, reversed, sampled, “wavetabled”, delayed, distorted, glitched and so many other horrendous tortures!" Composition by Simon Woods.  This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

The camera was my father-in-law's ,which he used to take pictures in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Recording provided by Simon Woods. This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

"The sound of the camera shutter and winding mechanism are used as snare and guiro in this piece of music. Later, they are joined by more modern camera sounds which have replaced the obsolete Zenit E." Composition by Simon Woods.  This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

1970s Sony TC377 Tape Recorder transport mechanism. Play, stop, fast forward etc. Recording provided by Simon Woods. This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

1980s Tascam 32 Tape machine transport mechanism. Play, stop fast forward and rewind including tape flapping where the machine carried on rewinding! Recording provided by Simon Woods. This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

Recording provided by Simon Woods. The Bell & Howell Filmo Sportster Cine Camera (1930s) is being wound up (clockwork mechanism) and then left to run. The start / stop switch is long since broken. This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

Composition by Simon Woods.  "All sounds on this journey were either the original field recordings or the, long obsolete, Yamaha CS-01 synth with many tape machine plugins along the way for company." This is part of the Obsolete Sounds project, the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct – remixed and reimagined to create a brand new form of listening. Explore the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/obsolete-sounds

A LONG TIME AGO, IN THE 2005 MOVIE ADAPTATION OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: You've got no sons to inherit your estate, only five daughters, so what the hell are you going to do to ensure your family's housing and security? Why, you send Jane, the oldest and prettiest to catch a cold in the rain so rich Mr Bingley will fall in love with her! You let your boring cousin take his pick of the flock, Lizzy; but when she's not into it, he goes off and marries her best friend so your plan is again RUINED! You don't take any of the rest of your daughters seriously, till the youngest one SCANDALOUSLY runs off with Mr Wickham.  Luckily there's a Mr Darcy around to fix the situation with money and marriage, because is there a problem that money and marriage can't fix? In the end, neither pride nor prejudice can get in the way of Bennet sisters marrying for love plus, conveniently, carriage-loads of money. Join Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman and Vanessa Zoltan to investigate the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and investigate such mysteries as whether this could be recut as a horror film, why is everyone so mean to Mary, whether rainstorms are sexy or just soggy, and why the hell are these wigs allowed. This episode is a joyous union between VMI and Vanessa's podcast Hot and Bothered, which is all about romance novels. Hear the current season Live from Pemberley, about Pride and Prejudice, in the pod places and at hotandbotheredrompod.com. A long time ago (well, a couple of years ago) we recapped the 1995 BBC miniseries adaptation of P&P, which you can hear downfeed and at vmipod.com/prideandprejudice. Follow @VMIpod on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep up with any new VMI developments, we do miss you, and talking about tiny jackets.Support the show: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=TWQYZDRGZUGH8&source=urlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full disclosure: there were some audio issues throughout this episode so please forgive the occasional crackling sound as Sharon's home state was literally being attacked by tornadoes. It's time for a break so allow the fellas this rest from the list as they talk about the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice as directed by... you guessed it, Joe Wright. In the biggest coincidence ever, the guys talk about a second Wright film in a row... but as a bonus, they are joined by none other than the Sharon Horwatt of the podcast - Sharon Horwatt! They discuss the film (and the original story) at length including some of the criticisms from Jane Austen diehards, the camera work adding a dimension of modernity to the look of the film, Judi Dench's terrifying performance, the evolving performances from Macfayden and Pike and much more.   Next week: It's time for one more off-brand episode but this time it's a Canuck Puck! Questions? Comments? Suggestions? You can always shoot us an e-mail at forscreenandcountry@gmail.com   Full List: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-british-films/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forscreenandcountry Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/fsacpod Our logo was designed by the wonderful Mariah Lirette (https://instagram.com/its.mariah.xo) Pride and Prejudice stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfayden, Rosamund Pike, Simon Woods, Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan, Rupert Friend, Talulah Riley, Brenda Blethyn, Tom Hollander and Dame Judi Dench; directed by Joe Wright. Is It Streaming? USA: HBO Now and available to rent Canada: Netflix, Crave: Starz and available to rent UK: Netflix, Now TV, Virgin TV Go and available to rent Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Train ride in Tulovo, Bulgaria reimagined by Simon Woods. "The piece is made entirely from samples from the field recording. No synths were harmed during the making of the piece.  Reproduced in Samplers and Wavetable synths."

Covid rail announcements in Italy reimagined by Simon Woods. "Limiting myself to guitars, this piece was made with nylon string, electric, fretless, acoustic bass, dobro, 12 string and travel guitars, with a little helping of e-bow."

Field recording made from a bridge over the M57 motorway at Prescot, Merseyside in England by Simon Woods.

Motorway bridge in Prescot reimagined by Simon Woods. "Other recordings were made at Prescot Station and the woodyard next to the station. The sounds of the drumming are made up entirely from the sound of the work in the wood yard.  The motorway, trains and passing aircraft are added to the woodyard sounds with a selection of synths to make the piece."

"The piece is made from as many sequences as I could fit in – a representation of the Berlin sound." Composition by Simon Woods. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

"The piece is made up of samples from the commentator's voice in a “Zoolook” style (JM Jarre 1984). Sometimes words can be heard and sometimes it is just rhythms." Composition by Simon Woods.  Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

Milan Stazione Centrale reimagined by Simon Woods. "The piece is performed entirely with instruments from Italy.  "Samples of classic Italian synths made by Crumar, Siel and Elka, whilst most of the other instruments are made by IK Multimedia from Modena.  "The lead violin is Native Instruments Stradivarius."

Saint Petersburg art exhibition reimagined by Simon Woods. "The piece is built up from the original field recording. Added to this is an ever changing series of sequences, rhythms and sounds – the notes, scales and chords dictated by the original recording.  "The music is constantly changing with new sequences coming in and dropping out – at least one new track (often more) was added each day, 31 in all."

Dorset rescue helicopter reimagined by Simon Woods. "The piece is partially built up from the sound of the sound of the helicopter blades to make a basic rhythm. This is complemented by waves of synths."

Simon Woods joined the League of American Orchestras as President and CEO in 2020. Born in London, England, Mr. Woods earned a degree in music from Cambridge University and a diploma in conducting from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. From the late 1980s to the late 1990s, he worked as a record producer at EMI Classics in London, where he initiated and produced recordings at Abbey Road Studios and on location with many of the world’s foremost classical artists and ensembles. From 1997 to 2004, he was Artistic Administrator and later Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations at The Philadelphia Orchestra. From 2004 to 2005, he was President & CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving back to the UK in 2005 to become Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, one of the United Kingdom’s leading symphony orchestras. Returning to the US in 2011, he became President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony, a post he held for seven years. In November 2017, Woods was appointed CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held until September 2019. From February to August 2020, Woods was Interim Executive Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.Woods brings more than 30 years of experience working with orchestras. He is deeply committed to equity, to the role of arts organizations in community, and to nurturing the next generation of arts leaders. He is known throughout the sector as a highly trusted mentor to orchestra management professionals, emerging leaders, and conductors. For two decades he has contributed to the League of American Orchestras’ professional development programs, including acting as Director of the League’s signature immersive training program, Essentials of Orchestra Management. In March 2020 he joined the Board of Directors of National Arts Strategies.The Question of the Week is, "What are the characteristics of a strong organization in classical music?" Simon and I discuss what it was like becoming President and CEO of the League of American Orchestras during a pandemic, his experience running some of the biggest classical music organizations around the world, the difference between the American and British classical music scenes, what he hopes to pass on to the next generation of leaders, and why he hopes we do not go back to normal. You can find out more about the League of American Orchestras on their website, https://americanorchestras.org.

In this episode of Because, we hear the “becauses” of the League of American Orchestra’s President and CEO, Simon Woods.  Simon’s story begins in Wimbledon, England, and explores a musical life that began with an eclectic listening background, a strong connection to a piano teacher, and what can result when an individual remains flexible and follows opportunities as they present themselves! Stops on this journey include Abbey Road Studios, Philadelphia, Seattle, New Jersey, and New York.  Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a 5-star review!Support the show (https://qcsymphony.secure.force.com/donate/?dfId=a0ni000000IEp9TAAT)

Benfleet train station reimagined by Simon Woods. "The piece is based around the rhythmical qualities of the station announcer’s voice. Each section builds on travel to a different place before boarding the train, in the final section, and passing these places – although in fact once on the train you could be going to everywhere."Part of the Until We Travel project to map and reimagine the sounds of transport and travel in a pre-pandemic and pandemic world. See the whole project at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/travel.

Newcastle station reimagined by Simon Woods."The piece is built entirely from cutting up the field recording - filtering, reversing, distorting and just generally hacking at it. In the course of these actions, the sound of an old steam train emerges from the past."Part of the Until We Travel project to map and reimagine the sounds of transport and travel in a pre-pandemic and pandemic world. See the whole project at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/travel.

"The piece is simply made up of cuts and pastes from the original recording. The cuts were pitched up or down, EQed and rearranged.  No synths were used in the making of this piece." Piece by Simon Woods as part of The Orange Garden project by Cities and Memory, in which multiple artists create a new composition using the same original field recording as source material and inspiration - see the whole project at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/orangegarden

Wood of suicides created by Simon Woods. "The initial recordings are taken from a local woodland, bird sounds and magpies. These are gradually engulfed by the choir and white noise / wind with tree / hedge cutters joining in. Other sounds include gas hob ignition, match striking, drills and voices.  "All very unpleasant." Part of the Inferno project to imagine and compose the sounds of Dante’s Hell, marking the 700th anniversary of The Divine Comedy. To find out more, visit http://www.citiesandmemory.com/inferno

Acheron created by Simon Woods. "The piece is made up of water sounds (courtesy of my bath and sink) along with synthesised bees / wasps / insects buzzing and voices of the ‘couldn’t care less’. "The final earthquake is the sound of fireworks outside my house on Nov 5th 2020." Part of the Inferno project to imagine and compose the sounds of Dante’s Hell, marking the 700th anniversary of The Divine Comedy. To find out more, visit http://www.citiesandmemory.com/inferno

Venezia Santa Lucia station reimagined by Simon Woods. "All the sounds of this piece, making up a busy day on the station, are made from the Venetian station announcer’s voices. "In addition we have messages from their ‘Station Announcing Cousins from Liverpool Lime Street’."

Bank of England, London lockdown sound reimagined by Simon Woods. "The original field recording is outside the Bank of England on Threadneedle street. My reimagined piece is made entirely out of money.   "Coins are spun, dropped and shaken on different surfaces. A £20 note is flicked as is a credit card. They are then filtered, delayed, granulized, reversed and just generally cut up.   "The more musical section are achieved by making the sound recording of the money as the wavetable in several wavetable synths." Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds

David Marsh is joined by Simon Woods, EY's global response leader for the Covid-19 repercussions on the insurance industry. They discuss the pandemic's effect on the global insurance industry, including the immediate and longer-term consequences for operations and technology, looking at the challenges and opportunities brought by digitalisation. They examine the financial health of the insurance sector as a result of the volatility in financial markets and the recession, and what can be said of the significant strain on capital, liquidity, and investment strategies. They address big questions on how the insurance industry can work with customers, governments and regulators in contributing to the wider economic recovery and investigate the outlook for innovation, and worldwide insurance consolidation. Simon Woods is the leader for insurance strategy for the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa region and a veteran of the sector, having been at EY since 2014, and in the 15 years before that before that covering insurance in various investment banking positions. Music: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Louis Armstrong's trumpet reimagined by Simon Woods with Phil Nicholas. "On a walk through the Smithsonian Museum, a father and daughter encounter Louis Armstrong’s trumpet. The daughter mistakenly believes a trumpet sound is to be found on her mobile phone. The father quickly points out that this is what a trumpet sounds like before a blues begins with the ‘Louis Armstrong’ style trumpet played by Phil Nicholas.   The recordings are not done in an old style, although there is a small amount of record clicks.   ‘Is Louis Armstrong still relevant today?’   ‘Yes.'" Part of the Smithsonian Treasures project, a collection of new sound works inspired by items from the Smithsonian Museums’ collections - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/smithsonian

Director Simon Godwin (Antony & Cleopatra, Man + Superman) and writer Simon Woods reflect on their new production of Hansard

Simon Woods, CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic A Stratiscope project - stratiscope.com - Music Attribution: "Spektrum" by “Bluebridge Quartet” is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

This week, our guest is Simon Woods from the UK. He is the creator of the Micro.blog community resource @til, aka Today I Learned. We talk about his life as a citizen of the Internet, which includes blogging, working from home, and cats, of course. What Micro.blog Needs, posted by Simon on August 31, 2018. Episode 28: @simonwoods Transcript

Título original Pride and Prejudice Año 2005 Duración 127 min. País Reino Unido Reino Unido Director Joe Wright Guión Deborah Moggach (Novela: Jane Austen) Música Dario Marianelli Fotografía Roman Osin Reparto Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Judi Dench, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Tom Hollander, Penelope Wilton, Simon Woods, Rupert Friend, Carey Mulligan, Kelly Reilly, Talulah Riley Productora Universal Pictures / Studiocanal / Working Title Films Género Romance. Drama | Drama romántico. Drama de época. Siglo XVIII Web oficial http://www.prideandprejudicemovie.net Sinopsis Las cinco hermanas Bennet han sido criadas por una madre obsesionada por encontrarles marido. Pero una de ellas, Lizzie, inteligente y con carácter, desea una vida con perspectivas más abiertas, un anhelo respaldado por su padre. Cuando el señor Bingley (Simon Woods), un soltero rico, y su círculo de sofisticados amigos se instalan en una mansión vecina para pasar el verano, las Bennett se entusiasman con la posibilidad de encontrar pretendientes. En el baile de bienvenida, Lizzie conoce al apuesto y elegante señor Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), pero, a primera vista, le parece demasiado orgulloso y arrogante.

Barber’s Violin Concerto, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Copland’s Appalachian Spring are among a small handful of American works that have become staples of the orchestra repertoire. Since the United States has nurtured a good century-and-a-half of orchestral compositions, there are those who feel that this is not just an oversight, but a disgrace. Earlier this month, a group of composers and academics decided to confront the issue where it starts: with the major orchestra in their city. They wrote a letter to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer accusing the Cleveland Orchestra of “blatantly ignoring music of its own country” by programming only one work by an American composer next season. “We looked at this and said, this is approximately one percent of the programming and really, we have to say something about this,” said Keith Fitch, head of the composition department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, who was one of the letter’s co-signers. Fitch argues that the problem is not limited to Cleveland, nor is it even confined to living composers. There is a wide swath of “diverse and compelling” American repertoire, he says, that is seldom represented on orchestra programs, including pieces by William Schuman, Howard Hanson, Roy Harris, Walter Piston and even Charles Ives – “the music that has defined us as a culture.” The Cleveland Orchestra did not respond to invitations to participate in this segment, nor did it respond to the letter, which has been widely circulated on social media. Ed Harsh, the president and CEO of the advocacy organization New Music USA, notes that a number of orchestras are making an effort to program American works, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Albany Symphony. The upcoming Spring for Music festival of American orchestras at Carnegie Hall is due to feature major works by Hanson and John Adams (WQXR will broadcast the six-concert festival live). "It’s by no means a blanket problem,” Harsh said. “But in some ways this is such an old, agonizing story.” In 2011, the League of American Orchestras, a national service organization, reported that just two out of the top 20 most-performed composers were American that year: Barber and Leonard Bernstein (at numbers 17 and 20, respectively). A ranking of the top 20 works performed did not bring up a single American piece. Harsh believes that living American composers should be essential to orchestras' community outreach and audience-building efforts; they can personalize and talk about the music in a way that long-dead composers can't. “It may seem expedient to become a museum of immutable masterpieces that everyone loves,” he said. “That’s long-term suicide.” To some extent, orchestras must persuade audiences to try unfamiliar music of whatever era or nationality, said Simon Woods, the executive director of the Seattle Symphony, in the second part of this podcast. Seattle has recently launched an in-house record label with an album of music by Ives, Gershwin and Elliott Carter. But Woods also believes there are no absolutes. "I start getting nervous when I hear discussions about whether there should be some kind of moral imperative to play American music," he added. "What's interesting about orchestras in this country is this huge diversity of repertoire that they play, and each one has a different personality." Listen to the full segment above and share your comments below: should orchestras program more American works? Why or why not?

The month of May is all about the promotion of home grown music as NZ music commission officer Simon Woods explains.

The month of May is all about the promotion of home grown music as NZ music commission officer Simon Woods explains.