Free Republic

In the spring of 2001, Suzanne Farrin auditioned for the Juilliard School’s prestigious composition program. The night after her audition, she says that Christopher Rouse, a faculty member at the time, tried to kiss her. “I sort of twirled out of his arms and ran away,” Farrin said. Farrin wanted to join Rouse’s doctoral studio before that night. She had traveled to New York before her audition to show him her music. She had read a book about counterpoint that Rouse suggested, hoping her efforts to build a pedagogical relationship with him would lead to a spot in one of...

RUTH UNDERWOOD: A MOTHER OF INVENTION An integral part of Frank Zappa’s band the Mothers of Invention, Ruth Underwood stayed mostly in the background on stage and in the studio, filling the sound with her indispensable contributions on marimba, harp, xylophone, vibraphone and drums. Her reputation, as a multi-instrumentalist and composer, has only grown since the Mothers disbanded in the ‘70s. Ingrid Jensen, after taking a look at the musical legacy of Ruth Underwood, declares her ‘the undisputed queen of rock ‘n’ roll percussion’. It was 1967 when Ruth Komanoff first saw Frank Zappa perform in New York City, where...

Original manuscripts by Bach, Mozart and Brahms form part of a 139-item collection of sheet music donated to the Juilliard School in New York. The artefacts - donated by collector Bruce Kovner, chairman of the music acedemy's board - will be housed in a reading room from September 2009. Highlights include working manuscripts of Beethoven's only opera Fidelio and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 9. School president Joseph Polisi said it was "by its very definition priceless". A lifelong music lover, Kovner began collecting manuscripts more than 10 years ago when he noticed a flow of rare artefacts coming onto the...

The government is privileged to choose what artwork is worthwhile without being accused of censorship as long as it is funding the art, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Thursday. ``The First Amendment has not repealed the ancient rule of life, that he who pays the piper calls the tune,'' Scalia said at a symposium entitled ``American Society and the Arts,'' hosted by the Juilliard School. Scalia discussed and fielded questions about only the arts. He said he was not suggesting that the government not fund the arts but that if it does, just like when it runs a...