Ecstatic Living Room

My wife is a contemporary art dealer, so for the past few years I have been dutifully (and gratefully) attending the Art Basel Miami Fair not just for the break in the weather, but for the rapid immersion in the contemporary art scene. Even though as in many gatherings of cultural experts, passion at Art Basel Miami is mostly disguised as nonchalance, the scene is literally buzzing with the latest everything in the contemporary art world.

When speaking with these art-passionates the conversation often turns to my interest in classical and contemporary music and not once have I met someone at Art Basel who was hip to the contemporary music scene. This disconnect between contemporary art and music was recently detailed with typical brilliance by Alex Ross in the Guardian (UK) – http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/nov/28/alex-ross-modern-classical-music?CMP=twt_gu

I find that most of the people I speak with are genuinely interested in the idea of discovering new music, but they just don’t where to begin to listen. So I spend a lot of time scribbling down recommendations for these music hungry folks on bar napkins and random sheets of paper. Typically, I’ll ask a few questions about their general music taste and prescribe some works. Though in general, I have found myself often recommending the following as great ‘generic’ ear openers for those who get most of their cultural pleasures through their eyes:

Ingram Marshall writes music that is perfect for the art set because many of his works just feel like art ‘sound pieces’. His beautiful eerie, ethereal work, Fog Tropes, was recently employed in the soundtrack to the film Shutter Island:

If folks are up for a major, large-scale work I point them to John Adams’ Harmonliehre, because every musically-inquisitive person should at least be aware of this 20th-century American masterpiece. A more obvious introductory piece by Adams is his blistering Short Ride in a Fast Machine, but for the contemporary art lover I am more inclined to recommend his mournful and provocative work for strings and taped voice, Christian Zeal and Activity.

Beyond recommending works, I often like to point to the recordings of trailblazing new music ensembles: groups such as the Bang on a Can All-Stars, eighth blackbird and Brooklyn Rider, to name a few at the top of the list.

Lastly, a great relatively new resource for a curated introduction to contemporary music is Q2, the new music streaming outlet from WQXR.org When I don’t have a napkin on which to write down recommendations, I just say “go online and listen to Q2,” the perfect soundtrack for any contemporary art lover.