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Soundcheck

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
  • The Project Room
    The Project Room

    Offbeat Concert Venues, from Silos to Rocking Boats

    Only in New York can you hear jazz inside an old grain silo, opera in a converted shoe factory, and chamber music on a barge in the East River. Today, a look the city's unusual performance spaces, in all their charm and grittiness. Joining us is Suzanne Fiol, the executive & artistic director of the Issue Project Room (the aforementioned converted silo on the shores of the Gowanus Canal), and Frank Oteri, the editor of NewMusicBox.org, the online magazine of the American Music Center. Also on the show: the Russian-born pianist Vladimir Feltsman has embarked on an unusual project to kick off the season: he's playing Mozart's sonatas on a replica of a fortepiano by Anton Walter, Mozart's favorite piano maker. He joins us to demonstrate the sound of the fortepiano alongside that of a modern instrument.

Pavilions of Harmony

New York is home to some of the oddest performance spaces around, from an old WWII rescue boat to a converted grain silo. We look at these spaces in all their grit and charm.
Issue Project Room Web site
New Music Box

Vladimir Feltsman

The restless, Russian-born pianist Vladimir Feltsman is performing Mozart's sonatas on a fortepiano over five concerts this fall. Hear a preview today.
Vladimir Feltsman's Web site
Image of an Anton Walter fortepiano

Introducing our Video Contest

Soundcheck

John Schaefer gives the lowdown on Soundcheck's music video challenge with the Fiery Furnaces.

In Studio: Angel Deradoorian

Soundcheck

The 22-year-old multi-instrumentalist performs live in our studio.

Cucu Diamantes Performs Amor Cronico

Soundcheck

Cucu Diamantes went from a tough childhood in Havana, Cuba, to an art school in Rome to underground New York City, where she co-founded the Latin alternative band Yerba Buena.

In Studio: Stephanie McKay

Soundcheck

The local singer-songwriter performs "Jackson Avenue," a nostalgic toast to her childhood in the South Bronx.

In Studio: The Decemberists

The Portland, Ore., band's latest album, "The Hazards of Love," is a concept album with a mythological flair. They joined Soundcheck to play live for a studio audience in WNYC's Greene Space.

Sound Off

Soundcheck

Throughout May, Soundcheck presents “Sound Off” a Friday series on the many aspects of noise in music and our lives. The series -- which coincides with “Better Hearing and Speech Month” -- looks at issues like New York’s noisiest neighborhoods, the latest research on iPods and hearing loss, and what happens when noise becomes a musical ingredient.