We are honored to have Philip Glass, a towering presence in the world of contemporary music and performance art, as inaugural guest editor of Carte Blanche, a bold new multimedia series in which prominent cultural figures explore their interests and passions in classical music. A composer, pianist, intellectual and entrepreneur, Glass is also a particularly gifted editor. He has written a probing essay introducing his series, which includes articles on new music, performance art and contemporary opera as well as a roundtable discussion on music and technology. The articles are complemented by an online photo album (with audio commentary provided the composer) and excerpts from his recent lecture at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. We hope that these materials, taken together, will illuminate Glass's personal perspective on the shared musical world that cuts across all of our lives.

Elena Park, Editor in Chief
July 2002

about Carte Blanche

A Composer's Century
Philip Glass

Inaugural Carte Blanche editor Philip Glass introduces the music of his time, and the writing he has commissioned to bring it into focus.

Any discussion of today's new music must begin with a few observations about changes that took place in the music world in the latter part of the 20th century. The most important of these was a shift in the way composers were making and thinking about their music, and even its role in society as a whole. This shift was so fundamental and eventually so widespread that it has determined the basis of how composers work today, and it may continue to do so for some time to come. more >>

Forging the New: A Century of Performance Art
RoseLee Goldberg

In the 1960s and '70s, Philip Glass was part of a community of artists who challenged conventional ideas of genre and form. RoseLee Goldberg looks back on Glass' early world, and on the history of experimentalism to which these artists were heir. more >>

Borne Back Ceaselessly Into the Past?
Greg Sandow

Too many new operas today simply rehash the genre's former glories. Greg Sandow argues for a different idea of opera — one that favors the vibrant, the unpredictable and the truly modern. more >>

On Sewing Machines and Self-Expression: Mapping the Future in Sound
Lisa Bielawa

The founder of New York's MATA festival charts the staggering diversity of new music being written by the next generation of contemporary composers. more >>

Music and Technology: A Roundtable Discussion

Philip Glass moderates a discussion with four composers about digital technology's impact on new music. more >>

Acknowledgments

Detail from Philip Glass (1990) courtesy Chuck Close.

Special thanks to Cat Celebrezze & Rachel Grundfast/Dunvagen Music, Chuck Close, Melissa Cusick/Brooklyn Academy of Music, Susanne Delincèe/Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, Betty Freeman, Babette Mangolte and Annie Ohayon.

Carte Blanche credits: Philip Glass, Guest Editor; Elena Park, Series Editor; Jeremy Eichler, Essays Editor; Ben Finane, Art Director