Blog

Commemorating George Crumb – Composer, Teacher, Mentor
On February 28, 2022 the Musical Fund Society and friends gathered on Zoom to share memories of the work and life of George Crumb. His colleagues, presenters, performers and students […]
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Cynthia Raim: A Career Advancement Winner Continues to Shine Brightly
One of the proudest achievements of the Musical Fund Society in its recent history has been the extraordinary professional and critical success of the winners of the Career Advancement Award, […]
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Variety Hour in the Siglo de Oro
Piffaro, Philadelphia’s renaissance band, is spending the season in Spain. Last weekend’s program bore the title—appropriately for the month of San Valentín, in which falls the Día de los Enamorados—of […]
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The Fifth Century – a new recording from The Crossing & PRISM Quartet
There’s a stunning new CD that features two accomplished Philadelphia ensembles. The Fifth Century, a work for choir and saxophone quartet by the active English composer Gavin Bryars, was released […]
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National Endowment for the Arts in peril
A significant topic for discussion at the February 7th meeting of the MFS Board was the news reported last month that the new administration in Washington is intending to eliminate […]
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Sarah Shafer Nails Adina in L’elisir d’amore
The Musical Fund Society has done more than OK with its choices for singers to receive our annual Career Advancement Award. In 2000, the prize went to bass Eric Owens, […]
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Another Side of Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt was the personification of new, academic music during his long and storied career. But not necessarily in a good way; his work was regarded as alienating and self-consciously […]
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Steven Stucky, 1949-2016
The music world was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the death of composer Steven Stucky on February 14, at the much too early age of 66. Stucky, who […]
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Lois Bliss Herbine: Then and Now
A package arrived in the mail a few weeks ago from Lois Bliss Herbine, the Philadelphia-based flute and (especially) piccolo player. The envelope contained two items. The first was a […]
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Jeremy Denk’s adventuresome PCMS program: Was Glenn Gould wrong?
Earlier this evening, Philadelphia favorite Jeremy Denk played a piano recital at the Perelman, the first installment of the 2015-2016 PCMS Piano Recital Series. Denk had the capacity audience with […]
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