Sometimes people think that classical music is only about the past, but this week’s top concert picks all focus on new compositions, some composed only last year. Find out what some of these living composers have been up to lately.

If there are far more possible concerts in a week than I could possibly mention, it must be October. The good news is that there are more free concerts to tell you about, and the bad news is that there are so many concerts for me to attend that I could be spending every night listening to music. Wait, that sounds like more good news. CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: >> In last week’s agenda, I had Shostakovich’s…

In last week’s Classical Music Agenda, I led with a concert on Sunday afternoon in the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s acoustically splendid auditorium. It was the first concert of the season from the Contemporary Music Forum, but not even the Washington premiere of a major piece of new music, Paul Moravec’s Tempest Fantasy, could draw more than a sparse audience. The composer himself was on hand to give a brief presentation on Tempest Fantasy, which…

One of those stereotypes about classical music that I would like to explode is that it is the musical equivalent of a dusty museum. Yes, classical musicians often play music from previous centuries, but the performances themselves are very much modern and of our time. What’s more is that often classical musicians play new music, and that is an exciting thing to hear. RELATIVELY NEW: >> A favorite local group devoted to contemporary music, the…

With Passover and Easter, this week is mostly about taking off work and preparing food. Not surprisingly, there is not much to tell about concerts, but there are a few interesting things that I must mention. Classical music life in Washington will get its buzz back next week, lasting another eight to ten weeks or so until the summer doldrums settle in. CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: On Monday (April 10, 7:30 p.m.), the Diotima String Quartet will…

This DCist is always surprised to learn the strange stories behind how artists inspire one another. In 1957, Philip K. Dick published a novel called Eye in the Sky. Years later, composer Robert Dick, no relation to the author, wrote a hallucinogenic and extremely difficult piece for solo flute that takes its name and subject matter from that novel. As previewed in this week’s Classical Music Agenda, we heard the composer himself, who teaches at…

June is finally here, and that means that this DCist can direct you to a few more concerts this week for your classical listening enjoyment (see more at Ionarts), after the lull of late May. You can plan your concert schedule for the entire month of June with our Classical Month in Washington (June), or your summer opera listening with Opera in the Summer 2005, both at Ionarts. Our activities will taper off again in…