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Biographical Content |
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DROPPING NAMES |
Some people say it isn't what you know, it's who you know. Barry Drogin has met Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, John Cage, Lukas Foss, John Herbert MacDowell, Virgil Thomson and lyricist Adolph Green(anecdotes available). He corresponded with Stephen Sondheim for several years, and was interviewed by Meryl Secrest for his up-coming authorized biography. He rummaged in the attic of Percy Grainger's house (Stewart Manville, curator), looking for Free Music machines after meeting Burnett Cross (and he knows all about Henry Cowell's morals charge). Barry attended all of Jacob Druckman's New York Philharmonic Horizons concerts and discussion panels, asking a question at each, including an embarrassingly revealing one of Max Matthews. There is also an amusing anecdote concerning his wife, Joan La Barbara, Morton Subotnick, and "Silver Apples On The Moon".
Barry has also met Philip Glass, John Corigliano, David Del Tredici, Milton Babbitt, Peter Schickele, David Stock, Joelle Wallach, opera directors Peter Sellars and Richard Flusser, soprano Dawn Upshaw, pianist Doris Hays, and Marc Blitzstein biographer Eric Gordon. In the world of Jewish music and arts, he has met Tzipora Jochsberger, Hadassah Futernick, conductor Matthew Lazar, and Israeli poet and translator T. Carmi. While researching "Typhoid Mary", he met with Swiss author Jurg Federspiel and Swiss political cartoonist Magi Wechsler.
Barry is on a first-name basis with Laurie Spiegel, Michael Sahl, Eric Salzman (and his daughter, Stephanie Salzman-Carbonnier), William Schimmel, Beth Anderson, Leonard Lehrman, Robert Baksa, Jed Distler, Aaron Jay Kernis, NYFOS founders Michael Barrett and Gideon Schein, former 92nd Street Y director Omas Hirschbein, director Tom O'Horgan, entertainment lawyer and film producer Gary Kauffman, poet David Ferguson, cabaret performer Nancy Barry, accordionist Yuri Lemeshev, tenor, conductor (and piano tuner) David Dusing, Virgil Thomson biographer and NYT critic Anthony Tommasini, and IPG President Susan Jacobson. Two of his neighbors are professional guitarists: Gary Lucas and Lou Erlanger.
Barry's music has been performed by the Liliana Belfiore Dance Orchestra (Jay Blumenthal, conductor), the Occasional Singers (Gil Robbins, conductor, Andrea Goodman, assistant conductor), Josquin Cage (Mark Lampariello, music director), and String Fever (Marin Alsop, conductor), pianists Nicholas Underhill, Blake Rowe, Mimi Stern-Wolfe and Gretchen Saathoff, and singers Kathy Barr, Elizabeth Thorne, Cindy Richards Wallace, Jennifer Lane, James Bassi and Gregory Purnhagen. A recording of "Love and Idols" was put together with Adele Robbins, and Western Wind baritone Elliot Z. Levine.
Barry went to high school with Barbara Kilduff and Ralph Macchio, but hasn't heard from either since.
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