Happy birthday to Daniel Felsenfeld

A quick shoutout to the composer Daniel Felsenfeld, whose birthday is today. Though we have only met passing each other in subway stations and concert halls, I admire Daniel's work, and he is another whose teaching artistry for the New York Philharmonic and elsewhere can go largely unnoticed. If you want to get to know Daniel the composer, perhaps no better way than click here to watch his Astrophysical Mass, recently premiered at Trinity Church. It's a terrific piece (starts at about 36', preceded by Danny's introduction), and the performers, led by Julian Wachner, are simply wonderful. This is the way new music should happen in the digital age. Great live performances captured beautifully on video and available to the public both simultaneously and immediately afterwards. Sometimes the age of social media serves up the deeply superficial - other times it delivers wonders. Happy birthday, Daniel!