Vivien Schweitzer portal into The Matrix Online Network

Tell your world ↓ about this one ↑

This Vivien Schweitzer Vertex is within giant steps of all other vertexes in our matrix — and by extrapolation — within close, discoverable steps of the entire planet. Access...
I CURATE → THEM

Explore curations out by tapping above ◤

"The neuron-like connections formed by the recommendations above and below create a very special kind of network..." - Sparrow

(THEY) → CURATE (ME)
Explore curations via ____ & categorical colleagues by tapping categories below ◣

Curate Vivien Schweitzer by tapping grey crosses visible below when logged in. Your image + a link to you will appear here...

"Just as Vivien Schweitzer and billions of fellow human beings are by virtue of the small-world phenomenon positioned within 6 or fewer degrees of each other ... musicians, writers, journalists, dancers, filmmakers, quiltmakers, photographers, multimedia artists et al in a system of interlinked recommendations are likewise positioned — by the identical phenomenon — within a handful of transitable steps of each other — and by extrapolation — within discoverable, accessible reach of just about everybody everywhere here on planet earth. Algorithms not necessary."

CURATIONS & PROVENANCE

from and of this page by: me, featured ACE (artist/creative/educator). (THEY) contingent upon on any given page.

ARTIST/CREATIVE/EDUCATOR

Name: Vivien Schweitzer
City/Place: New York City
Country: United States
Hometown: Mumbai/London

Current News

What's Up? My first book, “A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera,” was published on September 18, 2018, and named one of the ten best books of September by the Christian Science Monitor. It was a real joy to write “A Mad Love” – a chance to share my passion for the most visceral, crazy, and emotional of art forms! Opera can be daunting and complex for newcomers, so I have endeavored to explain how music, poetry and theater fit together, to explore the genre’s most important composers and works, and to introduce some of its most influential performers. Along the way I highlight some of the opera world’s fascinating historical figures, recurring debates, and trends.

Opera is evolving and frequently surprising, and I explore the genre as the living, thriving art form it is. I discuss the operas of some dozen living composers and explore the myriad ways (from traditional to wacky) that contemporary directors stage opera. I have created a Spotify playlist to accompany the book, which begins with music composed by Monteverdi in 1607 and ends with operas written some four hundred years later. There’s no quicker way to fall in love with opera than to listen to wonderful singers perform this gorgeous music.

Life & Work

Bio: I am a New York-based writer, photographer and pianist. My first book, “A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera,” was published by Basic Books in Sept. 2018. I host and produce a podcast called “Parlando: Musical Matters with Vivien Schweitzer,” interviewing dynamic artists and administrators who are changing the narrative in classical music and opera.

As a music critic for the New York Times from June 2006 to June 2016, I wrote reviews, profiles and essays about a broad spectrum of classical, opera and world music. Some of my favorite articles include interviews with the composer Annie Gosfield, the pianist Yvgeny Kissin and the mezzo soprano Alice Coote, as well as features about the intersection of politics and music in Istanbul, the resurgence of sacred music in Caucasus Georgia, and an exploration of what makes musicians ‘ready’ to perform emotionally challenging works. My pre-pandemic opera reviews include “La Traviata,” “Turandot,” and “Siegfried” at the Metropolitan Opera, “Tosca” at Loft Opera, and “The Rose Elf,” staged in a cemetery! During the pandemic I have been writing about online opera.

I have also written many reviews and features for The Economist, including profiles of the conductors Marin Alsop and Gustavo Dudamel. I contribute regularly to the NYT obit department.

I am a classically trained pianist, have performed at venues including Bargemusic, and particularly enjoy playing chamber music and collaborating with singers.

I was born in Mumbai, am a dual American and British citizen, and grew up in London and Washington, D.C. Early in my journalistic career I worked as a copy editor and reporter for the Moscow Times in Russia, writing stories about topics including mail order brides and the challenges facing foreign missionaries. I have written about Tajikistan for CNN Traveler and New York’s Chinese diaspora for BBC Online, and reported on festivals in Mexico and Slovenia.

I am a volunteer teacher at the Center for the Integration and Advancement of New Americans (CIANA), a Queens-based nonprofit where I teach English and Civics to adult students from all over the world. Here’s an article about why this work is important to me. I also enjoy my work as as board member of Art House Astoria, a nonprofit bringing affordable music and arts education to Queens.

Contact Information

Email: vivienschweitzer@gmail.com

Media & Markets

▶ Book Purchases: http://www.basicbooks.com/titles/vivien-schweitzer/a-mad-love/9780465096947/
▶ Twitter: VivSchweitzer
▶ Website: http://www.vivienschweitzer.com
▶ Blog: http://www.vivienschweitzer.com/blog/
▶ YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnHMGeTdHcwisjXa3MLoASQ

Quotes, Notes & Etc. “Vivien Schweitzer is also under opera’s spell, and in her delicious history, “Mad Love: an Introduction to Opera,” she regales us with all you need to know.”
—The New York Times, November 28th, 2018

“Schweitzer does a good job of explaining how the music itself works -comparisons to contemporary popular music are deftly handled and often surprisingly illuminating.”
—BBC Music Magazine, November 1, 2018

“What emerges clearly is Schweitzer’s profound passion for opera, her determination to explain the elements of the art so that others might embrace it… Affection is the subterranean river that frequently bursts through the surface to splash readers and, perhaps, convince them to put down the money for tickets.”
—Kirkus Review, June 18th, 2018.

Clips (more may be added)

5:01
A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera - audiobook - Vivien Schweitzer
By Vivien Schweitzer

4 views
0:06:18
Dvořák: "Song to the Moon" (soprano Anush Avetisyan & pianist Vivien Schweitzer)
By Vivien Schweitzer

7 views
0:09:58
Vivien Schweitzer plays Bach's Partita No. 1
By Vivien Schweitzer

6 views
0:13:29
Vivien Schweitzer and Mark Peskanov perform Mozart's Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, K.301
By Vivien Schweitzer

6 views

This Vivien Schweitzer Vertex is within giant steps of all other vertexes in our matrix — and by extrapolation — within close, discoverable steps of the entire planet. Access...
I CURATE → THEM

Explore curations out by tapping above ◤

Through this window to (for those not logged in) the Matrix entry page...