Michael Lawrence

Contributor

BSR Contributor Since October 26, 2013

Michael Lawrence is an organist and composer who lives in Philadelphia.

Michael Lawrence is an organist and composer who lives in Philadelphia.

By this Author

28 results
Page 1
Yeah, yeah, that was great. (© European Union 2013 - European Parliament)

Reforming applause

The stuffiness of the modern classical concert must end, but the music must also be heard. Our best model would be rock performances in dive bars.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 4 minute read

Steven Pressfield's 'War of Art'

Battling the demons of Resistance

The title of The War of Art, a little book on how to break through creative blocks and finish projects, is apt because author Steven Pressfield doesn’t pull any punches.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 4 minute read
Kenny G: What a nice young man. (Photo by Andros 1337 via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Nice music

Nice music mimics the past, thrives on expectations, and never breaks ground. It won’t make you think, though it might make you feel nostalgic or sentimental. It never makes you listen, since there’s nothing to hear.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 2 minute read
Marching to his own drummer. (photo by nickelbabe, via Creative Commons/pixabay)

Calvin Hampton: An appreciation

An American genius

Calvin Hampton dared to take musical chances. While the results are uneven, his better compositions deserve a place in the repertoire.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 3 minute read
Photo by it:Utente:TheCadExpert via Wikimedia/Creative Commons

Mennonite singing

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord

You haven’t lived until you’ve heard 200 farmers sing chorales unaccompanied.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 2 minute read
Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society” (© 1989 - Touchstone Pictures)

Remembering Robin Williams (six)

Robin Williams: Empathetic hero

Robin Williams didn’t just make people laugh, he made them think, as we see in his best roles, when he played wise mentors.

Michael Lawrence

Essays 4 minute read
(Thomas W. Benson Political Protest Collection, Pennsylvania State University)

Allen Ginsberg, 'Selected Poems'

Best of the Beats

It is fashionable and therefore easy to appreciate "Howl," but this volume, however inconsistent, is filled with gems that belong in the western canon.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 3 minute read
Inspired by Lightnin' Hopkins. (Photo by Michael Schwarz, via Creative Commons/Wikimedia.)

Townes Van Zandt: An appreciation

Townes Van Zandt was all artistry, and if he wasn’t popular, he nonetheless influenced many other musicians who were.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 3 minute read
"I couldn’t wait to see what it would be like." (Photo by woodleywonderworks, via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Why I ruined my life for music

The only way to play music is as a child, that is, for the sheer joy of it.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 2 minute read
Making notes, if not notes. Photo by Audringje, via Flickr/Creative Commons.

Composing shortcuts

How do you write down an idea that can't be put into words?

Michael Lawrence

Articles 2 minute read
Jean Langlais at the organ of Sainte-Clotilde, 1958.

Jean Langlais: An appreciation

The gems this composer and organist left behind, imbued with a distinctive harmonic language, should not be forgotten.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 2 minute read
Photo by Katie Sayer, via Creative Commons/Flickr.

In defense of uselessness

There is no higher calling than doing something gorgeous for no reason in particular, and it is time to stop apologizing for it.

Michael Lawrence

Essays 2 minute read
You don't have to be Thelonious Monk to improvise at the keyboard.

How I learned to improvise

In music, as in life, there's nothing worse than someone who talks all the time but never says anything.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 2 minute read
Jammin' with Janacek (above) recharged my batteries.

Saved by rock ’n roll

No kidding: How rock expanded my musical horizons

It’s easy for a professional Classical musician like me to get stuck in a rut. Then rock music reminded me why I became a musician in the first place.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 4 minute read
Duchamp's 'Nude Descending a Staircase': A time when motion was everything

'Léger and the Metropolis’ at the Art Museum (2nd review)

Joys and neuroses of the machine age

Léger sought to escape the limits of the picture frame and use color to make an artwork part of the space in which it existed. But by celebrating mechanization, he and his contemporaries took the concept a bit too far.

Michael Lawrence

Articles 3 minute read