With exactly one month to go, we have raised 60% of our $8,000 goal!

Many thanks to our supporters.

Want to help us keep programming going strong for another year? Become a member today.

Once again the world is aflutter with all things Stravinsky. This time we celebrate his birthday! We’ve shared Stravinsky quotes and trivia, discussed his affection for armpit farts, his feelings on being sea drunk, and his groundbreaking Rite of Spring.

Today, we share an entry from The Writer’s Almanac which was posted in honor of his birthday:

“It’s the birthday of the avant-garde composer Igor Stravinsky (1882), born in Oranienbaum, near St. Petersburg, Russia. His first major success as a composer was a ballet based on a Russian folk tale, called The Firebird (1909). It was wildly popular, and he traveled all over Europe to conduct it. He then got an idea for a ballet about a pagan ritual in which a virgin would be sacrificed to the gods of spring by dancing herself to death. Stravinsky composed the piece on a piano in a rented cottage, and a boy working outside his window kept shouting up at him that the chords were all wrong. When Stravinsky played part of the piece for director of the theater where it would be performed, the director asked, “How much longer will it go on like that?” Stravinsky replied, “To the end, my dear.” He titled the piece The Rite of Spring. At its premiere in 1913 in Paris, the audience broke out into a riot when the music and dancing turned harsh and dissonant. The police came to calm the chaos, and Stravinsky left his seat in disgust, but the performance continued for 33 minutes and he became one of the most famous composers in the world.”

Hello friends,

As of today, we are 56% of the way to our $8,000 goal. Raising this money means another year of engaging, fun, and free (or nearly free!) programming for you. Our year-round events, podcasts, video series, and other published web features are not possible without your support.

Join today!

It has been a busy week here at Salon97! Our new membership program launched on Tuesday morning, and within 24 hours we were halfway to our goal!

As of now, we have received donations and pledges totaling $4,100 with an ultimate goal of raising at least $8,000 by July 18.

Join us today! We have fun perks to share with you year-round.

May 29, 2013 marks the centenary of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Whether you love it or hate it, Rite of Spring paved the path of classical music in the 21st century. It’s a roller coaster ride of a piece, so if you are unfamiliar with it, today is a great day to give it a try!  (That image above is a hat tip to Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, by the way. Another must!)

People the world over are celebrating the occasion, so we’ve compiled a a few resources to help you immerse yourself in a little Rite of Spring Blitz.

First up, our latest podcast! It’s only four minutes and change and is full of Rite of Spring and Stravinsky Trivia.

Upon logging back in to add in a YouTube video of an animated score of the piece (which I forgot to include the first time), I see that Stephen has added links in the comments section below, too! Thanks, Stephen! Here’s part 1:

If your interest is piqued and you’re ready to hear more of this intriguing work, here’s an anniversary box set complete with 38 Rite of Spring recordings. Yes, 38!!

Oh, but you want to listen live? There’s a station for that! Q2 Music is doing an on-air Stravinsky Festival in honor of the Rite of Spring centenary.

And if it was really the trivia you wanted more of, here is NPR’s cocktail party guide to Stravinsky. Awesome!

How are you celebrating Stravinsky and The Rite of Spring today? Let us know!

In preparation for an evening featuring Bach, we learned just how many fugue jokes one can make.

Y’all are hilarious!

This week, Mozart not only goes to the ATM, he STEALS some guy’s money! Shame on you, Mozart.

For those moments when you need to take a deep breath and chill out for a few minutes, listen to the pieces featured in this month’s podcast!

In March, we did something a little different. In lieu of our monthly podcast, we visited the studios of San Francisco Public Radio station KALW to participate in an episode of VoiceBox, a wonderful show investigating all things vocal music with Chloe Veltman at the helm.

And what fun it was! Chloe baked cupcakes, I brought wine, and we had two Salon97 community members with us discussing their thoughts on the music we featured on the show that day.

Listen to our first-ever radio salon! What great fun it was. We hope to do it again soon!

We posted this curious photo on our Facebook Page awhile back and asked the Salon97 community what their captions would be:

Gosh, you guys are creative. And funny! Here are our bear/piano photo captions:

Lauren: “He preferred to play Bearoque music, but he was stuck thumping out Disney tunes for the tourists.”
and
“Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear, fuzzy wuzzy sat on a chair, fuzzy wuzzy liked to play Leclaire.”

Jonathan: “Sing Us a Song, You’re the Piano Bear…”

Suse: “Bear Naked Piano!”

Anne: “Fur Elise”

Eddie: “Bruno, I think you’ve had enough.”

How would YOU caption this photo? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add it to the post!