Starbucks is giving out free coffee to everyone in the DC, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas until 11 a.m. this morning. A nice gesture.
On September 11, 2001, someone in the company infamously charged first responders $130 for three cases of water. The ambulance drivers were eventually paid back, but we wonder if that played a role in today’s gesture.
Atoning for a past mistake or an act of generosity, the intention is good, non?
~reblogged by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
Reich’s piece brings back some searing memories, with (for me) an emotional intensity that had dimmed over the last 10 years. His work is a reflection of the chaos and horror of that day, and of the struggle to understand what happened. In that light, using that photo feels, to me, appropriate. I don’t fully appreciate the dark smudging and streaking of the image (the NY sky was a bright clear blue that day)…but this feels like a quibble. The events of that day were ghastly, abhorrent. But I appreciate the way Reich’s piece brings me face-to-face with what happened, and with my own visceral reaction.
— Fred Child, host of Performance Today
The classical music aficionado and public radio host weighed in on his show’s Facebook page with a brief perspective on the new cover art for the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steve Reich’s latest work, WTC 9/11, from Nonesuch Records. Released this week, the gritty adaptation of Masatomo Kuriya’s famous photo showing the second plane moments before plunging into the south tower has stirred up quite visceral reactions among people from all walks of life.
But, what about the music itself and the fact that the cover art is meant to support or tease out a central element of the music it sheaths? Well, Fred has been “listening to the piece obsessively this past week” and he’ll be writing a lengthier reflection for us in the coming weeks. As a fan of Kronos Quartet, I, for one, can’t wait to read his interpretation of the piece and how the image fits in.
~Trent Gilliss, senior editor
