The Second Street Dreams Audio Network: Recent Episodes
Judlyne Lilly-Gibson
Since the 21st century started in earnest, there’s been some discussion about opera. New operas versus the standard repertoire and how it’s measured against the prevailing views about race and attitudes. Now comes One Ounce Opera out of Austin, Texas. They are seeking to throw the old views out about everything that opera represents with their annual show Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera.
A soothing album as a balm for the ICE infested people of Minneapolis. Mozart’s newly discovered jam, Elaine Andrews found an undiscovered Ralph Vaughn Williams piece and there's a pianist who likes to perform his concerts outdoors.
Some ideas nag at you over time. That is until something happens and you have to act. This is what happened to Ruby Ortiz who finally decided to start Houston’s first LGBTQ+ symphony orchestra. It’s called the Houston Pride Orchestra.
We are just days away from the actual 250th birthday of America. The music developed for this event just keeps coming. Perhaps none as expansive as the Declaration Project from pianist Lara Downes. She created it to get various takes from anyone about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This national program will end with a concert at Lincoln Center in New York.
Many classical music groups have released new music or albums about the 250th birthday of America. Some are straightforward, others take a diverse view, like the Apollo Chamber Players. Founder and Director Matthew Detrick says the album, We The People, features music from composers with disparate American experiences.
We have been inundated with new music and performances of old patriotic music because of the 250th birthday of the United States. On this June 8th podcast, I’m starting a series on music composed and performed specifically for the big bash next month. This time it’s Karen LeFrak’s American Promise. You’ll also meet Dawn Carroll who was inspired to compose Songs for Mary. It’s about a woman who created the National Negro Opera Company and the house where it all started. June is also the month of Juneteenth and Pride month celebrations with some big firsts among them.
There aren’t many musicians, classical or otherwise who aren’t presenting their own versions of a birthday song for America’s 250th. On this episode, we hear from Min Kwon, a pianist with a little activist nature on the side. Back in 2021 she started a project called America/Beautiful. Since then she’s commissioned over 70 composers to come up with their musical versions of what’s beautiful about America at this time using the song America the Beautiful as source material. Plus it was important to her because she has two daughters, with birthdays on Presidents’ Day and the Fourth of July.
Hundreds of people are expected to voluntarily step outside of their musical genre mode this weekend and hear something new, and different and maybe even odd. It’s time for the annual HERE BE MONSTERS, Austin’s Indie-Classical music festival. Co-director Michael Zapruder of Tetractys says this is a growing movement within the classical or near classical genre of new music.
Many orchestras and chamber groups are celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding this year. While most of the music is a positive portrayal of the United States there is at least one musical work telling the tale of the horrific treatment of Native Americans and their lands. The piece is Requiem For America by Mohican/Munsee-Lenape composer Brent Michael Davids. He describes it as a searing work confronting hard truths about America’s founding. It’ll be performed by the BBC Orchestra in London this month, before its American premiere in November.
Even though operas from long ago are still being performed, there’s a movement afoot to freshen them up or to do new 21st century operas. In the case of the 1958 opera Vanessa, a production by Heartbeat Opera is doing a stripped-down version of the Pulitzer Prize winning work. It’s directed by RB Schlather. At The Met, they are about to premiere a true 21st century opera by first-time opera composer and Grammy winner, Gabriela Lena Frank with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Then there’s the big dispute between the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its patrons over the firing of Music Director Andris Nelsons.
Sometimes when someone makes a suggestion to you, it kind of sticks with you. That’s what happened to jazz artist Darrel Grant. He decided to act on this suggestion from a friend by composing Step by Step, the Ruby Bridges Suite. It is a piece about the 6-year-old girl who was the first African American student to integrate the New Orleans public schools in 1960. It was not without protests, or strong resistance and a teacher who ignored the noise and taught the little girl in a classroom void of any other students.
In honor of April, Earth Month, more than a few composers have released albums about their love of our home planet, and their anxiety about climate change. This week’s episode features three of those albums.
There have been several studies on the effect of music on mental health. This is especially true with the elderly. A long running study out of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia is finding that dementia may be delayed in the over 70 set if music is in their lives.
Welcome to my latest podcast. It’s called Feeding Thespis. I’m picking it up again after more than a few years and some tears. This one is called NEW TIMES. It takes place in 1967 on the campus of a prestigious women’s college when a Black woman is hired to run one of the dormitories for the first time in the school’s history. Her various conflicts come from students, management and another Black woman who isn’t sure about this new lady.
Composer Chinary Ung has been composing music for 60 plus years. His compositions are heavily affected by his childhood in Cambodia and the deadly events that happened there back in the mid 1970’s. But he says he’s blessed that he was able to come to America in the 1960’s to study the western style of music. Many of his compositions will be performed at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts in its Composer Portraits series on March 26th.
It took pianist Rebeca Omordia 8 years to create the African Concert Series in London. She was even told that African classical music wasn’t really classical at all, nor would anyone want to listen to it. The series is very popular now. So much so that Wigmore Hall in London has gifted Omordia a residency at the world class venue.
Conductor and Music Director JoAnn Falletta of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has fulfilled a dream. She’s released A Hero’s Life. The album has two pieces, one from Richard Strauss and another that’s a world premiere recording of Behzad Ranjbaran’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Falletta is also releasing another edition of her book of poetry, Love Letters to Music. This is in addition to the upcoming full length documentary about her nearly 30-year career at the Buffalo Philharmonic.
When you think of countertenors what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Randall Scotting, a countertenor sees himself as a preserver of this male voice classification. He’s releasing the album Divine Impresario to celebrate one of the most popular castrato opera singers of the 17th and 18th centuries. His name is Nicolini. Cancellations at the Kennedy Center continue even as the building is set to close for renovations. The San Antonio (Texas) Philharmonic shuts down with hopes of returning someday.
In these last few weeks of Black History Month, there are many more events celebrating Black excellence. One such event is with violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who founded the series Music by Black Composers” as part of her foundation, the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation. She did it to advance opportunities to study and perform works by Black composers. Pine performs with the Madison Symphony in Wisconsin this coming week with a group of young people performing the music of some Black classical composers.
As any musician, classical or otherwise, knows, it’s a difficult climb to success. It took Sarah Kirkland Snider almost 20 years to find it with her composing career. She’s out with a new album of ethereal, spiritual music called Forward Into Light.
Black History Month soars with hundreds of events this month. Go to the Classical Music In Colors page on secondstreetdreams.comfor links to some of the most interesting events.
Oh Happy Day! It’s Black History Month. There are so many events celebrating “black excellence” in all genres of music. I’ve only mentioned a few including the Colour of Music Festival. See links on secondstreetdreams.com There’s a new audio edition of the Harry Potter books. Believe it or not, the National Endowment for the Arts is offering Challenge Grants. The Cliburn ends its piano competition for Amateurs. There are plenty of other piano competitions for amateurs, like this one in Paris. Then there’s the closing of the Kennedy Center, ordered by the President.
So many events are happening this month and early in February. Some of them require the attention of the classical music community. There’s the Grammys, a new album of choral works from the composer of Baba Yetu, Christopher Tin, a fresh take on Bach, another cancellation at the Kennedy Center and the March broadcast of the Oscars with a nomination about Verdi. There’s also a sad story about a violinist whose violin case was too big for the overhead bin.
While we look forlornly at the holiday bills as we head into tax season, there is some joy this January. The Grammy winning and nominated this year again Jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner is grateful and humble after winning the 300k Gilmore inaugural 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award. Donors have nearly flooded the Washington National Opera with funds after the opera company departed the Kennedy Center. There are still many ways to honor Dr. Martin Luther King and many other African American leaders as we head into Black History Month. And oh my as George Takei would say, there’s a Star Trek version of a Mozart opera.
Sometimes things happen that let you know that you are on the right path. This is the experience of the Zara Hudson Kozdoj of the UK. This 29-year-old Polish-Jamaican cellist, composer and conductor isn’t all about classical music but has surrendered herself to it in bits and pieces. She released her first album in October called Remember Who You Are. She found out while making the album that there were items about business that she wasn’t taught during her years at the Royal College of Music in London. Then the fates stepped in again.
Which opera team are you on?
“Old” operas versus the “New” operas. According to the book, Opera Wars by Caitlin Vincent, artistic directors and others at the nation’s opera companies are in conflict with themselves over staging the standard operas from the 18th and 19th centuries or producing those composed in the late 20th and 21st centuries.
There’s a new directory for musical instruments adapted for those would be musicians with disabilities. Other companies and engineers are developing adaptations too.
Apple Music Classical has made a surprising choice for it’s classical album of the year.
While we still might be recovering from Thanksgiving, there’s the rest of the holidays to consider. Shopping for gifts, decorating the house while listening to music. Gifts have already come to Kyle Rivera, who won the Michael Morgan Prize for Black composers. The Pegasus Opera Company in the UK is looking for partners to produce an opera about the Windrush generation. The Detroit opera presents two little known and rarely staged operas.
A new era of operas is emerging. Not that the popular ones are stuffy or just plain old. Composer Nathan Felix seeks new 21st century operas at his second annual Opera Austin Festival. Another member of the Kanneh-Mason family of England, has released a new album. Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason shows her love of Jane Austen with an album of music in honor of the 250th anniversary of the novelist’s birth.
As the holiday season officially makes its debut this Thanksgiving week, there’s money and music to behold. First up, in these times, the Palm Beach Symphony has hired its first ever Development Director in its 41-year history. Then there’s Chloe Flower who’s released an album of holiday music composed by women. It’s called She Composed – The Holidays. Finally we ask the question: How does your concert outfit affect perceptions of your performance?
There is always much concern about the future audiences for classical music. The New York Philharmonic may have found the solution. It’s their 100-year-old Young People’s Concerts. A new one is coming up this month called the Young People’s Concert: Symphonies! Stories! Sibelius! It’ll tell an elaborate tale about the investigation of Sibelius’ Second Symphony written by classical music expert and writer Lauren Rico.
In observance of National Native American Heritage Month, White Snake Projects, has introduced the Indigenous Directory for Musical Storytelling. It names Native American musicians, artists, and crew members who are available for work. Some of them are Grammy award winners. The co-founder and Artistic Director of White Snake Projects, Cerise Lim Jacobs says Native American artists were initially reluctant to sign up, fearing it was a scam. That’s despite the Pulitzer Prize White Snake Projects won in 2011 for the opera Madam White Snake.
With the federal government shut down, (as of this writing) it’s difficult to say if there will be a federal observance of Veteran’s Day on November 11th.
So, In gratitude for their service, the podcast this week is all about the music composed to honor them. The men and one woman featured in this show are just a few of the Veteran composers who wrote music for and about Veterans. One piece was composed and performed while the composer was in a POW camp. There is also a piece about Native American Heritage Month.
When you took your shower today did you think about where the water came from? The source of it? Probably Not. There’s at least one arts organization in Austin, Texas, Forklift Danceworks, led by Allison Orr, that wants you to know and maybe learn how to help keep the clean water flowing.
One man, a conductor, has such love for the music of British composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor (August 15, 1875 – September 1, 1912) that he made it his mission to find his manuscripts. The album, produced by conductor Michael Repper and performed by the National Philharmonic with violinist Curtis Stewart is a love note to Coleridge Taylor on the 150th anniversary of his birth. Much of the music on the album titled Samuel Coleridge-Taylor are world-premiere studio recordings of his work. Some of them have not been performed for 100 years.
While we all get accustomed to Classical Music in ColorS, let’s move on to Segment 2 of 2 of the October 2025 edition.
This time we’re talking about a woman who was most likely the first African American hired by a mainstream orchestra, the 93-year-old South Bend, Indiana Symphony Orchestra.
Her name is Rosemary Sanders, whose name and history was found as many items are, in the archives.
This discovery shocked Dr. Marvin Curtis, the head of Arts Equity and Public Art in South Bend and Justus Zimmerman, formerly of the South Bend Symphony orchestra, who is now leading the Austin, Texas Symphony. Both men decided to produce a documentary about Sanders called Invisible Player. It focuses on Sanders and other Black classical musicians who are still facing difficulties.
Welcome to a new version of Classical Music in Color. The first change? The name. It’s now plural, CLASSICAL MUSIC IN COLORS. This is the result of Staccato; my other podcast being cancelled by the radio station that aired it for 10 plus years. I’m folding Staccato into Classical Music In Colors. The second change. Segments. I’ll be producing one segment with one topic a week. This first segment of the new Classical Music In Colors is about supporters, donors and volunteers who’ve stepped up to help arts organizations who are no longer receiving grants from the National Endowment For the Arts/Humanities. As an example we focus on Castle Of Our Skins, a Boston based African American organization promoting classical music composers. They were able to hold their annual MassQ Ball thanks to donations from people like you.
Jazz pianist and composer ArcoIris Sandoval spent her summer all over the place. We met her in July at the Zinc Bar in New York’s The Village where she was performing over a couple of nights before heading off to Massachusetts and other venues around the country. Sandoval took the time to learn more about her craft with her master’s degree in jazz piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music. In 2018, she released her debut Sonic Asylum Trio album entitled “First Voyage” which won a Global Music Award In 2018.
RAMPD.
It’s the latest indication that disabled musicians are emerging as bonafide able musicians. The Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities was started in 2021. Two handicapped musicians got tired of venues that were not ADA compliant. Founders Gaelynn Lea and Lachi also got tired of those who couldn’t see past the musician’s disability. Watch Gaelynn play the violin and sing here. Keep in mind that this month is the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26th.
We’re introducing you again to composer/singer Molly Joyce. She’s the disabled musician who has been featured on Staccato before. This Julliard grad returns with a new album STATE CHANGE with an unusual lyrical content: That of her medical records regarding the near decade long treatment for her disabled left hand. The music is all her compositions via some new technology she had to learn to use to make this album. Molly Joyce is releasing the new album in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990.
Every year Art Spark Texas chooses five or more artists who are disabled as winners of their annual awards.
Celia Hughes, Executive Director, says the categories range from Artist of the Year Award, the Gloria Bond Creative Aging Award, the Creative Veteran Service Award and several others.
In this Staccato, we focus on the 2025 SPARK Award winner Zachary LaViola of Austin whose autism and other issues does not prevent him from being a classical pianist. There’s also filmmaker Matthew Alaniz, of Austin, TX, who is recognized as an artist who elevates disability awareness through digital or media art. There's a link to one of his movies: “Ten To One” on the Staccato page on secondstreetdreams.com
Art Spark is now calling for Submissions for the 16th Annual Distinguished Artist Veterans Exhibit.
It’s that time of year again. Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute chooses the brightest young players from across the country to form the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.
This year 15 of the 96 student musicians chosen are from Texas. Two are from Austin. Dorian Herri is a double bass player and Lerchen Zhang is a violinist. Before heading out for their tour of Asia, there will be a concert at Carnegie Hall on July 20th.
Another Austin, Texas arts organization has lost its NEA grant. However, the Tapestry Dance Company is taking it, in as much stride as possible. Instead of their annual 3 day tap extravaganza, the Soul 2 Sole Festival, they are holding a one-day event. Acia Gray, the Executive Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Tapestry Dance Company, says they are treating the Tap Jam as a fundraiser for 2026 including their silent auction. They are also hoping the event on June 18th will act as a salve for the tap-dancing community.
This is a very exciting time for the Texas State International Piano Festival. They are holding this year’s event in Seoul, South Korea. It is the first time they will be “off campus” for the 15 year old competition.
It’s usually held at Texas State University in San Marcos, but it’s always been a dream of the co-founder Dr. Jason Kwak and some of his colleagues, Dr. SungEun Park and Dr. Martin Kesuma to hold the competition in Seoul.
The Texas State International Piano Festival gets underway June 24th and runs until July 6th.
An increasing number of orchestras are taking it upon themselves to ensure the health of their musicians. They’re setting up a program called physio toolkit. The latest is the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the UK. Dr. John Chong, one of the founders of the Performing Arts Medicine Association or PAMA, in Canada says musicians face a number of specialized ailments. This comes just as HAAM The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is celebrating its 20th anniversary annual member event. They’re offering free health and wellness services and other perks. It’s on June 17th.
The firings and resignations continue in all parts of the American universe. National Endowment for the Arts grants have been slashed, leaving arts and music organizations scrambling for funds.
With memories of Memorial Day still with us, two new albums have been released honoring the fallen. A Symphony For Vietnam Veterans tells the musical tale about the trauma and some joy in that war. The opera An American Soldier spotlights the suicide of a Chinese American soldier after weeks of daily beatings by members of his own unit.
There’s a quick reminder to all professional women conductors to apply for a competition that’s already considered prestigious: The La Maestra International Competition for Women Conductors.
There will be many honors this Memorial Day week for the military men and women who lost their lives while serving their country. Music will be a large part of that.
One of them is the world premiere recording of the opera An American Soldier. It’s the true story of the young Chinese-American Army Pvt. Danny Chen who committed suicide because he was beaten every day by his fellow soldiers and a superior officer during his service in Afghanistan.
There is also a new version of Symphony For Vietnam Veterans. Composer and retired U.S. Army Captain James Kimo Williams has released a string orchestra version of his orchestral piece about his time in war.
In Part Two of Summer Music Camps for Adults we focus on musicians.
There are more than a few camps all over the country. Some with a focus on your instrument. There’s the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan and the Austin, Texas Chamber Music Center has several Workshops.
Many of Austin’s music groups are ending their 2024-2025 seasons this month. One is ATX Chamber Music and Jazz. It’s closing the season with a performance of the Julliard String Quartet. Co-Artistic Director Anna Petrova says it’ll be like old home week for her and a friend. Prepare for your summer by attending the season closer of the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus. They want you to help them Shake The Rafters. It’s called a full-spectrum extravaganza of emotion, community, and vocal cords working overtime in the best way possible.
How about spending part of your summer elevating your skills at a music camp for adults? There are plenty of choices, here in Austin, in Texas and all over the US. There is, of course, the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. Gary Gatzke Associate Director of Continuing and Community Education says there’s a wait list for many of the camps they offer. There’s also Berkshire Choral International, a summer choral camp offering performances in some of the most prestigious places in the world. In Austin, there’s the summer program for Alumni of the Texas State University's Choral Program. Stay tuned for Part Two of Summer Music Camps for Adults. The focus will be on camps for musicians and their instruments. Listen for it during the week of May 18th.
There’s a young woman in the Dallas area who is introducing at risk and low-income kids to classical music through a program called Miles for Music. Emma Fossum, a 17-year-old high school student says the idea for the free program started with her youngest sister, who is autistic. Fossum, a pianist and a beauty queen has been traveling to schools in North Texas presenting the program for the last 8 months. She’s hoping to expand the program statewide and maybe nationally.
To steal a phrase from a big budget movie:
There is a disturbance in the force.
Many if not all of DEI programs have been cut by the federal government.
Harpist Ashley Jackson has a new album that will soothe your soul.
Make an effort to see and/or hear one of two shows now in circulation:
The Equity Arc Wind Symphony and Words and Music of Black America.
There are some competitions to enter. Click the links on the Classical Music In Color page on SecondStreetDreams.com
There is something to be said for “togetherness” .
It’s the running theme in a recent study about the positive effects on young people who play in a classical music ensemble or orchestra.
Dr Anna Bussu of Edge Hill University near Liverpool, England, is a psychologist and a senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice. She conducted the study called: Playing music together: Exploring the impact of a classical music ensemble on adolescent’s life skills self-perception. This paper explored the effectiveness of ensemble performance on the development of an adolescent’s life skills.
Back in October, 340 pianists applied for the 2025 Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Only 30 were granted entry.
They will be coming from 17 countries when the competition begins on May 21st in Fort Worth. All of them are hoping to win Gold, but there’s the silver and bronze medals, special awards and cash prizes of over half a million dollars. This is also the first competition for the recently established Cliburn Agency that the winners can claim for career management packages worth a total of over $2 million. The CLIBURN International Piano Competition is widely considered one of the most prestigious contests in classical music.
A Cancer diagnosis changes everything.
Pianist Yoko Misumi knows that first hand, which led to the album she and her colleague from the Greenwich Trio, cellist Heather Tuach curated and produced. It’s called IN THE MIRROR, an emotional journey born of reflection, healing, and hope. There are original works and new arrangements by 11 composers, all women on the album. They include Jennifer Higdon, Dobrinka Tabakova and Jessie Montgomery.
DakhaBrakha is a world-music quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine on an American tour. They’re performing at Bass Recital Hall on April 11th. While not classically classical, the band describes themselves as the sound and soul of Ukrainian folk music with a modern flair. Marko Halanevych and Iryna Gorban, the original members of the band, say they think of family members back home in Kyiv whenever they perform the music they love to play. While they enjoy their audiences, the members of DakhaBrakha are looking forward to seeing their families again soon.
Women’s History Month has brought forth an album of classical music featuring two of the most famous women composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Their music is performed by pianist Anna Shelest in the album she produced called Donna Voce, Volume 3: Clara Schumann & Cécile Chaminade. She even got her husband involved. Dmitri Shelest performs with his wife on Chaminade’s Pièces Romantiques, Op. 55 for piano four hands.
Volumes 1 and 2 feature the works of Fanny Mendelssohn and Amy Beach.
This album is one of the last supported by the recently closed The Sorel Organization
A new opera is about to premiere in Virginia called Loving v. Virginia. It tells the true story of an interracial couple who had to go to the Supreme Court to legalize their marriage. Two well-known opera singers were asked to compose and direct. Bass Baritone Damien Geter composed the music and Mezzo Soprano Denyce Graves is directing. Also on this March 2025 edition of Classical Music In Color. The heartbreaking story of a music camp for BIPOC high school musicians that was shut down by the federal government.
Applications are now open for the La Maestra International Competition for Women Conductors. It takes place in Paris every two years. It is a competition that is fast becoming THE place where women conductors can be seen, heard, and hired. Even for those who don’t win or place, there’s an Academy co-directed by the Philharmonie de Paris and the Paris Mozart Orchestra led by Claire Gibault and Olivier Mantei.
The percentage of women conductors has increased worldwide to 8%. A big increase considering it was only 4.3 in 2018. It still wasn’t enough for Gibault. She started the competition to increase the visibility of women conductors and to showcase their talent. The competition is also the subject of a documentary Maestra, now streaming on Netflix.
If you are a gamer who likes to listen to the music of video games, this event is for you. POWER UP: THE ART OF VIDEO GAME MUSIC presented by Destiny 5-1-2 of Austin, is covering all of the bases when it comes to composing and recording music for video games. Perhaps the music for the video games Walkabout Mini Golf by Mighty Coconut or The (evil) Baby in Yellow composed by Virginia Leo or the ABZÛ score by Austin Wintory captivates you as a player and as a fan of orchestral music. Artistic Director Jacob Aaron Schnitzer says the event shows that Video game music has emerged as a gateway to symphonic music which draws younger audiences to orchestral performances. Power Up: The Art of Video Game Music takes place Friday, March 14th during SXSW at KMFA.
You’ve heard the term Awards Season. It refers to those major awards for stage and screen and music. For Art Spark of Texas this is nomination season. They are seeking nominations from anyone for disabled artists all over Texas for the 2025 Artist of the Year Awards. Last year’s winners of one of the four awards were the Spinrockers. Art Spark Executive Director Celia Hughes says Artists working in visual art, dance, music, theater, performance art, craft, media, and writing are eligible for nomination. The deadline to nominate is April 11th.
After a two year break, Golden Hornet’s String Quartet Smackdown is on again. This is the competition that uses the bracket system of March Madness with a live audience to determine the winner. Among the 16 finalists is Evan Blaché of Cedar Park, who won the competition two years ago. The String Quartet Smackdown is Saturday, February 22nd at The Baker Center. That same weekend, the Austin Symphony Orchestra gives a nod to Black History Month with its American Splendor concert. It features Duke Ellington and Luther Henderson's evocative Three Black Kings, the world premiere of Sam Lipman's poignant Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra. Also on program, Leonard Bernstein's vibrant On the Town: Three Dance Episodes and George Gershwin's iconic An American in Paris
February 2025 brings us Black History Month and the 125th anniversary of the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice And Sing. There are many arrangements of this uplifting song including two acapella versions featured in this month’s podcast. There’s also celebrations at Lift Every Voice and Sing Park in Florida. Composer Julia Perry (1924 – 1979) has finally found a distributor of her music. After a long legal tussle, a non-profit called Vidamus has the copyright and Boosey and Hawks will distribute it. Watch with joy as Karen Slack and Michelle Cann accept their Grammy.
African-American composer Julia Perry died in 1979 without a will, after an illustrious career in classical music that started in the 1950’s. Then she and her works fell into obscurity. Nearly 50 decades later, Perry's music is back in part because it is finally legally available for musicians to perform. That’s thanks to Dr. Louise Toppin, the Director of Vidamus, a group promoting concert works by under-presented composers. Vidamus has joined with Boosey and Hawkes, to distribute Perry’s music. Now they’re looking for more of her “lost” compositions.
The winter/spring season is underway for Austin’s performing arts groups. For this month, February, the Central Texas Philharmonic is one of the orchestras acknowledging Black History Month. Music Director Stefan Sanders calls it a hefty spring season of music from all over the classical music spectrum. Their movie entry is a live performance of the soundtrack of a Harry Potter movie.
What a great loss!!
The Wildfires in the Los Angeles area are still burning.
The loss of life and homes is immeasurable.
Orchestras in the area are suffering their own losses, personal and professional. The League of American Orchestras has posted a disaster website full of information on places to go for help.
There’s very bad news for the music of composer Arnold Schoenberg. Much of his orchestral scores were destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire.
I was pretty happy to see the last of 2024. So many reasons but I think after some time, I am happy to be back producing more episodes of Classical Music In Color in 2025. In this episode I tell you about music organizations offering help for those affected by the Los Angeles Wildfires. I also cover BIPOC classical musicians who are up for Grammy Awards. Application season is here for young musicians looking for a summer music program. Equity Arc is offering a streamlined application. There’s a job open at the Berkeley Symphony with Joseph Young stepping down.
The 60th anniversary year celebration continues for Chorus Austin. So far in their 2024-2025 season, they’ve collaborated with other Austin performing arts groups, commissioned new music and programmed big bold performances for the spring season. They will continue to do so next month with their spring season performance of Verdi’s Requiem. Ryan Heller, the conductor and artistic director of Chorus Austin says there is so much more.
Now that the holidays are over, take a rest from all the celebrating and family togetherness, before jumping back in to the entertainment scene. You have plenty of time. Austin Classical Guitar has a spring season full of a variety of performers, new music, a new soundtrack for an old silent movie and a celebration of a 25-year-old program. It all starts in February.
Did you make a New Year’s Resolution for 2025? YouGov.com says the most common resolutions for 30- to 44-year-olds are saving more money (31%) and improving mental health (23%). Generally speaking, being happy is on the list of resolutions for all age groups. Researchers believe they’ve found a way to treat one of the most serious mental health issues: Treat Resistant Depression. It seems music therapy is the key.
This might be a good time for your high school or college musician to apply for some summer music programs. There are so many available and applying for each one can be expensive and time consuming. Equity Arc to the rescue with their Common Application for Summer Study for students in underrepresented communities. Magee Capsouto the Associate Director of Equity Arc says it means they’ll pay the application fees and you only need to fill out the application once, no matter how many programs for which you’re applying.
Sometimes there’s nothing like putting on some comfy clothes and reading a really good book. Or perhaps you know someone who loves books with stories about classical musicians. For your holiday gift giving, here are a few suggestions. Music and Silence by Rose Tremain. It’s historical fiction about a 17th century English musician in Denmark. With Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, you can read the book about an American opera singer held hostage in a South American country. There’s also the movie. There’s a mental health angle with the book: Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym. A young violinist loses her instrument to theft and maybe her mind.
Share the joy of the season with your children or grandchildren with books, and/or audiobooks. These are written and orchestrated just for the super young set to introduce them to classical music. Here are a few featured in this Staccato:
The Boy Who Said Wow - Audio and Book
An Introduction To Classical Music
The Nutcracker – An Audio Play with Music
The Cliburns have expanded. The prestigious piano competition has formed its own boutique firm called The Cliburn Agency. Jacques Maquis, president and CEO of The Cliburn says the full-service firm offers comprehensive general management. It means the four instrumentalists they’ve already chosen will receive concert bookings, and publicity and branding services. This comes right in the middle of preparations for the Cliburn International Piano Competition. It’s scheduled for May in Fort Worth.
With the holiday season upon us, there are a number of musical performances on Austin’s entertainment calendar. One of them is the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus concert Twas The Night Before – Tales of the Winter Season. Karl Logue is one of the founders of the AGMC. He says expect this concert to be fun and quirky.
Do you have a playlist planned for your holiday get together? If you’re into music from video games, or tv shows with some serious classical music too, violinist Ray Chen might be the answer. His new album Player 1 is a mix of what Chen believes is classical music all around starting with the man he believes started it all, Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Panoramic Voices, the adult volunteer choir that’s been singing in the Austin area for many years is now offering young people an opportunity to sing. They’re looking for young voices for its new Panoramic Youth Choir. The director of the choir, known as AV, says they are expanding their vision of music without borders.
For the first time ever, the opera community in the Austin area is coming together for the first ever Opera Austin Festival on November 16th. This event, organized by composer and Austin native Nathan Felix, is designed to showcase new operas and the women and men who sing them. There will also be panel discussions about the state of opera in central Texas.
This is another opportunity for a high school musician.
This time it’s for those who play wind instruments.
Equity Arc is a national coalition dedicated to increasing racial equity within the field of classical music in the United States. They are now taking applications for their first Equity Arc Wind Symphony. It offers young musicians of color an opportunity to learn from the members of The President’s Own, The United States Marine Band. The primary deadline is November 10th.
Patrons of the arts are getting a variety of choices this fall season from Texas Performing Arts. There’s the always popular Broadway in Austin musicals and plays. There’s also the acts whose work could be described as curious and imaginative or maybe even mind blowing. Bob Bursey, the Executive and Artistic Director Of Texas Performing Arts says he looks for balance in booking shows because he wants to offer something for everyone.
It’s quite an autumn of music for the entire family. The Austin Symphony Orchestra is filling up the Long Center this fall with music from a variety of genres. Music Director Peter Bay says they will be busy performing classical pieces, of course, and a few movie events with a live soundtrack. Coming up soon though is the Austin Symphony’s Halloween Children’s Concert. Get your costumes ready!!
Chorus Austin is celebrating a big milestone this year. It’s the choir’s 60th anniversary. Ryan Heller, the conductor and artistic director of Chorus Austin says the all-volunteer choir is thriving. He’s designed their 60th season with all sorts of collaborations with local performing groups. That includes their annual Messiah singalong in December.
You would think that a “special” classical music program would be all about the music. You’d be wrong if you’re talking about one particular program for high school aged female classical musicians. The Fortissima program at Colburn School in Los Angeles is aiming for something completely different. Artistic Director and Violinist Jannina Norpoth says they aim to teach their charges how to make it in the world they want to pursue. One student, Tess Reed of Houston, says it was the best experience ever.
The volunteers of the Austin Civic Orchestra are keeping the orchestra thriving. They’re starting the season with a new music director. Dr. Veronica Salinas of San Antonio has curated a fall season of music that includes works they’ve never done before and she’s collaborating with other performing arts organizations.
Two of Austin’s most distinguished performing arts organizations are opening their seasons on the same weekend.
The upcoming 2024 season of Austin Classical Guitar could be called a musical United Nations. Classical Guitarists from all over the world are on the schedule. Matt Hinsley, executive director of Austin Classical Guitar says he and artistic director Joe Williams were looking express their season theme of “Give” Their first show is September 14th.
The Austin Symphony opens its season Friday night, September 13th. It’s called Dancing Around the World, with violinist Soojin Han.
After the rush of Labor Day and the hectic days of a new school year, it might be time to socialize with some chamber music or perhaps some jazz. In our annual series of seasons ahead, ATX Chamber Music and Jazz is offering a social experience. Co-founders and Artistic Directors Geoffrey Herd and Anna Petrova say they give patrons the time to socialize with drinks and hors d'oeuvres before listening to a selective program of chamber music or jazz.
In just a few weeks performing arts groups will unveil the first shows of the 2024 Fall season. There are many more in Central Texas than there used to be, so you have more than a few choices. We’re starting with the Fall 2024 season ahead for the Central Texas Philharmonic led by Music Director Stefan Sanders.
It was the age of the audience at a classical music concert that lit a fire under David Fogel. He seems to have invented another genre of classical and orchestral music. The Symphonina. A short symphony just right for the younger set and older ears too.
This is the August 2024 edition of Classical Music In Color focusing variously on New Album releases, Opportunities, Events and Milestones. There's the Sphinx SOPA, Black Violin Foundation, Grants, and Castle Of Our Skins Give Black.
After reading numerous articles about our shorter than short attention spans, I’ve decided to split this, the August 2024 Classical Music in Color into two parts.
The first part is an interview with 85 year old composer Mary D. Watkins who’s about to premiere her latest opera “Is This America” about the Mississippi Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer.
Find out more about Watkins and Hamer by going to secondstreetdreams.com
Imagine what it’s like to actually be doing the job you love so much. It’s a feeling that Sophie Mathieu knows well. She’s KMFA’s Draylen Mason Composer In Residence for 2024. Mathieu, a cellist, with a Masters from the Butler School of Music, is also the first local composer who’s been chosen for the program. Since the announcement in January, she’s been taking part in educational events, public and private workshops of her work with Austin Unconducted and various other activities. This is in addition to working on her new piece. Sophie is pretty sure she’’ll call it “Night Poem” when it premieres on September 22nd.
It was a back to back win for Texans at this year’s Jimmy Awards. These are the National High School Musical Theatre Awards that recognize the best high school-age musical theater talents in America. It was held in June on Broadway in New York. This year, it was Damson Chola Jr. from Cleburne, Texas, matching his win with last year’s winner Langston Lee from Leander, Texas.
Stephen Lias always has music on his mind. He’s the Dean's Circle Endowed Professor Of Composition at Stephen F Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Lias is also an outdoor kind of guy. Over the years, he’s composed music for a variety of national parks either on commission or just because. Now he’s been named Washington State’s Mount Rainier National Park’s first-ever composer in residence. His composition will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the park but won’t premiere until 2026.
What a sad and joyful time it is for the friends of the late composer Matt Dribble. This English lad was only 40 when he died in 2021 from complications from a covid vaccine. He left behind 48 tracks which became the album: Preludes and Fugues that he kept secret until hours before his death. His good friend Jon Hargreaves helped crowdfund the necessary funds to record the album with the pianist Matt Dribble loved the most. Freddie Kempf. There’s also a documentary about Matt Dribble.
It’s been a busy and awarding season for some young emerging Black American classical musicians. Two were the recipients of The Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. Another won the Emerging Black Composers competition from the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. We also honor an early music musician whose career spanned more than 25 years.
New York City can have quite an effect on you and so can Multiple Sclerosis. Grammy winning composer Jeff Beal (House of Cards) deals with both in his new album: The New York Etudes. These solo piano works are somewhat of a departure from his compositions for TV and Film and that’s the way he wanted it. Beal says The New York Etudes is like a quiet place to land and recharge after a long day or the last few years.
Imagine that you are a non-profit organization in need of an infusion of music or a performance of a different type in your program. The Texas Commission on the Arts has come to the rescue. They’ve released their Texas Touring Roster for the next two years. It means if you hire the performers on the list to perform, in Texas, the TCA will help you pay for it. One such group, Montopolis has benefitted from this program for several years.
Historical fiction has a new look and a new sound in the Netflix series Bridgerton. Season 3 is running now with the same type of music of prior seasons. That is, classical, orchestral versions of pop hits in a modern take on the music of England’s Regency era in the early 19th century.
So, your child is leaving home for a summer of music, travel, learning and fun?
In the case of Noah Semsar, it’s to play with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. Semsar, who plays the trumpet, is a graduate of Atkins High School, and is the only Austin resident among 12 Texans chosen to be in the orchestra. He'll join about 100 others from all over the country. He says this has cemented his choice, for now, to be a professional musician especially since he’s headed to music school in the fall.
Many classical artists are now releasing the works they composed during the pandemic. Composer Richard Danielpour is one of them. He’s released a new album: Songs in Three Languages, sung by Soprano Hila Plitmann. One section of the album pays tribute to Danielpour’s Father who wrote love poems to his wife. Then there’s the opera he composed called The Grand Hotel Tartarus.
There’s no place like home. A familiar line from a familiar movie and so very true. The Miro Quartet, The University of Texas Faculty String Quartet In Residence with an international reputation and a GRAMMY nomination, honed in on the theme with their latest album Home. They illustrated the essence of Home with a video of their performance of Over The Rainbow. Daniel Ching, one of the founding members of the group says Home is a love letter to and appreciation of all the things they call home.
There’s a program coming up live and online in New York that is all about babies and music. It’s from Carnegie Hall’s The Lullaby Project. This is a concert of many of the songs composed by new parents with the help of professional musicians.
Austin Classical Guitar was involved in this program, helping local parents express their emotions about their very young children. Tiffany Or-tiz, the Director of Early Childhood Programs at Carnegie Hall is inviting others to develop their own Lullaby Projects.
Something special happens when two African American classical musicians come together to perform a work about the Black experience in America.
Anthony McGill, the first Black Principal Clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, has been on a tour of sorts with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Anthony Davis.
McGill performs Davis’s reality-based work, You Have The Right To Remain Silent.
In this edition of Classical Music In Color, hear the story of how McGill made his ascent to the top of the classical music world. And how he’s helping others get there too.
Imagine what it must be like to have someone give you a free trip to the arts camp you’ve always wanted to attend. That happened to 15 high school students all over Texas via the Young Masters Program of the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Cultural Trust.
Something bright and refreshing graced the stage at the Long Center a few weeks ago. It was the Heller Awards for Young Artists. It honors the best high school musical productions from this school year. Two students are headed to the national competition, the Jimmys in New York next month. Ginger Morris, who runs the Hellers, is hoping more schools take part next year.
The Sphinx Organization, the group that’s been fostering diversity in classical music since 1996, has a programming chief for the first time ever. Andre Dowell is new to the job but not to the Sphinx organization. In his new job, he says he wants Sphinx to keep moving forward in diversifying the classical music community via the organization’s many programs.
Austin Opera is ending their 2023-24 season with the red-hot opera Carmen. The cast is full of young singers, many of whom are making their debut with the Austin Opera. CEO Annie Burridge is hoping this super popular work from Bizet will entice audiences back to the Long Center after the hibernation forced upon us by Covid.
As the end of most performing arts seasons come to an end, the Grammy winning choir, Conspirare is going out with a blast of three programs featuring a 30th anniversary event and the post pandemic return of Conspirare’s Symphonic Choir. Founder and Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson is celebrating the end of their 30th season with a musical bash.
Why would a business school devoted to developing entrepreneurs invite an opera singer to lead a masterclass? Babson College in Massachusetts did just that. They named Soprano Karen Slack as the school’s Artist In Residence. She spent 3 days teaching, talking, and singing. School administrators, like Anjali Bal, say that Slack and other artists like her, offer their students a different perspective on creating a thriving business.
There may come a time when classical music and other types of music will be “prescribed” along with your medication. A Canadian Pharmaceutical expert and researcher, Dr. Tony Kiang, is taking up a study to determine if listening to music while taking your medication would improve its effectiveness.
The upcoming Solar Eclipse will darken the sky for a few minutes on April 8th. Texas orchestras are providing the soundtrack with concerts celebrating the celestial event. The Waco Symphony is having it’s 'Sci-Fi Spectacular' Sun, Moon and Superstars concert. The East Texas Symphony has collaborated with Tyler Junior College for a musical and visual feast. Here are other eclipse related music events.
Just in time for the solar eclipse, Austin Classical Guitar presents two programs ending its 2023-2024 season. Your eclipse guests might enjoy classical guitarists the Beijing Duo or if they stay long enough, David Russell. Perhaps there’s an amateur classical guitarist in your circle who might be brave enough to try Open Mic night at the Rosette.
At least six U.S. orchestras are performing the music of Florence Price this Women’s History Month. Other women composers are getting the spotlight too. That’s nice says Liane Curtis, the President of Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, but it’s not really enough. The organization has released its Repertoire Report which analyzes the programming of the top 21 U.S. Symphony Orchestras.
The League of American Orchestras is in the middle of a new program aimed at improving gender equity among top orchestra executives. Cane Thomason Redus, the VP of inclusion and Learning at the League Six Women and Non-Binary Orchestra Professionals were chosen for the inaugural Anne Parsons Leadership Program from the League of American Orchestras. One of the six is Violist Catherine Beeson from Austin, now playing for the Colorado Symphony.
It’s a big successful time for Austin Soundwaves, a group that’s been teaching student musicians from all backgrounds since 2011. Their most recent expansion is their summer music camp. Their award-winning Executive Director Patrick Slevin says this “new” camp is a full day and offers classes they’ve never offered before. They are hoping the students will take their musical training to the next level and maybe even apply to be a Draylen Mason Fellow.
When most of us attend classical music concerts, we’re most likely not thinking about how our fellow patrons are enjoying the music. Apparently, we’re all affected by the performance at the same rate called Embodied Cognition. That’s according to a study by Dr. Wolfgang Tschacher, Professor Emeritus at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He and his team at the Experimental Concert Research Project found that our heart and breathing rates become the same during the concert.
During Black History Month, many organizations are celebrating what’s known as Black Excellence. The Department of Music at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas is presenting a performance by pianist Althea Waites this month. She may be under the radar of more well known pianist but her talent and experience has carried her through over a near 60 year career.
Valentine’s Day is 3 weeks away.
That’s just enough time for you to prepare to attend the Mid-Texas Symphony’s Romance and Chocolates concert with a side of diamonds.
Music Director, Akiko Fujimoto has curated classical music and movie soundtracks to celebrate. In addition, patrons will be given chocolates to eat while listening to one of the works. There’s also a raffle for diamond studs.
The new year brings new opportunities and one of them might be for the young ones in your life. The National Children’s Chorus is holding auditions right now for their Austin chapter.
It’s for children aged 5 to 18. Artistic Director and CEO Luke McEndarfer says any child who loves music and wants to sing is invited to take part.
Austin is one of 8 cities with chapters of the National Children’s Chorus
Have you ever heard of Vicente Lusitano?
During his lifetime in the 1500s he lit up the Early Music/Renaissance world with his music, intelligence, and moxie. Unfortunately this Afro-Portuguese composer’s mixed parentage and the prejudices of the period meant his legacy would not survive. But his music remains. In this January 21st edition of Classical Music In Color, two Lusitano experts, Garrett Schumann and Joseph McHardy, talk about his life and works and revival today, almost five centuries later.
The Austin Opera is about to do something they’ve never done before.
They are presenting the world’s first Mariachi Opera, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. It will also be the first time they are staging an opera sung in Spanish with help from the new Butler Fund for Spanish Programming. Some of the cast is from Ópera de Bellas Artes, the national opera company of Mexico.
Going back to work this week might seem like somewhat of a letdown after all the fun and frivolity of the holiday season.
There is a way to make it all better.
Listen to music at the office.
A recent study found that workers are happier and more productive when listening to instrumental music while on the job. However, other researchers have somewhat opposing ideas about listening to music at the office. Find out what kind of music puts you in the mood to tackle that big project. And find out if any of this applies to you if you work from home.
However you celebrate the holidays, there’s probably nothing like playing with your new toy this time of year. It might be a video game with a soundtrack of some of the oldest tunes in the world. Early Music. Dr. Karen Cook, an Early Music Scholar and a Video Game Scholar says while she’s playing some of the latest video games, she’s also listening to the soundtrack for the telltale signs of early music.
Prepare to hear the sounds of three very different African-American composers from different eras of classical music in the 20th century. On the albumAfrican-American Voices II, curated and conducted byKellen Gray, there’sMargaret Bondsand the music ofUlysses KayandColeridge-Taylor Perkinson. Kellen Gray is coming stateside next month (January) to work in Minnesota and in Washington, DC.
Here are the links to the opportunities I mentioned. Winston-Salem Symphony and UNCSA to Launch Fellowship for String Players The National Academy Orchestra of Canada is looking for members. For our African listeners, Spotify has a SSA Early Career Program. The National Association of Negro Musicians is calling for proposals for its 2024 convention.
There are two new very different albums that came out recently that could be on your holiday list.
Composer and author Tina Davidson has released her latest albumHymn of the Universe. It’s a choral work performed by VocalEssence and based on the writings of Jesuit Priest and Scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
And The Emerson String Quartet has released its final album after 47 years of performing all over the world. On Infinite Voyage, they perform the music of Schoenberg, Chausson, Berg and Hindemith sung in part by Soprano Barbara Hannigan.
The Austin Chamber Music Center has opened its application season for the 2024 Coltman Chamber Music Competition. They’re inviting exceptional ensembles from across the country to compete for cash prizes and performance opportunities.
Artistic Director Michelle Schumann says some past winners of this competition have gone on to solid careers in the chamber music space, like the 2023 Grand Prize Winner the Kodak Quartet.
The deadline for applications is December 20th. The competition will take place March 2nd and 3rd in Austin. Here's a link to the performances of the 2023 winners of the Coltman Chamber Music Center Competition.
With TikTok, Facebook and other social media platforms, it’s hard to imagine a time when the only way to see a documentary was on television. That is the world the late Christoper Nupen lived and worked in. Starting in the 1960’s Nupen’s company, Allegro Films, started with Double Concerto. Nupen continued to produce ground breaking documentaries about classical musicians that revealed their off-stage lives and showed how much fun they had making the music they performed. Matthew Percival, creative director, and partner at Allegro Films is now in charge of Nupen’s legacy with plans to make more films.
Two composers and musicians, George Lewis and Harald Kisiedu have gathered some of today’s composers and musicologists in a book of essays called Composing While Black. There are nine essays in the book that talk about their experiences composing, performing and being in a world that isn’t always welcoming to Black musicians, classical or otherwise.
We’re a little more than a month away from 2024 which means it’s time to make plans for the summer. Specifically summer music programs for young musicians. Equity Arc has partnered with at least 17 summer music programs to provide applications fees and scholarships for BIPOC musicians via their Common Application for Summer Study. Magee Capsouto, the Associate Director at Equity Arc says they’re trying to provide more diversity in the nation’s orchestral summer programs.
Austin Soundwaves will be able to serve more students in several ways after receiving a grant from Carnegie Hall’s Play USA program. Their mission is to train student musicians across the greater Austin area and to provide diverse opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds. Last year they served more than 1,100 students through 23 school partnerships and programs., Deputy Director Hermes Camacho says they are very excited about the possibilities.
Cliburn Competition Applications Are Open. Already you say? Didn’t the Cliburns just crown a winner, Yunchan Lim of South Korea? Well, yes but that was an entire year ago. Now they’re looking for the next winner for the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2025. Jacques Marquis President and CEO of the Cliburns says it takes a long time to find the pianist ready to embark upon an international career.
The debut of the Austin Opera’s 2023-2024 season is at hand. The first production this season is Pagliacci composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Just a week later is the live taping of Ryan Speedo Green In Concert for PBS. Annie Burridge, General Director, and CEO of Austin Opera says there are advantages of having that kind of national exposure.
Rosalyn Aninyei is doing her best to create and maintain a world class orchestra in her home country of Nigeria. Florence Price is getting the festival treatment at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Blake-Anthony Johnson talks about his path to become the first African American to be the CEO of a world-renowned orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta. There’s a new album of music by Florence Price and William Dawson via the Philadelphia Orchestra. Here’s a link to the Margaret Bonds Symposium at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
How much do you really know about your favorite composer? You love the music, but how did the composer come to write a particular piece?
Judith Lynn Stillman – the Artist-in-Residence and professor of music at Rhode Island College in East Providence answers that question and many more with her plays-within-a-concert. Her latest is Dvořák: A Bohemian Rhapsody. Did you know he loved trains?? It opens in East Providence with a livestream so anyone anywhere can watch it.
If Judith Stillman wasn’t playing the piano for her latest production, she and you might enjoy Crescendo. It’s the documentary about the 2022 Cliburn Competition. The free screening is in Fort Worth on October 26th.
Even the Artistic Director and Founder of Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, finds it hard to believe that the choral ensemble is 30 years old. He’s developed a fall season that’s kind of eclectic with a nod to the past and an eye on the future. One choral group is being invited back for the holiday program. It’s Isaac Cates & Ordained who will, says Johnson, bridge the past with the future.
In this month of September, your ears will be filled with the sound of STILLPOINT. It’s Awadagin Pratt’s latest album. He’s performing music he commissioned from several composers of color. You can hear the life and times of Aaron P. Dworkin’s in his debut spoken word album The Poetjournalist. Malakai Bayoh didn’t win Britian’s Got Talent 2023. The 14-year-old DID win a record deal and his debut album Golden is out and about.
Opportunities abound all over the BIPOC spectrum.
Austin Opera has a program for Latinx creatives.
There’s a leadership opportunity at the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.
South Africa’s National Arts Festival is calling for creatives of all types for their 2024 event.
Composers might want to write what could become the Best Symphonia of the Year.
The Long Center is celebrating its 15th anniversary with something they’ve never done before. They’re throwing open the doors of the performing arts facility for the First Annual Teresa Lozano Long Community Day. Dr. Long broke racial barriers at the University of Texas back in the 1950’s. She and her husband Joe have funded many scholarships, educational institutions and The Long Center. Long Center CEO Cory Baker says the place will be rocking inside and out with performers from all over the Austin area.
Remember the name Langston Lee. You most likely will be hearing about this 18 year old from Rouse High School in Leander, Texas. He is the first winner of “The Jimmys”, a national high school musical competition, to represent local version, the Heller Awards For Young Artists in their first year of eligibility.
There’s good news about the progress of the once dilapidated National Opera House in Pittsburgh. They are still in need of financial help and volunteer personnel. We honor the life and career of Pianist Andre Watts with good friend and colleague Norman Kreiger. There’s a new debut album from Sphinx Virtuosi called Songs for Our Times. Bass player Joseph Conyers is making history again with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor Jonathon Heyward has picked up another job. The Hastings International Piano Competition in England is looking for applicants. So is the Sphinx Competition. There’s also a competition for UK only groups called the Music and Drama Education awards.
With summer almost over and school starting soon, there’s one more fun item that your children might appreciate. Teachers can take advantage of it too. It’s Carnegie Hall Kids. This voluminous website offers games, quizzes, musical maps and more for children to play with.
This next book on the summer reading list comes with its own soundtrack amid a story based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. It’s The Nightingale, a book with music and other 21st century upgrades from the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra or ROCO in Houston.
This is another addition to your summer reading list: There are hundreds of books about Mozart but the author of Mozart In Motion has a different take. Author Patrick Mackie takes us time traveling through the swirl that was Mozart’s short life.
It’s PanelPicker time for SXSW 2024. That’s when the festival calls for applications for those wanting to present a panel discussion. Last year in what’s believed to be the first time, there was a classical music panel. Artists & out of London is now looking for classical musicians to appear on the planned 2024 panel and the concert after.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be featuring my summer reading list on Staccato. The first one is about composer Tina Davidson, whose complicated life can be heard in her music. Her biological Mother adopted her in Sweden back in the 1950’s but never told her about her birth. There are other surprising revelations as well in Davidson’s book Let Your Heart Be Broken. You can listen to her playlist from the book here.
Next week is Father’s Day. The Austin Symphonic Band is honoring Dads with a Father’s Day concert on June 18th at the Zilker Hillside Theater. Cellist Bion Tsang, who leads the cello program at the University of Texas in Austin, is honoring his late father with a new album he calls Cantabile. It’s dedicated to the music they enjoyed together. Tsang says he’s hoping his father Paul Ja-Min Tsang, is looking upon him with pride.
If you’ve ever done a large creative project, you know it usually takes longer than 96 hours – four days – to create what one might call something good. Composers and Librettist will be attempting this feat in the Atlanta Opera’s 96 Hour Opera Project. The Atlanta Opera’s New Works Administrator Cara Consilvio says it’s not as arduous as it seems. Still, some of the 2 person teams won’t even meet each other in person until their arrival in Atlanta at the end of this week. Nathan Felix of Austin, is one of the finalists.
There’s a new Draylen Mason Composer in Residence at KMFA. She is Clarice Assad, a Brazilian-American composer who, when not on the road, lives in Chicago. In addition to composing, Assad likes teaching children how to collaborate with music and performance art. She is also working on an orchestral piece for KMFA. Her new work will be performed sometime in September in Austin.
If you’ve been musing about playing the instrument you haven’t touched in more than a few years, there’s a cure for that. Hundreds of adult music camps all over the country have programs that might fit.There’s the International Music Camp, the New England Adult Music Camp and the Interlochen Chamber Music Camp, to name a few. In Austin there’s the Austin Chamber Music Center’s Adult Music Camp.
Grief is a heavy burden to carry. Composer Curtis Stewart has composed music expressing the devastation he feels over his mother’s death. He calls the album OF LOVE and has released a video for one of the tracks DRIFT TO WAKE. There’s an update on Ralph Yarl, the 16 year old who was shot twice when he went to the wrong house. We say goodbye to Soprano Grace Bumbry who went beyond the white curtain. Performances coming up this month include the Harlem Chamber Players presents, Harlem Songfest 2. The opera SHE WHO DARED from the American Lyric Theater. The Dallas Symphony is looking for applicants for its first Diversity Fellowship Program. Afros and Audio Podcast Festival is calling for speaker submissions. The Lewis Prize for Music wants organizations investing in music programs for young people to apply for a grant.
Amid the graduations, weddings, and other joyous events, celebrate with music of all genres this month. There’s the Big Sing from Conspirare, the ERA Project from LOLA, the Here Be Monsters one day new music festival and a free stream of the Dallas Opera’s 2022/23 season. Have fun and enjoy.
A Grammy nominated Harpists is releasing a new piece of music in celebration of Mother’s Day (May 14th) and Mother Earth. Yolanda Kondonassis has added Wildflower to her digital album Five Minutes For Earth. It was composed for her by Cuban virtuoso trumpeter and composer Arturo Sandoval. There's also a music video of Wildflower. It’s part of Kondonassis’ dedication to the environment with her foundation, Earth At Heart.
The universe sings. Or at least it provides data that’s music to the ears of NASA scientists working at the Chandra X-ray Observatory in Cambridge, MA. By a process of Sonification these scientists/technicians/musicians translate data into sound. More specifically music, which is now on an album called Universal Harmonies. Dr. Kimberly Arcand, a visualization scientist at NASA, says she was inspired by an astronomer who is blind.
It’s almost time to choose another class of Draylen Mason Fellows at Austin Soundwaves. Hermes Camacho, the Development and Operations Director of Austin Soundwaves says they’re looking for applicants who are not only musical but are socially conscious in the way Draylen Mason was before he was killed by a package bomb in 2018. The current class has their Capstone Concert coming up next month at the Draylen Mason Music Studio at KMFA radio 89.5 Austin.
In what may be a first, there’s The Oxford Book of Choral Music by Black Composers. It was edited and curated by conductor, educator, and composer Marques L. A. Garrett. Listen to the music here. Pamela Dawson of Desoto High School in Texas revels in her win as the 2023 Grammy Music Educator of the Year. Apply to enter the J.S. Bach Competition. Composers might want to enter the American Composers Forum Spring National Call. The Black British Classical Foundation is celebrating the coronation of King Charles III with a concert.
If you’ve never seen a show called Now Hear This, now may be the time. It’s a program featuring a modern look at classical composers from many years ago and those making music today. Host Scott Yoo says the show was born 5 years ago in Austin after a concert with UT Music Professor Bion Tsang.
Who needs a conductor? Not Austin Unconducted. It’s a string ensemble that works with its members to choose the music they’ll play in any given concert. Co-founder Luis Bellorin and the rest of the group is preparing now for their season finale concert. It’ll be at the Draylen Mason at Austin's classical music radio station KMFA 89.5 on April 6th.
Pianos have been with us since 1700 and there are thousands if not millions of compositions using those 88 keys. PIANO DAY, which is officially March 29th, is being celebrated in events all over the world, with at least one in the Austin area. But what about the instrument itself? Steinway VP Matthew Bird talks about the advancements in piano technology including a back to the future player piano.
We don’t often hear about classical composers from Africa. The Boston based performing arts organization, Castle Of Our Skins is changing that with their first album. It features pianist Samantha Ege. Trent Johnson says he is thriving in his job as Organist and Assistant Director of Music of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City. He has a concert coming up at his other job in New Jersey. The Black Violin Foundation has grants available for young musicians in need. Are you looking forward to the movie about Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges?
The Catalyst Quartet has done it again. They’ve released Volume 3 of their Uncovered Series. The Uncovered series is a musical exposition of some of the underplayed nor recorded works of composers of color. Volume 3 features the musc of composers William Grant Still, Coleridge Taylor Perkinson and Pulitzer Prize Winner George Walker.
The very popular String Quartet Smackdown from Golden Hornet crowned the 2023 winner a couple of weeks ago. This NCAA style competition played to a full house as they voted for “Grey”, the composition of Evan Blache, a music student at Texas State University. Blache also sings with several choirs in Central Texas and is an Insight Fellow in Conspirare.
The Desoto Independent School District, near Dallas, has landed a big win. Pamela Dawson, the choir teacher at Desoto High School is this year’s winner of the Grammy Music Educator Award. Dawson talks about being honored with this award and her excitement of going to the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. She’ll be a big part of the 2023 Grammy in the Schools Fest starting Monday, March 6th.
To hear Michelle Schumann tell it, there’s nothing more refreshing than listening to young classical musicians in competition. Schumann is the Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center. She and her team are preparing for the upcoming Coltman Competition. It features high school and college musicians performing for prize money, prestige and other essential goodies.
Surprises were in store for a music historian, Loren Ludwig, when he found out that a leader in the Civil Rights Movement was also a singer of Early Music. Bayard Rustin.
There’s a radio show in syndication that’s about us and for everybody else. Gateways Radio with Garrett McQueen.
Soprano Jessye Norman gets a posthumous release of “new” materials.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fellowship Program is now Accepting Applications and so is the Juventus New Music Ensemble. They are looking for new scores.
What’s it like To Be Black at the Symphony? Cedric McCoy had an experience.
Some of the music used in this program is from the Free Music Archive. Notably Cullah and Ketsa .
Did the toll of the pandemic on your life drive you to listen to more music than ever? The answer is yes according to the Engaging with Music Report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. While POP music is still the number one preference among the 44 thousand music lovers surveyed, classical music and opera were no slouches. Streaming services were so popular, one new company emerged called Symphony.
Is Music your life or Is it just a side chick?
Two people, with totally different points of view, answer that question in this January 2023 edition of Classical Music In Color.
Violinists and producer Rachel Barton Pine, keeps playing the music of those yet unheard. Her latest album Violin Concertos by Black Composers Through The Centuries is actually an altered 25th anniversary edition of that album. She explains why that was necessary.
Sean Sutherland – might be called a professional amateur. If there isn’t such a thing, it’s clear he’d invent it with his pursuit of wins at amateur piano competitions.
There’s also a couple of scholarship opportunities for early music musicians. The Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship and the Margriet Tindemans Early Strings Scholarship.
We also acknowledge the death of Elayne Jones, the first African-American hired by a major American orchestra.
Classical music programmers are doing something different these days. Although male classical composers are still at the top when it comes to performances, Bachtrack’s 2022 Classical Music Report has some very good news for women composers and orchestral music overall. Robyn Bramhall of Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy says the pandemic is just one reason for the change.
This Christmas season is probably the first one in a couple of years, at least, where the entire family is all in one place. On this Staccato we ponder the many emotions this holiday season brings through poetry and music.
Composer Molly Joyce calls her latest album “Perspective” an “Intimate, Up Close Perspective on Disability” Joyce joins her compositions with the true feelings and words of those who maneuver through an “able” world every day. She is a graduate of Juilliard, Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Yale, alumnus of the YoungArts Foundation, and holds an Advanced Certificate in Disability Studies from City University of New York. She is a doctoral student at the University of Virginia in Composition and Computer Technologies, and has served on the composition faculties of New York University, Wagner College, and Berklee Online.
So what do you get for the person who loves classical music of all types but you can’t figure out what to get? Some suggestions are Ralph Vaughn Williams: The Collector’s Edition. Concert for Ukraine and a children’s book, The Little Song that Wanted To Be A Symphony , written and composed by William Grant Still.
Get ready for fresh content once again from Met Opera Radio. Live performances will once again run on KMFA starting December 10th. This season is a mix of the old, the new and the revered. There’s also an audio live stream and The Met: Live At Home.
With the holidays upon us and vacations afoot, there might be time to watch some movies of a classical nature. There’s a new Magic Flute film and its soundtrack. Conspirare has posted its Hear Me Out concerts with the Miró Quartet. Then there’s the filmed opera Black Lodge, a mind bending musical piece by Composer David T. Little.
How long has it been since you played the instrument you loved way back when? The Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition allows those who love playing the piano but need a “real” job, to flex their fingers over the keys in a near professional setting. The winner this year is a software engineer from San Francisco, Jon Lee.
Sometimes a childhood dream becomes a reality of sorts. Matthew Detrick Founder, Artistic & Executive Director of the Apollo Chamber Players of Houston says his love of all things space resulted in the group’s latest album Moonstrike. It features decidedly different versions of the North American experience.
This particular Classical Music in Color is truly just that. Several albums are out now featuring the music of Black composers. Listen for new albums from William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor and a live performance of George Walker’s music. Finally, Afton Battle is leaving the Fort Worth Opera after only 2 years as General and Artistic Director.
There’s nothing like returning home after finding success in the wider world. Navy MU1 David Kapral is about to experience that feeling. The Trombonist is now a member of the US Navy Band Commodores after a big start in the marching band at Dripping Springs High School. The band will be performing in the Austin area in November, including at Kapral’s old high school.
There’s encouraging news from the Institute for Composer Diversity. An increasing number of orchestras and other classical groups are performing works by women and BIPOC composers. A new vocal competition has been created without all the rules that keep some people out. A classical guitarist wins the Sphinx Mpower Grant seeking to expose more Black women classical guitar composers. An African-American is the winner of the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot Readings Commission with his composition Wraith Weight.
Have you been to the opera lately? Or even purchased tickets for an upcoming performance? If your answer is no, the people at World Opera Day on Tuesday, October 25th are hoping you will jump on social media to see what you are missing. There are deals to be had at Austin Opera as well as in Dallas. OperaVision is offering a free online six nation performance of an opera from Ukrainian composer Borys Lyatoshynsky. Dan Cooperman of Opera America says they have a specific goal for this year.
How often do orchestras, chamber groups or similar organizations get an offer like this? Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy is once again offering performance grants. These grants would cover expenses for performing classical compositions by women and other groups within that sphere. Liane Curtis, President of Women Philharmonic Advocacy says they are attempting to widen the canon.
In just a few weeks, performing arts groups in central Texas will open their doors for new and fresh and live performances. Austin Classical Guitar is like many of them, excited to offer a full season of music without the heavy burden of health related matters.
As classes start at Georgetown University in Washington, DC this month, there is an album composed by composition professor Carlos Simon called Requiem For The Enslaved on the Decca label. It is in honor and in reparations for the slaves sold by the Washington, DC university in 1838 to fund the school. Simon is a very busy composer. He’s working on a piece for the Minnesota Orchestra, with a libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph that pays tribute to George Floyd. That work will receive its world premiere next May. That’s just one of the many musical assignments he’s working on. One of the tour dates for Requiem for the Enslaved is at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in October.
Sometimes there’s a meeting of the minds and hearts between classical artists. In this case, Quinn Mason, the young and fast rising composer and conductor and the experienced pianist, and producer and Classical Woman Of The Year, Lara Downes. Mason and Downes have formed sort of a loose partnership.
Blackface. A word and an action that draws gasps and anger and in some cases, a shrug. It motivated one international opera singer to back away from performing a cherished role. Her name is Angel Joy Blue. The interview here on this August 2022 edition of Classical Music In Color took place BEFORE her withdrawal from Arena di Verona. It does offer a glimpse of the woman who would make this decision.
Even though composer William Grant Still wrote nearly 200 compositions, many of not most of them have never been recorded. That changed with the new album “William Grant Still” performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on the Naxos label. Conductor Avlana Eisenberg was encouraged to record this album by her mother – a violinist. Eisenberg and Still’s granddaughter Celeste Headlee curated and produced the album.
If you don’t know who wrote the libretto to your favorite opera, perhaps it’s time you did. Acclaimed librettist Mark Campbell feels so strongly about that, he created and funded the Opera America Campbell Opera Librettist Prize. This year, it went to Stephanie Fleischmann who’s written the words to at least 20 musical pieces over her long career.
When we think of Black people in the 19th century, violin music doesn’t often come to mind. David McCormick, the Executive Director of Early Music America researched the “Fiddlers of Monticello” and found a tome of research on them which included the Black male children of our third president, Thomas Jefferson with their enslaved mother Sally Hemmings. There is even a documentary about it. Also on the show, pianist and producer Lara Downes talking about her difficulty in coming up with a Juneteenth playlist. Your Classical also posted one for the nation’s latest federal holiday.
The Austin Chamber Music Center Festival continues this week with a little jazz mixed in with the classical performances. Andre Hayward of Austin is a trombonist with a stellar career with some of the nation’s most revered jazz and classical performers. He and his friends perform new works focusing on African-American composers.
Summer festivals are underway all over the country. In Austin, the Austin Chamber Music Festival starts July 8th. The festival will feature a performance of scenes from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale with music curated by the Austin Chamber Music Center’s Artistic Director Michelle Schumann and directed by Austin Shakespeare’s Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella. One of the actors, Babs George says it’s a real treat.
The recently concluded Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth had many moving parts. To keep things running smoothly and an eager audience informed, they hired a classical pianist with Austin roots. Dr. Artina McCain, now a Professor of Piano at the University of Memphis, stepped in as the Mistress of Ceremonies. She says it’s tougher than it looks.
The New York Times called composer Jessie Montgomery the “future of classical music”. She was gobsmacked by that, even though orchestras all over the country are clamoring to play her works. The Austin Symphony will perform one of her pieces in November. In addition she’s on a three year assignment with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as their Mead Composer in Residence. This makes her one of the busiest classical composers in America.
New Music USA, a group advocating for new music discoveries in the United States is upping the ante for the nation’s orchestras. Their program Amplifying Voices has 30 orchestras collaborating to co-commission works by 9 composers of color. Vanessa Reed, the President and CEO of New Music USA says they’re trying to expand the canon of classical music.
After the pandemic halted the quadrennial Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2021 it has returned. The 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is now underway in Fort Worth, Texas. Jacques Marquis, President and CEO of The Cliburn says this year is fitting, in a way, because it’s the 60th anniversary of the competition.
10 years is a long time but it seems like it was just yesterday for Ashleigh Gordon of Castle of Our Skins. The organization is celebrating its first decade with a fundraiser for the National Negro Opera Company House and other events. There’s also tributes to George Floyd from the Colour Of Music Festival and Memorial Day remembrances from the Air Force.
Memorial Day ushers in so much promise because of its status as the gateway to summer. However, the day is meant to celebrate the men and women in the military, who gave their lives in service. The Air Force has, once again, released two videos honoring their sacrifice. One of them – Goin' Home – has a Dvorak connection.
What calamity!! Composer Bill Banfield, who’s also a retired professor, an author, mentor and all around happy guy now, says life has thrown him a couple of curves. Covid and a symphony score lost for 20 years. Now though, things are back on track. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performed his “lost” symphony this year and there’s more. Hear all the “deets” !
What are you doing on Monday, May 9th and perhaps thereafter? The newly formed Black Orchestral Network is calling for a Day Of Solidarity in their quest to get more orchestras to hire more Black musicians. Listen to find out the other changes they’d like to see in American orchestras.
Composers get their inspirations from many things. One of them is poets and authors. One man, Gerald F Sweeney wrote a book about this called US Composers and Poets — The Intersection of American Classical Music and American Literature. Emily Dickinson was the subject of one such work by Aaron Copland and many others. Charles Ives composed music in honor of four writers who were transcendentalists.
A pianist who’s worked with opera singers, rock bands and jazz musicians was shocked when he heard the music of Amenian folk songs. Joel A. Martin was shocked because he’d never heard this music before and he immediately fell in love with it. So much so that he arranged some of the tunes that were written down by Komitas Vartapet nearly 90 years ago. The album is called Jazzical Komitas.
Now that many of us are attending live in person concerts, the musicians are there for it. Jacob Collier uses his audience as a choir. For the stay at home folks, a couple has produced a documentary about the first successful American female composer Amy Beach, and Philharmonia Fantastique a live action/animated concert film releases its soundtrack.
The book world has been rocked by the book, The Violin Conspiracy. Mainly because this first novel by author Brendan Slocumb, details the career of an African-American violinist and the difficulties that came with it. It’s also the story of a valuable family heirloom that was stolen at the worst possible moment. Also in this edition of Classical Music In Color, hear when the first performance at Carnegie Hall by an all Black orchestra will happen. Also watch classical music's next generation of BIPOC musicians and apply for fellowships and grants from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Black Violin and the Louisville Orchestra.
Attention all Flute players: Claire Chase has a message for you. She’s nine years into the project she started called Density 2036. She’s seeking to expand the flute repertoire like Edgard Varèse did with Density 21.5 in 1936.
Every state has its own state song. Like Texas, Our Texas. There’s a composer in Colorado who’s writing new songs for every state. Marcia Stockton responded to a challenge from a composer friend to compose music for all 50 states. Hear the one she wrote for Texas and the 11 other state tunes she’s composed so far.
It was quite a wonderful surprise when my main event interview on this episode actually called me back HIMSELF within a half hour of my calling his contact number. It is an interview with Mr. Adolphus Hailstork, a composer extraordinaire about his latest premiere: A piece about George Floyd to be performed by the National Philharmonic.
Hear about the South Bend Symphony holding symposiums about the lack of diversity in orchestral repertoire and there’s a Fellowship and some financial support for musicians too.
Black History Month is officially over but many of the programs honoring African-Americans in classical music were recorded for online viewing. One such concert is Deep River: Black Currents in Classical Music. The live stream of the event is still available to view. There’s also a Black History Month playlist from SPHINX, new George Walker album and Early Music America is offering a bit of help to musicians still struggling from the pandemic.
The live streamed event on February 3rd was hosted by the Apollo Theater, New York’s classical music radio station WQXR, and American Composers Orchestra. It’s a performance of music by black composers sung by Soprano Karen Slack and baritone Kenneth Overton. There’s also an upcoming concert version of the opera Emmett Till.
KMFA, Austin’s classical music radio station, would like you to meet its first ever Draylen Mason Composer in Residence. He is Quinn Mason of Dallas. He already has a long resume at the age of 25. KMFA introduced him to the public last week in the Draylen Mason Studio. Listen to the unusual story of how he got to where he is now and where he’s going.
There are hundreds of groups celebrating Black History Month. One of them is the Fort Worth Opera who’s presenting its 2nd annual Night Of Black Excellence. It features lots of local talent and Met Opera Soprano Karen Slack. Find out what’s new with the music of Florence Price, and there’s a midwestern premiere of a concert play about Joseph Boulogne.
If you feel like it’s time to release the tether to your real life, there’s a place for you. The SKYSPACE on the campus of UT is open again. It's a naked eye observatory with lights and sound and music. Andrée Bober, Director of the Landmarks Public Art Program at UT says the sunset light show is an aural feast.
The Grammy winning choral group, Conspirare, is celebrating Black History Month with two concerts focusing on the words of African-American activist W.E.B. DuBois. He wrote his Credo in 1904. Years later, composer Margaret Bonds put it to music. In another program, Conspirare will sing composer Benedict Sheehan’s new movement, honoring DuBois’ words, to his Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare’s Artistic Director and Conductor says this is the beginning of exposing more works by neglected composers.
With Valentine’s Day approaching, perhaps you are stumped for ideas on how to celebrate the day with your loved one. Austin Camerata, Ventana Ballet and Fever have collaborated on a program for lovers everywhere. Candlelight: A Valentine’s Day Special has dancers moving to classical music and other tunes.
There is at least one university in the US teaching its business students empathy via the arts. MBA students at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are offered a chance to take courses outside of the traditional MBA curriculum, like music, art and poetry. Program Managers Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner say students learn the difference between being a manager and a leader.
Imagine being a high school student and a Grammy nominated composer teaches you how, in a very unique way, to compose a new piece. This piece however is not solely your own because it was a collaborative composition. Austin Classical Guitar invited composer Clarice Assad to take on this task. Artistic Director Joe Williams says the completed work will be performed on Saturday, January 29th.
Violinist Randall Goosby represents a new, fresh generation of classical musicians. With his debut album ROOTS, he’s redefining and/or adding composers to the traditional canon. He performs the music of mostly African-American composers on his first album.
There is still some music to mine from the early days of the pandemic. The brother and sister team of cellist Sheku and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason of England, recorded a new album because they could no longer tour. It’s called Muse and includes at least one work that isn’t played very often.
Perhaps we’re entering the new year full of questions about what’s next but are holding on to that “can-do” attitude. There are several events on the calendar for 2022 and some that have been canceled, in part because of the uncertainty of 2022. Here are some of them.
Auditions underway for one of Austin’s latest musical groups. The National Children’s Chorus. They are looking for young singers from 5 to 18 years old. The Artistic Director and CEO Luke McEndarfer says they opened an Austin chapter and an academy because the city is already known for making music.
We love our animal friends. There’s one composer, Noam Oxem, who’s making music with photos of your beloved pet and other animals. He calls them Sympawnies.
The Fall Into Music Instrument Drive ended about two weeks ago with a large number of instruments donated to the students of Austin Soundwaves. Development Manager Ciyadh Wells says just because the drive has ended doesn’t mean you have to wait until next year to donate instruments.
The Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts starting airing Saturday, December 4th. You’ll be hearing someone new on MET RADIO this year. She is Debra Lee Harder the new Voice Of The Met. This classical music announcer has a medical degree and a Doctorate in Music.
If you like classical music AND football or sports of any kind, it’s not that far afield for you to imagine musicians are like pro athletes. They suffer the same type of injuries but don’t make the same kind of money to treat those injuries. In comes the Musician Treatment Foundation which treats musicians for little or no money.
In honor of Veteran’s Day, we’ve compiled some of the classical music written by, about and for military Veterans. It includes FREEDOM SONG composed by Betsy Listenfelt. Gustav Holst Ode to Death, John Adams’ Tromba Lontana or Distant Trumpet, Aaron Copland – Fanfare for the Common Man and Olivier Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time
For the third year in a row, even during the Covid shutdown, the Dallas Symphony has hosted the Women in Classical Music Symposium. It’s aim says Ross Perot President and CEO Kim Noltemy is to advance the status of women as conductors and administrators in the orchestral community and beyond. The Women in Classical Music Symposium runs November 7th through November 10th.
Orchestral leaders, conductors, music directors and others are looking to include more composers of color and women in their upcoming seasons. Since many are unfamiliar with composers of color and their music, they’re looking at at least two websites: The Institute For Composer Diversity and the The African Diaspora Music Database.
It’s been a quirky and productive 20 years for Forklift Danceworks of Austin. The “dances” choreographed by founder Allison Orr over the years include Sanitation workers, Austin Energy linesmen and women, firefighters and so much more. Orr is now celebrating this milestone with a glamorous and fun filled party at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden on October 28th.
Pain and Trauma are difficult to process. One composer, Blake Allen found a way to release it with his new album The Shards Of An Honor Code Junkie, produced by No Reverse Records. It’s a musical retelling of his difficulty coming out as a gay man while a Mormon and a student at Brigham Young University.
Like many performing arts organizations, – Local Opera, Local Artist or LOLA in Austin, Texas had to use digital forms of communication to premiere a couple of new chamber operas. Now, under the leadership of Liz Cass they’re performing for an in-person audience and livestreaming their latest production. Good Country is about a transgender man in 19th century Northern California. It’ll be at KMFA’S Draylen Mason Studio.
It looked for a while like it might be safer to attend live in person concerts but with the Delta variant many arts patrons aren’t so sure. Alan Brown of Wolf Brown says his Audience Outlook Monitor found many people still want to stay home while yearning to attend live in person performances. Digital offers some solace with performance videos like The Hill We Climb.
The classical music world mourns the death of the long time conductor of the Oakland Symphony, Michael Morgan. How did his unorthodox choices work for this rare Black conductor? Curtis Stewart, a violinist and composer, finds his voice on his unusual album "Of Power". Amanda Gorman’s poem from the inaugural inspired a new composition and a performance video. There’s more good news about the works of Joseph Bologne. The Met Opera gets ready for Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
This year, for the second year in a row, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California went virtual. It means that if you missed any of the new music at last month’s festival, you can still see it online. One composer, Sean Shepherd, premiered his new work about the environment. It was sort of a sequel to an earlier work that took a dark view of our days ahead.
The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC is celebrating the 50th anniversary of MASS, the Leonard Bernstein production that opened the Kennedy Center in 1971. There are at least two prominent members of the classical music community in Austin, Texas who saw the original production. Ann Hume Wilson, President and General Manager of Austin’s classical music radio station KMFA and Austin Symphony conductor Peter Bay have very fond memories of the event and one of them tells some stories out of school!!
Texas Performing Arts has a full calendar on the What’s Coming Up This Fall series for Staccato. They are celebrating 40 Years On The 40 Acres, a $3 million dollar renovation and a new leader. The new Executive and Artistic Director Bob Bursey says he brought back performing arts groups that are returning to TAP and those who are new.
It looks like French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges might be getting rediscovered. This 18th century contemporary of Mozart has been lost to history almost since his lonely death in Paris in 1799. The Winston-Salem Symphony, with Music Director Timothy Redmond, is performing a play with music about this Black man, written by playwright Bill Barclay called The Chevalier – A Voice to be heard. Several people encouraged Barclay to pursue this play with music and the Winston-Salem Symphony has joined with two groups to produce it.
There’s nothing like getting a running start and then hitting the COVID wall. Now after 2 years, the Ishida Dance Company is finally able to embrace a live audience (with safety precautions) with their performance, in Austin, Texas of “Faraway, So Close”. Company founder Brett Ishida has included a wide swath of music from Bach to Richter to Nina Simone to illustrate the choreographed story of an angel in love with a mortal who can’t see, touch or hear him. A metaphor, says Ishida, about troubled relationships.
This is the first in an informal series on What’s Coming Up This Fall in Central Texas and beyond on Staccato on KMFA 89.5 Austin. We start in New Orleans at the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. They’ve hired Anwar Nasir, as their Executive Director. He’s the first Black American to hold the job. Nasir says he wants the orchestra to be a little more like New Orleans and he has a digital season in mind too.
This episode of Classical Music In Color shows just how rich and colorful our classical music world can be. Composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate reveals the history and culture of the Chickasaw Nation in the soundtrack to Lowak Shoppala' Fire and Light. Daniel Bernard Roumain revels in the sunshine after the storm with They Still Want To Kill us.
The Independence Day holiday is often the kickoff for family vacations, road trips and the like. Especially this year. One pianist, Min Kwon, decided to celebrate the holiday with a premiere of works composed on the theme of America The Beautiful. She marshaled 75 composers to write their own take on the patriotic tune in what she called the America/Beautiful project, now on You Tube.
This may very well be the first time families can celebrate the July 4th holiday week together in over a year. Those traveling with children may need something to keep them occupied during a long trip. Two animated programs may help. Let’s Make An Opera from the Bergen National Opera in Norway is a fun music drenched animated program all about making an opera. There’s also Classics Explained, a simple telling of the lives and music of classical composers like Igor Stravinsky.
It’s been a tough year and a half for just about everyone. Classical music organizations are no different. The League of American Orchestras recently held its 2021 virtual conference to take a look at the orchestral landscape after the trials of 2020. So how does it look for the Austin, Texas Symphony?
Juneteenth is no longer a day celebrated by people in individual states without federal attention. Now it’s a federal holiday signed into law by President Joe Biden. There are many events honoring the day Black Americans were liberated from slavery. Hear about a few of them including my own experience celebrating Juneteenth in my hometown of Houston, Texas.
Get ready for a summer opera camp that takes it to the next level. The Discover Opera Virtual Summer Camp from the Houston Grand Opera is enticing students with promises of a TikTok like experience. Alisa Magallon, Senior Education Manager at the Houston Grand Opera says this is the second, and hopefully last year the camp will be completely virtual.
Those of you who create, whether it be music, art or prose, know that it can be a mental exercise in either futility or joy. Two women from very different parts of our world were winners of the 2021 String Quartet Smackdown from Golden Hornet in Austin, Texas. Melika Fitzhugh and Jimena Palma de Gyvés used unusual methods to create their award winning work.
Bass-Baritone Ryan Speedo Green says he’s happy to talk about his background as a juvenile delinquent before he started singing opera. He gets the opportunity every time he’s engaged as an Artist In Residence. This time it’s for the Texas Opera Alliance.
There are many classical music groups all over the country trying to up their Diversity Quotient. We focus on Oregon's Eugene Symphony in their partnership with the Lane County NAACP.
Many people suffer from depression, made worse by the pandemic. One young composer from Mexico used it to propel her to write a piece naming her mental illness and putting it to music. Jimena Palma de Gyvés’ work, Distimia, won the 2021 String Quartet Smackdown from Golden Hornet.
When astronauts return to the moon in a few years, they won’t be alone on the barren satellite. There will be a disc of music there created by The Earthling Project from SETI. The creator of the project, composer and conductor Felipe Perez Santiago calls it the sounds of humanity.
A new album released last month seeks to offer relief to those who've had to endure this terrible pandemic. Composer Richard Danielpour wrestled with the pandemic himself. In this inaugural edition of COMPOSER'S CADENZA, he talks about his struggles, how Pianist Simone Dinnerstein got him through with the result being their collaboration: An American Mosaic. The album honors those who have been and still are ESSENTIAL.
Many classical music organizations have voiced support and change because of last summer’s racial reckoning. Opera Theatre Of St. Louis acted fast to put action in their words with their Clayco Future Leaders Fellowship. Three people, including Lyanne Alvarado, were chosen and are learning how to manage an opera company. General Director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Andrew Jorgensen says their program is attempting to diversify opera and classical music administrators at many companies.
There’s more new music coming borne of the pandemic. This time it’s in the form of a podcast from the Miller Theatre at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Mission: Commission paired a composer with a musician to write a new piece but they had to talk about their progress every week. Melissa Smey, Associate Dean of Columbia University’s School Of the Arts and the Executive Director of Miller Theatre says they wanted to demystify the process of composing classical music.
It looks like being outside may be one of the places to enjoy the arts during this pre-post-pandemic period. The Austin Opera got creative when finding a venue for live performances of the opera Tosca by Puccini. They’re inviting audiences to the racetrack, the Germania Insurance Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas later this month. In this extended edition of Staccato hear how General Director and CEO Annie Burridge found her way to the site in a desperate search for a proper venue for Tosca.
As we move closer to the end of the pandemic, there’s hope that live, in person, performances will start again. When they do happen, many mainstream classical much groups are hoping to show off a little more diversity than in 2019. NIMAN, The National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network is one group looking to add some color to the nation’s orchestras when they return from the virtual space. Dr. Artina McCain is hoping to go on tour with her Gold Medal winning album Heritage, and Black musicians performing Early Music are looking at increasing the numbers in their ranks. Also on the show, The Oberlin Conservatory’s questionable apology, the Fall River Symphony performing a season of music by Black composers and there’s information about a huge number of competitions listed in the Musical America 2021 GUIDE TO TOP COMPETITIONS.
Is it this moment you need to sit down and read a book about a time almost half a millennia away? It’s The Eagle And The Songbird, about two 16th century musicians performing at a big event hosted by Emperor Maximilian. Sara Schneider, an announcer at KMFA 89.5 in Austin, Texas self-published this book and even added a playlist.
For our last report for Black History Month while moving into Women’s History Month, here is the story of an African-American woman who started the nation’s first National Opera Company for African-Americans in 1941. After 60 years of neglect, the National Negro Opera Company House in Pittsburgh is in such bad shape it has been named one of the 11 most endangered places in America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Funds are being raised to refurbish it.
The Catalyst Quartet, a Grammy Award-winning group founded by the Sphinx Organization 11 years ago, is on a mission. They’ve just released the first of four volumes of music written by Black composers. On Volume one of Uncovered, they focus on the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. They’re also getting heavy assists from pianist Stewart Goodyear and clarinetist Anthony McGill, the first African-American to be named the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic.
On this, the February 2021 edition of Classical Music In Color, we hear from two next/new/now classical music creators. Joseph Phillips about his mono-opera The Grey Land and Will Liverman, Baritone, about his new album, Dreams Of A New Day. Two men who’s work is the personification of the first Black History Month since the death of George Floyd.
The 9th year of the Colour of Music Festival comes amid a promised change in the classical music community. Lee Pringle, the Founder and Artistic Director of the festival says this year, he was especially proud to present the works of African-American composers and musicians performing some of the standard repertoire. He’s wondering what may come in the wider classical music community in the years ahead.
Sometimes closing our eyes and listening, rather than looking at a screen can be the better choice. In this particular Black History Month, Baritone Will Liverman releases an album of songs by Black composers. Dreams Of A New Day features the works of some contemporary composers of color along with the work of an older generation.
Even though 2020 still has a grip on 2021, we are attempting to move in a different direction in this new year. Much of what we learned how to do during the pandemic year of 2020 is now (almost) muscle memory. In this, the January 2021 edition of Classical Music In Color, listen to composer Tyshawn Sorey’s “new age” way of composing music with Alarm Will Sound’s Alan Pierson. Then stay tuned for a fun interview with Tenors Lawrence (or is it Larry?) Brownlee and Michael Spyers about their new album of Rossini duets, Amici e Rivali. And between those two, hear about the first ever prize being offered for Opera Librettists.
Early in 2020, two men pushed to give opera librettist as much attention as opera composers. One of the men who started this campaign, Mark Campbell, is now funding the first ever prize just for the men and women who write the words in operas. The Mark Campbell Librettist Prize.
2020 is extremely similar to another tough year that ended 52 years ago with an uplifting and spiritual message from space. The astronauts aboard Apollo 8 delivered their Christmas message while orbiting the moon. A message heard in the historic re-telling of the mission in the documentary First to the Moon: The Journey of Apollo 8 with a soundtrack composed by Alexander Bornstein.
2021 brings with it the trauma from 2020. In the classical music community this transition comes with hope and some joy that classical music composed and performed by Black classical musicians will be recognized more so than ever before.
There’s D-Composed, a Chicago Black music ensemble formed by two women who took it upon themselves to focus on Black classical music and and those in other genre’s of music too. There’s Heartbeat Opera in New York who produced a visual ablum of music by Black composers. It’s called Breathing Free. In addition, there are books and online programs for the children in your life.
It is entirely possible that you won’t be able to spend the holidays with a loved one who’s in a nursing home or otherwise being treated for cognitive decline. Music and Memory, a group dedicated to helping these patients re-engage by using music, says you should create a playlist just for your special person as a gift.
As we move deeper into the difficulties 2020 has brought us, one New York based opera company is doing a deep dive into its programming. Heartbeat Opera has produced a 6 part visual album highlighting the music of Black composers. It’s called Breathing Free.
Composer Rudy Perrault writes a musical conversation between Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr about President Barack Obama. Auditions are coming up for a new opera company in Houston for singers of color. We talk to the founder of I Colori Dell'opera, Errin Hatter.
During these difficult days, creativity abounds. Composer John Dante Prevedini decided to use his own face for a new composition. It’s called, appropriately, SELFIE.
It’s been 8 months of orchestras, chamber groups, opera companies and more, trying to figure out how to hold performances, safely. Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and the Brown School of Engineering recently completed a study on how that could happen. One finding? Social Distancing and masks are just ONE part of getting full orchestras or operas on stage with an audience watching.
Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, especially in these times. Singers and musicians silenced by the pandemic may have found a way to sing and play together. One singer, Kelly Glyptis, and an organization, The Broadway Relief Project, have independently come up with what both are calling a Singer’s Mask.
Citing health concerns, at least two classical music organizations have made a difficult decision about their programming. The Met Opera and The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. There is some some good news from the Artist Relief Fund.
There’s mo’ money for struggling creatives, the story of a very busy young Black composer and a Langston Hughes-Beethoven mash up are among the virtual concerts you will want to watch while we try to answer the question: Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
As we move into the fall season for performing arts, there is uncertainty, still, about how it’s all going to work out. On this August/September 2020 edition of Classical Music In Color, hear some of the push back from some classical music groups to the Black Lives Matter message. Black American classical musicians talk about what they go through on the job. There’s also information about grants from the Artist Relief Program. On the musical side, we play a tribute to George Floyd, and there’s a piece from D-Composed.
For the 75 year old world renowned flutist Eugenia Zukerman, life is a little different these days. Cloudy as she would put it, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She’s written a book about her diagnosis and about her life now. Like Falling Through A Cloud.
This Show Is In Honor Of George Floyd. This June 2020 edition of Classical Music In Color is mostly a This June 2020 edition of Classical Music In Color is a concert of music composed by African-Americans in classical music that’s about injustice. Most of the music was composed before George Floyd but which resonates even more now. Thanks to the Sphinx Organization for The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. Actress Jennifer Lewis for Take Your Knee Off My Neck, and Composer Charles D. Dickerson III of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. for This Is Why We Kneel.