Classical Music In Color
Looking Forward
D-Composed photo by: Ally Almore
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.
On This Podcast:
Breathing Free is the name of a visual album from Heartbeat Opera encompassing a chorus of inmates from various prisons, and the music and words of Black American composers and poets, like Florence Price, Langston Hughes, Harry T. Burleigh.
There’s D-Composed, a Chicago based Black music ensemble formed by two women who took it upon themselves to focus on Black classical music and and those in other genres of music too.
For the children in your life:
A book with music and a smart phone app called Wild Symphony by Dan Brown.
Opera Starts with Oh! An online interactive program from Opera Lafayette.
Where Are The Black Female Composers by Nate Holden
You may download the podcast here.
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
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. Send in your string quartet for the competition String Quartet Smackdown. Discover “To America”, a film from the Harlem Chamber Players in honor of James Weldon Johnson with poetry by Langston Hughes, and hear a musical conversation between Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in a new composition by Rudy Perrault on a new album of music by Haitian composers called Tanbou Kache. It was produced by cellist Diana Golden.
IS THAT A FLICKER OF LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?
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? Or???
Here are the links mentioned in the show.
Black Opera Film (on Instagram)
The Heart Of A Woman. The Life and Music of Florence B. Price
Langston and Beethoven – Black and Proud
Changing The Complexion of Classical Music
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.
Links to items mentioned in the show. If I missed anything, please let me know.
Artist Relief Invites Applications
Ross McKee Foundation Piano Series
Colour of Music Festival Posters
J’nai Bridges Panel on Racial Disparity and Inequality in Opera
The artists of this George Floyd memorial mural in Minneapolis are:
Niko Alexander, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Xena Goldman, Pablo Helm Hernandez.
The additional photos in this George Floyd mural indicate some of the stories and music in this show.
This Show Is In Honor Of George Floyd
This June 2020 edition of Classical Music In Color is mostly a concert of music composed by African-Americans in classical music that’s about injustice. Most of the music you’ll hear was composed before the murder of George Floyd but which, sadly and horribly, resonates even more now. I’d like to thank the Sphinx Organization for allowing me to play The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. Actress Jennifer Lewis for her performance and composition of Take Your Knee Off My Neck, and Composer Charles D. Dickerson III for producing a video to go with his work: This Is Why We Kneel. Dickerson runs the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles.
Links to competitions and concerts are below. If I missed anything, please tell me.
National Sawdust Composer Competition
Castle Of Our Skins – Black Composer Miniatures
DAUGHTER OF THE BOYCOTT by Karen Gray Houston
New Haven Symphony Songwriting Contest
Challenge the Stats Virtual Concert
Honor the Men and Woman who FOUGHT and DIED for your right to vote. Please VOTE.
March 2020 – The Quarantine Edition
Less Talk. More Music.
Cause maybe, at this point in the quarantine, you’re tired of watching a screen. Take a mental vacation by LISTENING to new music from Jonathan Bingham. Hear why pianist Richard Valitutto feels it’s his duty to perform George Walker’s music. Then listen to him perform it. We also have some information on how some struggling music groups can get financial help. Then there’s Mr. Macaronii’s hilarious song about washing your hands.
Here are the links mentioned in the podcast:
For earlier editions of CLASSICAL MUSIC IN COLOR, go to the Archives page.
