Sheku & Isata Kanneh-Mason on their pandemic MUSE
There is still some music to mine from 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.
What’s Coming In 2022
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:
Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Studio and Music Library, Golden Hornet, Coltman Competition, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Texas Performing Arts, Draylen Mason Day
Sympawnies
We love our animal friends. There’s one composer, Noam Oxman, who’s making music with photos of your beloved pet and other animals. He calls them Sympawnies.
The Musician As Athlete
Photos by Ryan Reinoso and Ethan Medrano
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 from Dr. Alton Barron, which treats musicians for little or no money.
The Future Is Female
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.
20 Years Ago….
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 Platinum Party at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden on October 28th.
A Transgender Man And A Woman Loving Woman, Characters In Two Chamber Operas
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.
The Music Borne Of Wildfires And Melting Glaciers
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. There is also an “artist rendition” of Shepherd’s pieces, Melt and Sprout.
Remembering Mass 50 Years Later
The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC is celebrating its 50th anniversary. With it comes memories 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. Both have very fond memories of the event and one of them tells some stories out of school!!
It’s A Very Special Season For Texas Performing Arts
Texas Performing Arts on the University of Texas – Austin campus is celebrating 40 Years On The 40 Acres and a $3 million dollar renovation with a variety of programs for its 40th year. The new Executive and Artistic Director Bob Bursey curated his first season with the 40 year old presenting organization. He says he wanted to fill the calendar with returning performing arts groups and those who are new.
Variations, Reflections and Responses to America The Beautiful
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.
NOW WHAT?
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?
Out Of Depression – A Win
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.
UNCOVERED
February 19, 2021
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. The members say this is not a reaction to the events of 2020 because they’ve been working on performing this work for almost 3 years.
Celebrating Today’s Black Composers
February 14, 2021
Every year the Austin Chamber Music Center presents a Black History concert. This year, it’s called Celebration. A title, the curator and pianist Artina McCain says reflects a program featuring some fresh new composers and musicians of color.
Change Comes Only If
February 6, 2021
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.
Dreams Of A New Day
January 31, 2021
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.