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.
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.
How many prestigious music awards can a person win? Composer Anthony Davis is on track to win most of them. This two-time Grammy nominee is a new member of the Opera Hall of Fame. He’s already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music with his opera The Central Park Five. His Met opera debut was with X The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He’s a busy man. He’s also a professor at UC San Diego. Give him his laurels and hear about all of his projects currently in the works in this edition of Staccato.
Althea Waites is a pianist extraordinaire. In her 85 years, she has performed all over the world and will occasionally accept invitations to teach master classes at music schools across the country. She has produced several albums, including her 2023 grammy nominated album, Reflections in Time. Her main goal is to perform new music and the music of composers of color. She has recorded the works of Margaret Bonds, Jeremy Siskind and Curt Cacioppo along with three of the “Three-Fours” of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Waites is scheduled to perform this month at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
Events and Opportunities:
THE APOLLO – CELEBRATING 90 YEARS AS THE SOUL OF AMERICAN CULTURE
Clayton Stephenson @ New York Philharmonic
The California African American Museum in Los Angeles
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, nearly four centuries later.
Here are links to the events and competitions mentioned in the podcast:
Hampton University in Virginia is honoring Composer Roland M. Carter.
Composer Anthony Davis is inducted into the Opera Hall Of Fame.
The New Jersey Symphony is accepting applications for the Edward T. Cone Composition Institute.