Photo by www.ireneyoungfoto.com 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. It may be a permanent fixture. Let me know what you think. The first part is an interview with 85 year old composer Mary D. Watkins […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
What a sad and joyful time it is for the friends of the late composer Matt Dibble. This English lad was only 40 when he died in 2021 from complications from a covid vaccine. He left behind 48 tracks of Preludes and Fugues that he kept secret until hours before his death. His good friend […]
It’s been a busy and awarding season for some young emerging Black American classical musicians. Pianist Clayton Stephenson and Violinist Njioma Chinyere Grievous were the recipients of The Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. Another, Tyler Taylor, won the Emerging Black Composers competition from the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. We […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Many classical artists are now releasing some of 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 […]