They Honor The Fallen With Their Words And Music

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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.

Summer Music Camps For Adult Musicians

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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 but if you want to stay local, the Austin Chamber Music Center has several Workshops. 

Here are a few more camps you can consider:  

Adult Chamber Music Institute (ACMI) at Kneisel Hall

Central Program at the Amherst Early Music Festival 

Summer Music Camps For Adults – The Choral Edition

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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.

On Part Two of Summer Music Camps for Adults, the focus will be on camps specifically for musicians and their instruments. Listen for it during the week of May 18th. 

A Texas Teenager Goes Miles For Music

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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. 

Musical Instruments Are Instrumental In A Child’s Development

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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. 

Finding Peace Amid The Storm

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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. 

Cecile and Clara performed by Anna

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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 

The La Maestra International Competition for Women Conductors

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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.

Claire Gibault

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.

Meet The Composers Of Some Of Your Favorite Video Games

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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 Density 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.

The String Quartet Smackdown

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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