Is It Time Already To Apply To Summer Music Schools? 

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We’re a little more than a month away from 2024 which means it’s time to make plans for the summer. Specifically summer music programs for young musicians.  Equity Arc has partnered with at least 17 summer music programs to provide applications fees and scholarships for BIPOC musicians via their Common Application for Summer Study. 

Magee Capsouto, the Associate Director at Equity Arc says they’re trying to provide more diversity in the nation’s orchestral summer programs.  

The Carnegie Hall Connection with Austin Soundwaves

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Austin Soundwaves will be able to serve more students in several ways after receiving a grant from Carnegie Hall’s Play USA program. Their mission is to train  student musicians across the greater Austin area and to provide diverse opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds.  Last year they served more than 1,100 students through 23 school partnerships and programs.

Deputy Director Hermes Camacho says they are very excited about the possibilities.

Cliburn Competition Applications for 2025 Are Open

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Cliburn Competition Applications Are Open.  Already you say?  Didn’t the Cliburns just crown a winner, Yunchan Lim of South Korea?  Well, yes but that was an entire year ago.  Now they’re looking for the next winner for the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2025. 

Jacques Marquis President and CEO of the Cliburn Competition says it takes a long time to find the pianist ready to embark upon an international career. 

Dvořák: A Bohemian Rhapsody

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How much do you really know about your favorite composer?  You love the music, but how did the composer come to write a particular piece?

Judith Lynn Stillman – the Artist-in-Residence and professor of music at Rhode Island College in East Providence answers that question and many more with her plays-within-a-concert.  Her latest is Dvořák: A Bohemian Rhapsody.  Did you know he loved trains??  It opens in East Providence with a livestream so anyone anywhere can watch it.

Judith Lynn Stillman – the Artist-in-Residence and professor of music at Rhode Island College in East Providence answers that question and many more with her plays-within-a-concert.  Her latest is Dvořák: A Bohemian Rhapsody.  Did you know he loved trains??  It opens in East Providence with a livestream so anyone anywhere can watch it.

If Judith Stillman wasn’t playing the piano for her latest production, she and you might enjoy Crescendo.  It’s the documentary about the 2022 Cliburn Competition.  The free screening is in Fort Worth on October 26th. 

Grammy Award Winning Choral Ensemble, Conspirare,  Begins Its 30th Season

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Even the Artistic Director and Founder of Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, finds it hard to believe that the choral ensemble is 30 years old. He’s developed a fall season that’s kind of eclectic with a nod to the past and an eye on the future. One choral group is being invited back for the holiday program. It’s Isaac Cates & Ordained who will, says Johnson, bridge the past with the future.

The First Ever Open House At The Long Center in Austin, Texas

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The Long Center is celebrating its 15th anniversary with something they’ve never done before.  They’re throwing open the doors of the performing arts facility for the First Annual Teresa Lozano Long Community Day. Dr. Long broke racial barriers at the University of Texas back in the 1950’s. She and her husband Joe have funded many scholarships, educational institutions and The Long Center.

Long Center CEO Cory Baker says the place will be rocking inside and out with performers from all over the Austin area.

Langston Lee.  Winner Of The Jimmys

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Remember the name Langston Lee.  You most likely will be hearing about this 18 year old from Rouse High School in Leander, Texas.  He is the first winner of “The Jimmys”, a national high school musical competition,  to represent the local version, the Heller Awards For Young Artists in their first year of eligibility. 

Langston Lee Photo: Jimmy Awards

Carnegie Hall Kids

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With summer almost over and school starting soon, there’s one more fun item that your children might appreciate. Teachers can take advantage of it too.  It’s Carnegie Hall Kids.  This voluminous website offers games, quizzes, musical maps and more for children to play with. 

Carnegie Hall Education Director Sarah Johnson says if the kids get a bit of musical education, while playing, that’s okay too.

The Nightingale

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This next book on the summer reading list comes with its own soundtrack amid a story based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. It’s The Nightingale, a book with music and other 21st century upgrades from the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra or ROCO in Houston. 

ROCO Founder Alecia Lawyer says The Nightingale isn’t just for children.

Mozart In Motion

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This is another addition to your summer reading list. 

There are hundreds of books about Mozart but the author of Mozart In Motion has a different take.  Author Patrick Mackie takes us time traveling through the swirl that was Mozart’s short life.