Tag Archive for: Austin

New Albums from Pratt, Dworkin and Malakai and a Latinx Opera Workshop

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In this month of September, your ears will be filled with the sound of STILLPOINT.  It’s Awadagin Pratt’s latest album.  He’s performing music he commissioned from several composers of color. 

You can hear the life and times of Aaron P. Dworkin’s in his debut spoken word album The Poetjournalist. 

Malakai Bayoh didn’t win Britian’s Got Talent 2023. The 14-year-old DID win a record deal and his debut album Golden is out and about.

Opportunities abound all over the BIPOC spectrum. 

Austin Opera has a program for Latinx creatives. 

There’s a leadership opportunity at the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. 

South Africa’s National Arts Festival is calling for creatives of all types for their 2024 event. 

Composers might want to write what could become the Best Symphonia of the Year. 

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

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.

Honoring Fathers With Music On Father’s Day

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Next week is Father’s Day. The Austin Symphonic Band is honoring Dads with a Father’s Day concert on June 18th at the Zilker Hillside Theater. 

Cellist Bion Tsang is honoring his late father with a new album he named Cantabile.  It’s dedicated to the music they enjoyed together.  Tsang says he’s hoping his father Paul Ja-Min Tsang, is looking upon him with pride.

The 96-Hour Opera Project

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If you’ve ever done a large creative project, you know it usually takes longer than 96 hours – four days – to create what one might call something good.   Composers and Librettist will be attempting this feat in the Atlanta Opera’s 96 Hour Opera Project. 

The Atlanta Opera’s New Works Administrator Cara Consilvio says it’s not as arduous as it seems.  Still, some of the 2 person teams won’t even meet each other in person until their arrival in Atlanta on June 9th.

Nathan Felix of Austin, is one of the finalists. 

Clarice Assad. The Draylen Mason Composer In Residence

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There’s a new Draylen Mason Composer in Residence at KMFA.  She is Clarice Assad, a Brazilian-American composer who, when not on the road, lives in Chicago. In addition to composing,  Assad likes teaching children how to collaborate with music and performance art.  She is also working on an orchestral piece for KMFA.  Her new work will be performed sometime in September in Austin. 

Adult Music Camps

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If you’ve been musing about playing the instrument you haven’t touched in more than a few years, there’s a cure for that.  Hundreds of adult music camps all over the country have programs that might fit.There’s the International Music Camp, the New England Adult Music Camp and the Interlochen Chamber Music Camp, to name a few.   In Austin there’s the Austin Chamber Music Center’s Adult Music Camp. 

The Merry Music Month of May

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Amid the graduations, weddings, and other joyous events, celebrate with music of all genres this month. There’s the Big Sing from Conspirare, the ERA Project from LOLA, the Here Be Monsters one day new music festival and a free stream of the Dallas Opera’s 2022/23 season.  Have fun and enjoy. 

Music From The Milky Way and Beyond

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The universe sings.  Or at least it provides data that’s music to the ears of NASA scientists working at the Chandra X-ray Observatory in Cambridge, MA.  By a process of Sonification these scientists/technicians/musicians translate data into sound.  More specifically music, which is now on an album called Universal Harmonies.

Dr. Kimberly Arcand, a visualization scientist at NASA,  says she was inspired by an astronomer who is blind.