Two composers and musicians, George Lewis and Harald Kisiedu have gathered some of today’s composers and musicologists in a book of essays called Composing While Black. There are nine essays in the book that talk about their experiences composing, performing and being in a world that isn’t always welcoming to Black musicians, classical or otherwise.
George Lewis and Harald Kisiedu
Regarding the items mentioned in the podcast:
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.
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 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.
Rosalyn Aninyei is doing her best to create and maintain a world class orchestra in her home country of Nigeria. Florence Price is getting the festival treatment at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Blake-Anthony Johnson talks about his path to become the first African American to be the CEO of a world-renowned orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta.
There’s a new album of music by Florence Price and William Dawson via the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Here’s a link to the Margaret Bonds Symposium at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
