The upcoming Solar Eclipse will darken the sky for a few minutes on April 8th. Texas orchestras are providing the soundtrack with concerts celebrating the celestial event. The Waco Symphony is having it’s ‘Sci-Fi Spectacular’ Sun, Moon and Superstars concert. The East Texas Symphony has collaborated with Tyler Junior College for a musical and visual feast. Here are other eclipse related music events.
Just in time for the solar eclipse, Austin Classical Guitar presents two programs ending its 2023-2024 season. Your eclipse guests might enjoy classical guitarists the Beijing Duo or if they stay long enough, David Russell. Perhaps there’s an amateur classical guitarist in your circle who might be brave enough to try Open Mic night at the Rosette.
At least six U.S. orchestras are performing the music of Florence Price this Women’s History Month. Other women composers are getting the spotlight too.
That’s nice says Liane Curtis, the President of Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, but it’s not really enough. The organization has released its Repertoire Report which analyzes the programming of the top 21 U.S. Symphony Orchestras.
When most of us attend classical music concerts, we’re most likely not thinking about how our fellow patrons are enjoying the music. Apparently, we’re all affected by the performance at the same rate called Embodied Cognition.
That’s according to a study by Dr. Wolfgang Tschacher, Professor Emeritus at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He and his team at the Experimental Concert Research Project found that our heart and breathing rates become the same during the concert.
How many prestigious music awards can a person win? Composer Anthony Davis is on track to win most of them. This two-time Grammy nominee is a new member of the Opera Hall of Fame. He’s already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music with his opera The Central Park Five. His Met opera debut was with X The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He’s a busy man. He’s also a professor at UC San Diego. Give him his laurels and hear about all of his projects currently in the works in this edition of Staccato.
Althea Waites is a pianist extraordinaire. In her 85 years, she has performed all over the world and will occasionally accept invitations to teach master classes at music schools across the country. She has produced several albums, including her 2023 grammy nominated album, Reflections in Time. Her main goal is to perform new music and the music of composers of color. She has recorded the works of Margaret Bonds, Jeremy Siskind and Curt Cacioppo along with three of the “Three-Fours” of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Waites is scheduled to perform this month at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
Events and Opportunities:
THE APOLLO – CELEBRATING 90 YEARS AS THE SOUL OF AMERICAN CULTURE
Clayton Stephenson @ New York Philharmonic
The California African American Museum in Los Angeles
Have you ever heard of Vicente Lusitano?
During his lifetime in the 1500s he lit up the Early Music/Renaissance world with his music, intelligence, and moxie. Unfortunately this Afro-Portuguese composer’s mixed parentage and the prejudices of the period meant his legacy would not survive. But his music remains.
In this January 21st edition of Classical Music In Color, two Lusitano experts, Garrett Schumann and Joseph McHardy, talk about his life and works and revival today, nearly four centuries later.
Here are links to the events and competitions mentioned in the podcast:
Hampton University in Virginia is honoring Composer Roland M. Carter.
Composer Anthony Davis is inducted into the Opera Hall Of Fame.
The New Jersey Symphony is accepting applications for the Edward T. Cone Composition Institute.
The Austin Opera is about to do something they’ve never done before.
They are presenting the world’s first Mariachi Opera, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. It will also be the first time they are staging an opera sung in Spanish with help from the new Butler Fund for Spanish Programming. Some of the cast is from Ópera de Bellas Artes, the national opera company of Mexico.
Austin Opera General Director and CEO, Annie Burridge says this production is the first of many.
Going back to work this week might seem like somewhat of a letdown after all the fun and frivolity of the holiday season.
There is a way to make it all better.
Listen to music at the office.
A recent study found that workers are happier and more productive when listening to instrumental music while on the job.
However, other researchers have somewhat opposing ideas about listening to music at the office.
Find out what kind of music puts you in the mood to tackle that big project. And find out if any of this applies to you if you work from home.
However you celebrate the holidays, there’s probably nothing like playing with your new toy this time of year. It might be a video game with a soundtrack of some of the oldest tunes in the world. Early Music.
Dr. Karen Cook, an Early Music Scholar and a Video Game Scholar says while she’s playing some of the latest video games, she’s also listening to the soundtrack for the telltale signs of early music