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
There are two new very different albums that came out recently that could be on your holiday list.
Composer and author Tina Davidson has released her latest album Hymn of the Universe. It’s a choral work performed by VocalEssence and based on the writings of Jesuit Priest and Scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
And The Emerson String Quartet has released its final album after 47 years of performing all over the world. On Infinite Voyage, they perform the music of Schoenberg, Chausson, Berg and Hindemith sung in part by Soprano Barbara Hannigan.
The Emerson String Quartet (1976 to 2023) with Barbara Hannigan.
Inset: Paul Watkins and Tina Davidson
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.