Over the next few weeks, I’ll be featuring my summer reading list on Staccato. The first one is about composer Tina Davidson, whose complicated life can be heard in her music. Her biological Mother adopted her in Sweden back in the 1950’s but never told her. There are other surprising revelations as well in Davidson’s book Let Your Heart Be Broken. You can listen to her playlist from the book here.
Grief is a heavy burden to carry. Composer Curtis Stewart has composed music expressing the devastation he feels over his mother’s death. He calls the album OF LOVE and has released a video for one of the tracks DRIFT TO WAKE.
There’s an update on Ralph Yarl, the 16 year old who was shot twice when he went to the wrong house.
We say goodbye to Soprano Grace Bumbry who went beyond the white curtain.
Performances coming up this month include the Harlem Chamber Players presents, Harlem Songfest 2. The opera SHE WHO DARED from the American Lyric Theater.
The Dallas Symphony is looking for applicants for its first Diversity Fellowship Program. Afros and Audio Podcast Festival is calling for speaker submissions.
The Lewis Prize for Music wants organizations investing in music programs for young people to apply for a grant.
In what may be a first, there’s The Oxford Book of Choral Music by Black Composers. It was edited and curated by conductor, educator, and composer Marques L. A. Garrett. Listen to the music here.
Pamela Dawson of Desoto High School in Texas revels in her win as the 2023 Grammy Music Educator of the Year.
Apply to enter the J.S. Bach Competition.
Composers might want to enter the American Composers Forum Spring National Call.
The Black British Classical Foundation is celebrating the coronation of King Charles III with a concert.