It’s PanelPicker time for SXSW 2024. That’s when the festival calls for applications for those wanting to present a panel discussion. Last year in what’s believed to be the first time, there was a classical music panel. Artists & out of London is now looking for classical musicians to appear on the planned 2024 panel and the concert after.
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.
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.
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.
A Grammy nominated Harpists is releasing a new piece of music in celebration of Mother’s Day (May 14th) and Mother Earth. Yolanda Kondonassis has added Wildflower to her digital album Five Minutes For Earth. It was composed for her by Cuban virtuoso trumpeter and composer Arturo Sandoval. There’s also a music video of Wildflower. It’s part of Kondonassis’ dedication to the environment with her foundation, Earth At Heart.
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.
It’s almost time to choose another class of Draylen Mason Fellows at Austin Soundwaves.
Hermes Camacho, the Development and Operations Director of Austin Soundwaves says they’re looking for applicants who are not only musical but are socially conscious in the way Draylen Mason was before he was killed by a package bomb in 2018. The current class has their Capstone Concert coming up next month at the Draylen Mason Music Studio at KMFA.