Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Tania León of Composers-Now.org: 'I would love to see composers as visible as poets.'


[Tania León]

On Jan. 5, 2010 AfriClassical posted “Tania León a co-leader of 'Composers Now' panel; Works of George Walker & Nkeiru Okoye Heard.” The AllMusic Blog discusses the concept of this exceptional event:

Blog.AllMusic.com
Composers Now, a new consortium of New York arts organizations, is sponsoring a weeklong festival highlighting the contributions composers make to the cultural fabric of society. During the week of February 22-28, the festival will present an intensive schedule of concerts and discussions at a wide range of venues, such as Symphony Space, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Manhattan School of Music, Merkin Concert Hall, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, the Jazz Gallery, Harlem Stage, and El Museo del Barrio. It’s being sponsored by an impressive consortium of organizations, including ASCAP, BMI, and Meet the Composer’s Metlife Creative Connections Program.

Tania León
The festival is the brainchild of New York-based composers Tania León and Laura Kaminsky. León draws an analogy with National Poetry Month. 'We need to find a way to raise awareness and appreciation of this important community of creators. I would love to see composers as visible as poets.' She and Kaminsky enlisted grassroots support among New York arts organizations to sponsor events that would bring living composers and their work to the attention of broader audiences. Kaminsky, who serves as the group’s coordinator, calls the formation of Composers Now a demonstration of the goodwill and shared vision of the city’s music community. The plan is for the festival to become an annual event in New York, and Kaminsky envisions it expanding across the country, giving audiences in many communities exposure to living composers, not only in concert halls, but in schools, community centers, and retirement communities. [Tania Justina León (b. 1943) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

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