Monday, July 31, 2017

AaronAsk: Weekly mentoring for a creative life: Robert's Rules? (3:14)


Aaron P. Dworkin writes:

Greetings and welcome to this week's episode of AaronAsk, your weekly mentoring session to live a fulfilling creative life!  This week's episode is titled, Robert's Rules?
In this week's video, I discuss how you can lead and run more effective meetings including setting correct expectations on what you are looking to accomplish. Let me know what you think!

Enjoy, we wish you a creative day and see you for next week's session!

Comment by email:
Thanks for sharing Bill! Aaron [Aaron P. Dworkin]

George Walker & John Malveaux: George Walker: American Virtuoso, HAYDN: Sonata in c-minor, Hob. XVI/20, YouTube from Albany TROY411 (2001)

George Walker (b. 1922) 

has a website at http://georgetwalker.com/




and is featured at AfriClassical.com
 
American Virtuoso

HAYDN: Sonata in c-minor, Hob. XVI/20 - GEORGE WALKER

George Walker, Piano
Albany Records 

George Walker writes:

Hello Bill,

Since you liked my performance of the Beethoven Emperor Concerto, I thought that this wonderful Haydn Sonata might appeal to you. Albany Records just posted it. The cd on which it appeared was issued in the 1990s, but was never reviewed.

Best regards.


Published on Jul 29, 2017
1): Allegro moderato
2) (@ 09:42): Andante con moto
3)) (@ 18:58): Allegro

George Walker, piano

from Albany TROY411 (2001)

http://www.albanyrecords.com

A special request for posting by Mr. Walker himself.

George Walker began his concert career as a pianist with a "notable debut" recital in Town Hall, New York, in 1945 - a recital sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Efrem Zimbalist. Two weeks later, he performed the Third Piano Concerto of Rachmaninoff with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting. He was immediately hailed as one of the most brilliant pianists of his generation. In 1950, he became the first black instrumentalist to be signed by a major concert management, National Concert Artists. In 1953, he made an unprecedented tour of seven European countries - Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and England with phenomenal success. Today, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. And by the way, as a composer, in 1996, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra, which was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa conducting.
 


John Malveaux of 
writes:


Thank you for sharing a recording of your lesser known achievements as pioneering Black concert pianist before Andre Watts.

AfriClassical writes:

HAYDN: Sonata in c-minor, Hob. XVI/20 (26:01)

American Virtuoso includes works of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy and Liszt.  George Walker is correct in recalling that we particularly appreciated his performance of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.  That work has held a special place in our music collection since we discovered it while in college,  The music of Haydn came to our attention somewhat later, and is now also well represented in our music library.  

Haydn's Sonata in C-Minor is often regarded as very challenging to the pianist, but to our ears the interpretation of George Walker flows quite naturally, without strain.  The music remains melodic throughout. The performance makes a fitting opening to a diverse collection of keyboard works by an outstanding American composer and pianist whose recordings deserve much more attention than they have so far received.

Comment by email:
Many thanks, Bill. Best regards. George [George Walker]

 







Saturday, July 29, 2017

Dozens Turn Out to Protest Dominion/Amazon Power Line Threatening Historic African-American Neighborhood

Alliance to Save Carver Road
(Facebook)

(HAYMARKET, VA, 7/29/17) – Dozens of members of the Alliance to Save Carver Road, the Coalition to Protect Prince William County and supporters turned out today to protest outside a Dominion Energy facility in Herndon, Va., against a planned power line through a historic African-American neighborhood in the Haymarket, Va., area that would serve an Amazon data center. 
 
Parts of the protest were livestreamed on Facebook: 
 
“We thank all those who turned out to help protect a historic African-American neighborhood threatened by corporate greed,” said Alliance to Save Carver Road spokesperson Joyce Hudson. “This successful protest will be followed by other events until residents of Carver Road neighborhood can live their lives in peace and security.”
 
Last week, the Alliance to Save Carver Road said it is "concerned" that Dominion Energy recently contacted elderly residents of the historic African-American neighborhood. In a letter to Dominion Energy, Hudson wrote in part: “Our elderly residents are especially vulnerable and may not be aware of Dominion’s tactics to influence the process of installing transmission lines to serve Amazon’s data centers."

SEE: Va. Alliance to Save Historic African-American Neighborhood 'Concerned' About Dominion Energy Contacting Elderly Residents
 
Dominion Energy’s planned 100-foot-high power line threatens the neighborhood southwest of Washington, D.C., made up primarily of elderly residents and containing properties acquired under an 1866 law that allowed freed slaves to own property.
 


 

NOBLE Statement on the Human Rights of Those in Custody

NOBLE National President Perry Tarrant

Statement from NOBLE National President, Perry Tarrant - As NOBLE convenes its 41st Annual Training Conference in Atlanta, it reminds the nation of one of the bedrocks of our democracy, equal protection under the law. All law enforcement officers play a critical role in determining the appropriate levels of use of force as they police communities across this nation. As NOBLE continues its efforts to build one community (law enforcement is part of the community), we must always be vigilant in ensuring that the human rights of those in custody and/or suspected of crimes are protected.

###
 

Marlon Daniel: Violinist.com: Dispatch from Havana: The Havana Lyceum Orchestra

Marlon Daniel

The Havana Lyceum Orchestra


Samuel Thompson

June 28, 2017, 7:18 PM · In October 2016, conductor Marlon Daniel asked me to join him for a trip to Cuba for the purpose of documenting both master classes and his time conducting. What started as a 'simple writing assignment' - as well as a tremendous opportunity to see a nation closed to Americans until very recently, turned into a tremendous educational journey and one of the most meaningful trips that I have ever taken.
On Tuesday, May 2, Marlon Daniel, violinist Eric Silberger and I hailed a taxi in the Vedado district of Havana that took us on a fast ride on the Calle Malecon into Old Havana, where we then walked to the Lyceum Mozartiano de la Habana where Eric Silberger gave the first of two master classes and Marlon rehearsed the Havana Lyceum Orchestra (Orquesta del Lyceum de la Habana).
Currently wrapping up an eighteen-day east coast tour with pianist Simone Dinnerstein, the Havana Lyceum Orchestra was founded in 2009 in collaboration with the Lyceum Mozartiano de la Habana, an institution founded jointly by by the office of the Historiador de La Havana Eusebio Leal, the Universidad de las Artes (the most important institution in Cuba for musical training) and the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation.
The Havana Lyceum Orchestra is comprised of students, recent graduates and professors from the University of the Arts, the National School of Music and the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory. Since its founding in 2009, the Lyceum Orchestra has performed to critical and cognoscenti acclaim both in Cuba and throughout the world: in 2015 the orchestra made its European debut with Cuban flutist Niurka Gonzales during Salzburg's annual “Mozart Week”, and At home in Havana, the orchestra has quickly established itself as an important element of western classical music performance, having won a series of Cubadisco prizes for its work.
During the first week of May 2017, Marlon Daniel prepared the Havana Lyceum Orchestra for a concert that took place on May 6 that featured Beethoven's “Coriolan” Overture, Mendelssohn's “Italian” Symphony, and Max Bruch's Concerto No. 1 in G Minor. The week also consisted of master classes that were taught by Mr. Kameda, Eric Silberger, and myself that were taught at the Lyceum Mozartiana, which is housed in the same beautifully-restored seventeenth century building as the Oratoria San Felipe Neri.

Comment by email:
Thank you Bill.  Hope all is well. Marlon [Marlon Daniel]

TheDailyStar.com: Cooperstown Summer Music Festival...Summerland Folk Song Suite by William Grant Still [7:30 PM Sun. Aug. 6, Otesaga Hotel]

William Grant Still (1895-1978),


is featured at AfriClassical.com
Oneonta, New York
The Cooperstown Summer Music Festival will present three concerts the weekend of Aug. 4-6, featuring the Jasper String Quartet, pianist Gilles Vonsattel, and flutist and festival artistic director Linda Chesis. 
***
At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6, at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, Vonsattel will make his festival debut in a program called “Folk Inspirations” with the Jasper String Quartet and flutist Linda Chesis. The concert will feature another Dvořák masterwork, the Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81, along with Beethoven’s Seven Variations on “God Save the King,” the Summerland Folk Song Suite by William Grant Still, and Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues by Frederic Rzewski, according to a media release. 

Comment by email:
Thanks so much, Bill, so glad to get these blogs.  [Judith Anne Still] 

John Malveaux: George Walker at 95 is the oldest and foremost American classical music composer and the only Black composer to win a Pulitzer Prize

Podcast 35: Legendary American composer George Walker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBSuY94Vro4

John Malveaux of 
writes:

Composer, pianist, educator George Walker at 95 years is the oldest and foremost American classical music composer and the only Black composer to win a Pulitzer Prize. Please hear recent interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBSuY94Vro4