AustinChamberMusic.org: Austin Chamber Music Festival: "Black Voices" 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 3, 2020 Free RSVP

When

7:30 PM; Friday, July 3, 2020

 

RSVP

 

Free

 

PLFUGERVILLE, TX —The Austin Chamber Music Festival, dedicated to serving Central Texans by expanding knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of chamber music through the highest quality instruction and performance, will host its 24th Annual Austin Chamber Music Festival free and online now through August 8.

The virtual festival will feature a lineup of accomplished artists and performers, with Artistic Director Michelle Schumann hosting interviews and performances every weekend through Aug. 8. Concert attendees will have a chance to chat with the artists and other audience members via the live Zoom program, and will gain insight on what makes chamber music so fascinating. For more information, or to register click HERE.

Lineup for the 24th Annual Austin Chamber Music Festival includes:

Black Voices
7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 3, 2020
Free
RSVP

7:30 PM CT Zoom event “doors” open (URL provided upon registration)

7:45 PM CT Pre-concert talk begins with Michelle Schumann & Festival Artists

8:00 PM CT Concert program begins

Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, Derek Menchan, Ebonee Thomas, Lecolion Washington, and Artina McCain share stories about the life of an artist along with music by William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, and more.

Program

Deserted Plantation | William Grant Still (1895–1978)

• Spiritual
• Young Missy
• Dance

Gigue en Rondeau | Michel Blavet (1700–1768)
Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19 | Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943)

• Andante

Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk) | Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932–2004)
Bassoon Set | Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

***
Piano Trio in D Major, Op.70 No.1 “Ghost” | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

• Allegro vivace e con brio

Ebonee Thomas, flute
Lecolion Washington, bassoon
Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, violin
Derek Menchan, cello
Artina McCain, piano
Michelle Schumann, piano

Anyango Yarbo-Davenport

Born and raised in Munich (Germany), violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport was born into the musical family of American soprano Africa Yarbo-Davenport and the late Austrian conductor Hans Peter Jillich. She regularly performs in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Royal Festival Hall London, Teatro Mayor Bogotá, Mozarteum Saal Salzburg, and Teatro Colon. Her performances can be heard on Radio & TV in the US, South America and Europe. She is the winner of the Theodore Presser Scholar Award, International Competition for Romantic Music, IBLA World Competition Italy, Jugend Musiziert Germany, Alpen-Adria Wettbewerb, MTNA USA, the Rotary Club Salzburg Prize, among others. Anyango’s upcoming recording “Invisible Threads” – works for violin and piano by Bartok, Messiaen and a commissioned sonata by composer Juan Antonio Cuellar – was awarded the coveted research prize of the Banco Santander de Colombia with additional sponsorship of the Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

Derek Menchan

A “classically” trained ‘cellist, Menchan holds a Master’s Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, whence he was awarded the Pablo Casals Award for Musical Accomplishment and Human Endeavor.

Having shared the stage and worked with artists from all genres, including Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Stevie Wonder, Kennedy and Rod Stewart; conductors Leonard Slatkin, Kurt Masur, ‘cellists Janos Starker, Mstislav Rostropovich, Harvey Shapiro, and many more, Menchan has carved out his own signature sound and approach to music, from its composition to performance and production.

Ebonee Thomas

Flutist Ebonee Thomas is originally from Plano, TX and holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and the New England Conservatory of Music. She was Principal Flute of the Knoxville Symphony for 3 seasons, Principal Flute of the Florida Grand Opera, and Second Flute with the Houston Symphony. Ebonee completed a fellowship with the prestigious New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas, where she performed the North American premiere of Christian Lindberg’s flute concerto The World of Montuagretta. She has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and other orchestras nationwide, most recently including the Dallas and Fort Worth symphonies. Ebonee has a passion for educating and teaches a full studio of private students.

Lecolion Washington

Lecolion Washington, Jr. is the Associate Professor of Bassoon in the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis. He is the bassoonist of the Memphis Woodwind Quintet, and he serves as the director of Bassoonapalooza and of the Shelby County Bassoon Band. Prior to joining the University of Memphis faculty, he was the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Artina McCain

Described as a pianist with “power and finesse” (Dallas Arts Society), Artina McCain, enjoys an active career as a solo and chamber performer, educator and lecturer. She has performed nationally and internationally throughout Europe, China, and the United States. McCain’s solo and chamber performances have been heard on radio shows in Chicago, Austin, Toronto, and Hong Kong.

Michelle Schumann

Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin American-Statesman). Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with the audience and her trademark includes bringing diverse music together under a blanket of narrative events.

Schumann is artist-in-residence and professor of piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory.

ComVoicesOnline.com: Aaron Dworkin Introduces New Music Discussion

Arts Engines With Aaron Dworkin

June 30, 2020

Social entrepreneur, author, artist, Sphinx Organization founder and Professor of Arts Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan, Aaron Dworkin has this week announced the launch of a new first of its kind video series entitled ‘Arts Engines’ – highlighting the perspectives of the thought leaders and game-changers who are creating significant impact in the field of the arts.

Produced in partnership with the Detroit Public Television, Ovation and The Violin Channel, the show focuses on the human stories, best practices and real-life experiences of extraordinary arts administrators who power human creativity each and every day.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE

BroadwayWorld.com: Boston Landmarks Orchestra streams Joplin's "Treemonisha Overture," Coleman's "Umoja" & Scott's "Startin' Sumthin'" 7/15 7 PM ET

 

Scott Joplin

Valerie Coleman
Miami.edu

Jeff Scott

Broadway World

Jun 29, 2020

Boston Landmarks Orchestra Announces Two Virtual Summer Concerts And Digital Events

Boston Landmarks Orchestra (LO) under the direction of Music Director Christopher Wilkins, and Co-Executive Directors Mary Deissler and Arthur Rishi, has announced the first events in a series of virtual programming this summer. Two free virtual concerts will be performed and streamed from Futura Productions in Roslindale on July 15 and 29, 2020 with small ensembles who will be socially distanced and wearing masks as their instruments allow. The organization will also continue the popular digital Interludes series with conversations and music, and a virtual Maestro Zone where people can learn conducting skills from Assistant Conductor Shuang Fan.

 

Links for the streaming concerts, Interludes series, and the virtual Maestro Zone may be found on the Landmarks Orchestra website: landmarksorchestra.org.

Programming this summer celebrates the authentic musical and community partnerships Landmarks Orchestra has built over its 19-year history. The virtual concerts celebrate partnerships with Boston musicians and organizations such as Castle of our Skins. In recent years, the orchestra has become a leader in promoting accessibility and inclusiveness. The Breaking Down Barriers initiative-serving people who are blind, deaf, hard of hearing, and those limited in mobility-has earned the UP Designation from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, making Landmarks Orchestra one of the first orchestras to receive this distinction. The two virtual concerts will later be released in versions signed by American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters.

***

July 15, 2020 7:00-8:00pm ET | Live Stream

SIMPLE GIFTS

Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Hosted by Emmett G. Price III, Landmarks Orchestra Board of Advisors Member

Scott Joplin Treemonisha Overture, arr. Richard Benjamin
Aaron Copland Quiet City
Valerie Coleman Umoja
Jeff Scott Startin' Sumthin'
Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring Suite (original version)

Two beloved works by composers from very different backgrounds-both unmistakably American-highlight the opening concert: Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring and Scott Joplin's Treemonisha. The Americanness of these pieces comes from their fusion of New World tunes with classical style, and the vigor of their rooted-in-the-soil dance rhythms. Recent creations by two Black artists now at the forefront of American musical life, Valerie Coleman and Jeff Scott, swing with euphoric energy in the tradition of American eclecticism.

***

July 29, 2020 7:00-8:00pm ET | Streaming Video

DANCES AND DELIGHTS

Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Hosted by journalist Janet Wu
In partnership with Castle of our Skins

Aldemaro Romero Fuga con Pajarillo
David Baker Roots II: Boogie Woogie
Florence Price 'Clementine' and 'Shortnin' Bread' from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint
Michael Abels Delights and Dances
Astor Piazzolla 'Spring' and 'Summer' from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires arr. Leonid Desyatnikov
Gabriela Díaz, violin

VIEW AACMSO'S VIRTUAL CONCERT on aacmsorchestra.org

VIEW AACMSO'S VIRTUAL CONCERT on aacmsorchestra.org

The New Yorker: Musicians and Composers Respond to a Chaotic Moment: The pandemic and the protests inspire works of lamentation and rage.

The clarinettist Anthony McGill, playing “America the Beautiful” in a minor key.

 Illustration by Paul Rogers

The New Yorker

Musical Events

 

July 6 & 13, 2020 Issue

 

by Alex Ross

 

June 29, 2020

On May 27th, two days after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, Anthony McGill, the principal clarinettist of the New York Philharmonic, posted a recording of himself playing “America the Beautiful.” It is a rendition with a difference. McGill begins by swelling slowly into an initial G, from silence. When he reaches the portion of the melody matching the words “America, America,” he changes a high E-natural to an E-flat, thereby wrenching the key from C major to C minor. He remains in the minor mode to the end. Then he goes down on both knees, his clarinet behind his back, as if shackled, and bends his head. The video, titled “TakeTwoKnees,” lasts about ninety seconds, but it has the weight of a symphonic statement.

McGill later recounted that he had been searching for some way to respond to Floyd’s killing. His wife, Abby, suggested “America the Beautiful,” and as he was trying out the song on his clarinet he played a wrong note and slipped into the minor, at which point he found his message. “We shouldn’t pretend like life and the world is always major because we want it to be,” he told NPR. “Sometimes life is minor. It goes off its true melody. It goes off of that simple, beautiful melody that we all expect it to be.” Jimi Hendrix’s dissonant fantasia on “The Star-Spangled Banner” set a precedent for this kind of politically charged musical commentary, but McGill’s gesture has an eerie stillness, almost like a meditation. It has inspired a torrent of responses from other musicians. Billy Hunter, the principal trumpeter of the Metropolitan Opera, has offered a rendition of the national anthem that goes silent at the words “free” and “brave.”

African-Americans are severely underrepresented in classical music, although you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the frequency with which people of color are now featured in promotional brochures. Online discussions in the wake of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests have made clear how uncomfortable the role of a black classical musician can be. One day, with the collaboration of the Los Angeles Opera, the mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges led a Zoom panel on racial inequality with a distinguished group of colleagues: Julia Bullock, Karen Slack, Lawrence Brownlee, Russell Thomas, and Morris Robinson. After the singers described their reactions to Floyd’s killing and their own fraught encounters with the police, they addressed subtler but pervasive tensions in the opera world. Robinson spoke of the “perpetual paranoia” that he felt as a six-foot-three, three-hundred-pound black man: “I walk around every opera rehearsal I’ve ever been to guarded, cognizant of the fact that my interaction needs to be very public, in front of everyone and very innocuous. . . . This practicing safe distance has always been a practice of mine.” He revealed that he has never been hired by a black administrator, has never shared the stage with a black director, and has never taken a cue from a black conductor.

The conversation became even more piercing when Bullock queried the very gesture of gathering black singers to deliberate age-old racial disparities. To her, it seemed a possible cover for inaction. “What are we even doing here?” she asked. “We’ve had that conversation.” Thomas—who, like the others, lost his principal work in March—declared that one issue on his mind was whether he was going to have enough food to feed his family. I watched the video twice, noting how my own nagging unease affirmed the truth of what was being said. Brownlee made the point with maximum directness: “Just like Alcoholics Anonymous, you have to state and realize that you have a problem.” Classical music, which is to say white classical music, has a problem.

The prevalent sensation of the world cracking in two—Willa Cather said this of the year 1922, and it might be said of 2020 as well—is palpable enough that I’ve been wondering how soon the rupture will leave traces in the work of composers. The lack of any immediate opportunity for performance has made it unlikely that composers will sit down to write the hour-long symphony they’ve been meaning to tackle, yet the coronavirus pandemic and its attendant isolation have already yielded some notable experimental scores. The turn toward protest may inspire a wave of work in a much different register. The strangeness of this moment lies in how it has pulled people both toward an extreme inwardness and toward an outward explosion of feeling. The radically expanded vocabulary of music since 1900 is equipped to span that divide.

ABCNews.go.com: Lawrence Brownlee is in limited company as a star Black tenor. He has some ideas why. "I've never been hired by a Black general director."

ABC News

By

Alexandra Svokos

June 28, 2020

(Houston Grand Opera) 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/lawrence-brownlee-limited-company-star-black-tenor-ideas/story?id=71410176

As one of the few classic operas to feature a non-white lead role, it's typical for "Otello" to come up in conversation about race in opera. 

Usually, the conversation surrounds the question of that titular role: Should companies only have tenors who are Black sing the role? And why is it taking companies so long to stop the use of blackface and darkening makeup when non-Black singers perform it?

But Lawrence Brownlee, one of this generation's greatest tenors, doesn't want to talk about the role of Otello, which doesn't fit his voice. He wants to talk about Roderigo.

"That role is something that I feel like was written for a voice like mine," he told ABC News. And while he's sung some of Roderigo's arias in concerts and recordings, he's never actually performed it.

"I was actually cast to sing [Roderigo] in Vienna, and I was called by the theater, saying, 'OK, I don't think this works, because you're a Black man. Otello in that opera needs to be Black, and Roderigo needs to be non-Black. You're obviously a dark-skinned Black man, so that doesn't work,'" Brownlee recalled.

The death of George Floyd while in police custody on Memorial Day forced the opera world -- where it's not abnormal in the U.S. and Europe to have companies that have only ever been led by white men, with seasons programmed only with works composed by white men, conducted by white men -- to have conversations about race. But it's a topic Brownlee has been actively and publicly discussing for years as one of the most celebrated singers in the world, who for some reason can't get the opportunity to sing the role that seems like it was written for him. 

In this Oct. 30, 2016, file photo, Lawrence Brownlee performed an aria from Donizetti's "Dom Sebastien" at Carnegie Hall in New York. Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images, FILE

A week before Floyd's killing, confined to his home amid coronavirus, Brownlee started a weekly Facebook live show, "The Sitdown with LB," in which he has a conversation with another Black singer about their career. 

He said he wanted "to really reach out specifically to young African American singers to give them advice to help them to be able to navigate perhaps some of the racism or discrimination that I and my colleagues other colleagues have faced."

After Floyd's death, as protests raged across the United States, Brownlee kept his show going, and while he's brought up the protests and police brutality in questions, he's kept the show largely focused on his guests' careers.

"I decided to make sure that the podcast and this Facebook live series would be continue to be about the same things," he said. "Even though we live in our everyday lives with the weight of all of this, I thought it would be better to really focus on the career and these people's lives and really trying to be helpful to these young singers." 

While he's doing the series for young Black singers, he's also finding the conversations "very comforting that, you know, I'm not crazy, in the fact that we all have dealt with [discrimination] and it is a very real presence in our business."

Recitals discussing race

But again, talking about race publicly, actively, is not a new activity for the 47-year-old Ohio native, who now lives with his family in Atlanta. In early 2016, he did a performance for NPR that he said at the time was directly inspired by "so many senseless deaths of young African American men," including Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, whose deaths sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. 

In fall 2016, he gained mainstream attention when he was asked to sing the national anthem for an NFL game and said in a statement that he supported the kneeling protests of Colin Kaepernick.

And in 2018, Brownlee premiered "Cycles of My Being," a song cycle about being a Black man in America composed by pianist-percussionist Tyshawn Sorey, with lyrics by poet Terrance Hayes.

Discussing what the cycle means with ABC News, he said, "I speak parts of four different languages. I have advanced degrees. I've met kings and queens and presidents, and I've seen 47 countries in my life. But all of that could be reduced to nothing upon sight. Someone can see me and assume that I've done something wrong or I'm up to something." 

He performed the cycle at that stage of his career because, as an established star, he had a platform that would make people listen, he thought. 

"I felt that I built up a certain cachet -- I can talk about things that I really want to talk about," he said.

He acknowledged, though, that "it may have limited my options if I had done it earlier in my career" as "the people that usually do the hiring and the inviting for these festivals and song series and stuff like that are by large part all white," and it could have turned some off from him.

Onstage

In this April 9, 2010, file photo, cast member Renee Fleming playing the part of Armida, sings with Lawrence Brownlee, playing the part of Rinaldo, during a dress rehearsal of the opera "Armida" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.Lucas Jackson/Reuters, FILE

As a Black tenor who specializes in bel canto -- literally "beautiful singing," a style of opera popular with 19th century Italians -- Brownlee has made a career performing roles "written for someone who didn't look like me." In "La fille du regiment," he shines as a Tyrolean man in love with the titular daughter. In "L'elisir d'amore," he's a hapless Basque peasant harboring a big crush. In "I puritani," he's a romantic English Royalist.

"Most operas, 98%, even if they were conceived with the idea of it being Caucasian white European people in them, the stories don't have anything to do about the race," he told ABC News. "And so if a person is equipped and has the talent and ability to sing these roles, I think it's the thing that should give them the job, and I always think that my voice is what opens the doors for me."

But while his voice has opened many doors, he's aware on the one hand that many -- like performing Roderigo or, say, at Salzburg -- are still closed, and on the other that he's among a limited number of Black men who have had the door opened to rise as opera stars.

PianistMagazine.com: Pianist Michael Lu gave a moving performance of Florence Price's Andante from Piano Sonata in E minor on 19 June

Florence B. Price (1887-1953)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=ZM6sstphUgM&feature=emb_logo 

Pianist

By Ellie Palmer

29 June 2020

Pianist Michael Lu gave a moving performance of Florence Price's Andante from Piano Sonata in E minor on 19 June, as part of a home recital for the 5pm Series. This performance of Price was the first piece of his performance, and was dedicated to victims of black oppression.

Lu says, "I feel that the music of Florence Price and many other great African-American composers – among them George Walker, William Grant Still and Ulysses Kay – are sadly neglected… In reality, the music of these composers constitutes among some of the most beautiful and important achievements of human history."

AMA: Pianist Rebeca Omordia's streamed recital (with composer's personal notes)

 

Rebeca Omordia

Ekele: Piano Music by African Composers

Rebeca Omordia, piano

Heritage Records

AMA

Pianist Rebeca Omordia's recital today (Monday June 29) 1800Hrs GMT (noon, US Central Time) will be exciting but should be of significant  educational value for audiences or students/scholars who wish deeper insight into the piano studies. If able, you may tune in with friends to watch at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2521366328174354

Streaming today, Monday June 29, at 1800Hrs GMT (USA 12noon, Central Time). Tune in with friends to watch at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2521366328174354  

Event highly recommended by:
Intercultural Music Initiative

Music Celebrating Cultural Diversity  

 

NAACP: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passes the US House

On June 25, 2020, the U.S. House of Representative strongly supported H.R. 7120, the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act." This comprehensive bill passed by a margin of 236 yeas to 181 nays and has been sent to the US Senate for consideration.

Among other things, the legislation holds all law enforcement officials accountable for their actions, ends "qualified immunity" for police officers, ends racial and religious profiling, empowers our communities, establishes uniform policies for the use of force, mandates data collection on police encounters, bans chokeholds and "no knock" warrants, limits military equipment on American streets, requires body-worn cameras and classifies lynching as a hate crime, therefore making it open to Federal resources for investigations and prosecutions.

We must urge the Senate to act now!  Please read our Action Update / Action Alert to see how every Member voted and take Fast Action!

Hilary O. Shelton
Director, NAACP Washington Bureau & SVP Advocacy & Policy
NAACP Washington Bureau

ASALH-TV Webinar II: Black Lives Matter, From Enslavement to Engagement July 1, 2020 6 PM-730 PM ET

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e3DFymWjRyWTopoLxSJwFw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Description:

An unknown speaker once provided the following commentary about the policing of Black bodies in America: "If your Black skin is seen as a weapon, you are always believed to be armed, thus a threat to the lives of others." Never could a statement be more pronounced than at this very moment in time. This is not to imply that the bodies of Black people are experiencing a new phenomenon, but that the implicit blows dealt by a widening window of social media have exacerbated the tense feelings of those who view it—and for some, it triggers the wounds of past discrimination and even past physical encounters. 

As the editors of this issue of the Black History Bulletin, we feel that America's Black children are experiencing the repercussions of a system that was not designed for their survival—neither in academics nor in life. Without active engagement, their hopes and dreams remain largely constrained by the expectations of an "American Dream" that was never meant for their success. 

In this conversation, we seek to pose and answer three key questions: First, with over three hundred years of enslavement and state-sanctioned segregation, how do we move away from the inequities of the past? Second, when African American history is often only discussed in schools within the context of slavery and only during Black History Month, how is the historical narrative of the vibrant culture, art. and significant contributions of African Americans to this country reaching children who so desperately need to bear it? And lastly, What is to become of Whites who are never taught to see the humanity of those who are of color and whose lives matter as much as theirs do?

A celebration of activists and activism, this discussion promotes a shared vision of community engagement in the work of those who, in the words of Barack Obama. "continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal. more free, more caring, and more prosperous America." Black Lives Matter. 

Donate

HBCU Alumni Alliance To Host July 4th Virtual “Fire Up the Vote”

As alumni of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) we stand on the shoulders of fellow HBCU graduates such as John Lewis, Thurgood Marshall, Oprah Winfrey, Medgar Evers, Toni Morrison and Jessie Jackson to name a few.  In many ways, these prominent HBCU graduates took charge in educating and rallying the Black community to be politically active. To continue on that positive path, the HBCU Alumni Alliance asks you to show up and show out in your future local, state, and national elections.  
 
In partnership with the League of Women Voters (LWV), the HBCU Alumni Alliance will be hosting a Virtual Cookout on voting awareness to rally the people to get out and vote! There will be live music by DJs from Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, DC getting you in the mood to "FIRE UP THE VOTE!" We hope you tune in while you and your family are enjoying the 4th of July festivities. 
 
Join us on FB Live (https://www.facebook.com/atlhbcualumni) on Saturday, July 4th at 3PM EST/2PM CST.

Don’t forget to wear your best ‘nelia, invite your family, friends and allies, post your celebration pictures and make your pledge to vote!
 

#HBCUVotesMatter
https://www.facebook.com/atlhbcualumni/
ATL Alliance
DC Alliance
Chicago Alliance
League of Women Voters
Vote411

The Millbrook Independent: Stissing Center concert of "chamber works by William Grant Still" "was a thrilling opportunity to hear something new"

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

The Millbrook Independent

Magic Emanating from Stissing Center

Millbrook, New York

Kevin McEneaney


June 28, 2020


The Stissing Center—like many other music and theatre venues—has opened its doors via the Internet. The Saturday evening concert at 4:30 pm featured soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon with pianist Ryan MacEnvoy McCoullogh in a program of Clara Schumann, William Grant Still, and Adela Maddison. This husband-wife duo from Kingston, NY, recently released the album Descent/Return on the Albany Records label which features works by American composers John Harbison and James Primosch.

***
 
The middle section was all Ryan performing chamber works by William Grant Still (1895-1978), the first important African American composers and a friend of George Gershwin. I’m an avid fan of Still’s first symphony, yet have never heard his chamber music, so this was a thrilling opportunity to hear something new. Ryan began with “Cloud Cradles,” the first movement from Seven Traceries (1940), which explored the upper register as if it were a modern Nocturne, yet it delivered a decided American accent. The movement “Out of Silence” also began in the upper register yet moved to the melodic middle with poignant poetic reverie wherein the silence of the piano lingered as if producing a further note, an effect that appeared magical.

Moving to the earlier Three Visions (1936), a tripartite spiritual view was dramatized as in the traditional Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. “Dark Horsemen” offered a frightening Gothic gallop through dangerous woods, concluding with a thundering period demarcating death. “Summerland” evoked the landscape of patient hard work on a farm. “Radiant Pinnacle” described ascent with chord blocks of rising wave-sound where one reposes on a Petrarchan mountain top. Ryan delivered a river of meadow-like lyricism.

AACMSO: "INTERSECTION OF THE SYMPHONY AND CIVIL RIGHTS": VIRTUAL CONCERT MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020 7:00 pm

Dr. Joyce Solomon Moorman

AFRO-AMERICAN CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY ORCHESTRA 

                                   Presents

"INTERSECTION OF THE SYMPHONY AND CIVIL RIGHTS"

WORLD PREMIERE OF RACE RIOT & SUMMER PIANO CONCERTO,

Janise White, pianist

             LIVE WITH DR. JOYCE SOLOMON MOORMAN, composer

                          MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020 at 7:00 pm                               

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2615089915?pwd=eng5U0xNRk1ROGdOdUNkczBQQjJjdz09

Meeting ID: 261 508 9915
Password: 6LA5tv

Host of "Speaking of the Arts" Diana Moxon interviews St. Louis composer Fred Onovwerosuoke on KOPN radio

Fred Onovwerosuoke

Intercultural Music Initiative

Host of "Speaking of the Arts" Diana Moxon interviews St. Louis composer FredO on KOPN radio, Friday June 12, 10AM.   Diana Moxon talks "Triptych Cantata" on KOPN Radio/STL concert via London UK.

https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/show/speaking-of-the-arts-open-access-listener-supported-volunteer-run-free-speech-radio

🇺🇸 Above: IMI Chamber Players performing during Covid-19 Lockdown

 

IMI Chamber Players led by flutist Wendy Hymes have recorded a live performance all the way from St Louis USA, of music for woodwind, and live streamed on The African Concert Series London's Facebook page on Friday, 26 June at 6pm GMT! If you missed the live stream the video is available at the link below.
https://fb.com/africanconcertseries/videos/587819725443446/ 

 

Below: IMI Chamber Players social distancing before the performance

OperaWire.com: Composer Profile: George Walker, A Historic Pulitzer-Prize Winner

OperaWire

June 27, 2020

By David Salazar

George Walker was one of the great Black composers of all time.

Born on June 27, 1922, in Washington D.C., his mother Rosa King supervised his first piano lessons when he was but five years of age. By the time he was 14-years-old and a student of Howard University, Walker hosted his first recital. He was then admitted into the Oberlin Conservatory and graduated in 1939 at 18 with the highest honors

 

Walker went to the Curtis Institute where he studied with some of the most renowned artists of all time, including Rudolf Serkin, William Primrose, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Rosario Scalero. He was one of the first Black graduates from the Institute.

Walker made his recital debut in New York at the Town Hall, becoming the first Black instrumentalist to do so. He would follow that with a performance of a Rachmaninoff piano concerto alongside Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra; he was the first Black instrumentalist to appear alongside the famed ensemble.

In 1950, he became the first Black instrumentalist to be signed by a major management company when he joined National Concert Artists.

He would enjoy a prominent performing, composer, and teacher career in the ensuing decades appearing all around the world.

 

***

In 1996, Walker became the first Black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his “Lilacs” for voice and orchestra.