Chicago Sinfonietta is proud to present its 31st season, "Variations on a Dream"

PREVEW OUR 2018-19 SEAS

Chicago Sinfonietta is proud to present its 31st season, "Variations on a Dream"—a multicultural exploration of life through symphonic music. Join us for a true glimpse into diversity, unity, and community. 

Explore the Season

I.D.: IMAGES OF DIVERSITY

September 22 + 24, 2018
Featuring Steep Theatre Company

A symphonic look at the immigrant experiences that have shaped us, plus the second-half theatrical spectacular Ellis Island: The Dream of America with score by Peter Boyer.  LEARN MORE>

SEA OF LIGHT: REFLECTIONS ON DIWALI

November 10 + 12, 2018
Featuring Composer Reena Esmail and Sitarist Guarav Mazumdar

Tap in to the festival of Diwali through a riveting fusion of Indian classical music alongside Debussy’s seminal, impressionistic masterpiece La Mer.
LEARN MORE> 

MLK TRIBUTE CONCERT
January 20 + 21, 2019
Featuring Project Inclusion Alumni

A special twist on our signature concert — a performance by PI alumni conductors Kellen Gray and Kedrick Armstrong, and violinist Kyle Dickson. Plus, a very special MLK spoken word performance! LEARN MORE>

IN DARKNESS WE RISE
March 23 + 25, 2019
Featuring Soprano Twyla Robinson and Violinist Paul Zafer

Let us move you with this emotional concert of love, loss and hope, plus an immersive performance of Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs you won't want to miss!
LEARN MORE> 

SOUNDSKETCH:
PORTRAITS IN RHYTHM, BLUES & BEYOND
May 11 + 13, 2019
Featuring Violinist Regina Carter

A season-finale Sinfonietta spin on the "musical tribute," including a love letter to Billie, Aretha, Ella, and Sarah, plus Elgar's autobiographical Enigma Variations. LEARN MORE>

AaronAsk: Weekly mentoring for a creative life: Present Like a Pro-What's Your Point?

http://www.aaronask.com/present-like-a-pro-whats-your-point/

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, Present Like a Pro-What's Your Point?  Enjoy, we wish you a creative day and see you for next week's session! Comment by email: Thnx so much Bill and hope all is well!  Aaron  [Aaron P. Dworkin]

BLO.org: Castle of Our Skins: Crossing the Line to Freedom, 6 PM June 7, Boston

Crossing the Line to Freedom: A Musical Narrative
Thursday, June 7 | 6PM 

Third in a series of three performances

Boston Public Library West End Branch

Free and open to the public

BLO and Castle of our Skins join forces to showcase the lives and stories of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., and Paul Robeson through the music of opera. Paired with spoken word, art song, spirituals and history, their lives — and those of other legendary liberators — take center stage.

Featuring the music of composers such as Nkeiru Okoye, Adolphus Hailstork, Dorothy Rudd Moore, and Undine Smith Moore.

2nd Annual HBCU Alumni Soiree in DC Friday, September 14, 2018, 7-11 PM

It's here!

Ticket sales are now open for the 2nd Annual HBCU Alumni Soiree Presented by Xfinity.  You don't want to miss this.

Entertainment for the evening is "The World's Greatest Entertainer" Doug E. Fresh!  As you dance the night away, enjoy a complimentary open bar and heavy Hors d'oeuvres.

If you missed our inaugural event last year, take a look a the video and the photos.  You won't want to miss it this year.

See you in September!

Jessie Montgomery & Eleonore Oppenheim at Howl Gallery, NYC, June 7 at 7 PM

Jessie Montgomery and Eleonore Oppenheim

Jessie Montgomery writes:

Big dog little dog, last minute show!

Thursday, June 7, 7:00pm
Location: Howl Gallery, 6 East 1st Street
**FREE ADMISSION**

big dog little dog is my duo project with bassist/songwriter/genius extraordinaire Eleonore Oppenheim. We literally JUST finished recording our first album over the weekend and want to preview a live version for you! Also, Howl Gallery is a totally hip East Village artist haven, so you should probably get in on that too :) Come play with us!

About big dog little dog:

 

Big Dog Little Dog is the duo project of violinist/composer Jessie Montgomery and bassist/songwriter Eleonore Oppenheim. BDLD explores the outer and inner edges of the timbral universe of the violin and bass (and sometimes voice), drawing on the musicians’ backgrounds as native New Yorkers versed in western classical, jazz, rock, and other genres to create cinematic musical landscapes through improvisation and mind melding. Post-, Pre-, and Meta- are appropriately vague labels for the end result, which has a hypnotically kaleidoscopic and infectiously nostalgic quality.

As always, thank you for your support and I hope to see you very soon!

- Jessie (and Eleonore!) 

Babatunde Sosan will perform Godwin Sadoh's Five African Dances for Organ June 10

Godwin Sadoh

Babatunde Sosan

Five African Dances for Solo Organ

Godwin Sadoh

(Image Copyright Martin Doering)

Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos, Nigeria

Godwin Sadoh writes:

Dear Bill,     

Dr. Babatunde Sosan will perform Godwin Sadoh's Five African Dances for Organ Solo as the opening piece at a Special Concert, Tagged, "Celebration of Nigerian Composers," at the renowned Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, on June 10, 2018.  Babatunde played the World Premiere of this work on October 6, 2016, in the same church.  Babatunde is the current Organist and Master of the Music at the Cathedral Church.

Godwin.

Eric Conway: Final Day of Morgan State University Choir Central European Tour

Dr. Eric Conway writes:

Final Day of Morgan Choir Central European Tour

Today, we anxiously awoke knowing that later on today, albeit eighteen hours later, we would be back home in America!  After the rainfall last night, the evening temperature dropped at least ten degrees, and with the windows opened, it was quite comfortable to sleep. We were scheduled to load the bus at 5:30 AM to leave by 5:40.  Breakfast sandwiches were prepared for the group, knowing that we were leaving before breakfast was served.  

We arrived quite quickly to the airport.  We originally flew Air France to Vienna, however we flew the Dutch airline KLM on the return flight.  We were scheduled to have a layover in Amsterdam in The Netherlands, which was exciting for some to at least touch another country, and receive another country stamp in their passport! 

We did have a little excitement this morning! Although everyone was repeatedly reminded this morning to view their passport before we left the hotel, one underclassman who believed it was in his pouch, could not find it while in line at the airport.

Fortunately, we arrived at the gate three hours prior to departure.  We had time to call the hotel, locate the passport in his room, place it in a taxi to bring to the airport.  Consider this a lesson to us all - you can never check view your passport too many times!  All was resolved within an hour with the passport delivered to the airport! Thank God for our very capable guide Lela who assisted in retrieving his passport.

Due to heavy fog this morning in Amsterdam, the flight was delayed an hour.  Consequently, our final leg to the United States was similarly delayed as well. After the seven hour and thirteen minute flight, we arrived back in the United States at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC by 3:50 PM. 

 After the requisite custom declaration process, we were on a bus back to Baltimore. The bus arrived just as we were leaving the terminal.   The bus ride back from D.C. is always a tad anxious because everyone cannot wait to get back to their families and homes.  

After a ride with worse-than-normal Baltimore-Washington rush hour traffic, taking us over two hours to return back to campus, we were back on campus at Morgan by 7:15 PM, after twenty hours of travel.

With a thirty-hour day, recapturing the six hours lost upon arriving in Europe eleven days ago, we were finally safely back home.  We had an extraordinary trip!  We knew before the tour began that this was going to be a great tour - if for no other reason than the bus company that took us around Europe was called Schwarz - which means Black in German!

If any student didn’t know how great this trip was before we left Baltimore, they immediately realized the impact of this tour when Music majors actually saw the gravesites of Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, and others.  These famous composers are not just names in music history books anymore!

Our hope at Morgan is that these choir tours are transformative for our students. As wonderful as it is to share our music with the world, our trips to foreign countries must forever change their lives!  They must not return the same person that they were before the tour.  In Morgan’s President’s own words, our students must “grow the future, and lead the world!"

EC

NOBLE Joins the Nation in Supporting Gun Violence Awareness Day June 2, 2018

[Alexandria, VA] Gun violence is the leading cause of premature death in America. The issue of gun violence has a complicated history that is deeply rooted in our culture, but we must take this issue seriously and treat it as the public health and public safety crisis that it has become. June 2, 2018 marks the annual observance of National Gun Violence Awareness Day, also known as "Wear Orange Day." The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) proudly supports National Gun Violence Awareness Day, not only as a day of advocacy but also one of remembrance for the lives lost due to senseless acts of gun violence.

This weekend thousands from across the country will gather in support of common sense gun violence solutions and rallying efforts showcasing the toll gun violence has taken on the lives of children, families and communities.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that on an average day, 96 Americans are killed with guns. Seven children and teens (age 19 or under) are killed with guns in the U.S. on an average day. It's time to face the reality of gun violence in America. This cannot be our new normal. NOBLE encourages everyone to participate in Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Wear Orange Weekend 2018 is June 1 - June 3, 2018. If you would like to find a gun violence awareness event in your community, please click here.

###

About the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives 

Since 1976, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) has served as the conscience of law enforcement by being committed to justice by action. NOBLE represents over 3,000 members internationally, who are primarily African-American chief executive officers of law enforcement agencies at federal, state, county and municipal levels, other law enforcement administrators, and criminal justice practitioners. For more information, visit http://www.noblenational.org.

Sergio Mims: Wayne Marshall Conducts Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini June 4

Wayne Marshall 

Sergio A. Mims writes:

Conductor and organist Wayne Marshall will conduct the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini in a program of Ravel, Bernstein and Gershwin at the Ravenna Festival in Italy Monday, June 4.

http://www.ravennafestival.org/events/wayne-marshall/

Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini

Wayne Marshall

Maurice Ravel

Alborada del gracioso
Le tombeau de Couperin
La valse

Leonard Bernstein

Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town”

George Gershwin

An American in Paris

Sergio

Eric Conway: Morgan Choir Visits Dachau & BMW Museum, Has Farewell Dinner

Dr. Eric Conway writes:

Day 10 - Dachau, BMW Museum, and Farewell Dinner

Due to the German national holiday - Corpus Christi - as well as being the day before our departure, we used our final full day to further explore Munich.  Although the main purpose of these tours is to spread the great word about Morgan State University in song, as you can tell from the tour sites visited, we are always trying to give our students opportunities to learn about their world.  What better way to learn about history than to visit historical sites to become virtually engaged in the history as much as you can centuries later.

Today we visited the Dachau concentration camp - very first concentration camp in Germany.  As we entered the property, we saw the deceiving words: "Arbeit Macht Frei" - "Work will make you free.”  Although I do not want to go in too much detail about the atrocities of the Holocaust in this report, however, I do want to say that it was good for our students to see up close and personal man’s inhumanity to man.  We sang a concert at Chizuk Amuno congregation in April on Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Our visit to Dachau was a great follow-up to that concert.  I toiled over whether we should visit a place such as this on the last day of our tour, but in the end we must never forget, and learn from humanity's mistakes.  See short video clip captured of the exhibit if you choose to view, (it does show some graphic imagery), and a link to the audio of a twenty minute presentation about Dachau if you want to hear a formal lecture on Dachaugg.

From Dachau, we went back to city center of Munich for lunch on our own.  Due to the holiday, many shops were closed.  There were far fewer persons on the streets.  Those who were walking around downtown Munich were in holiday mode!

BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works.  We happened to be in Bavaria.  We took the time to visit the BMW museum.  Even if you were not a driving enthusiast, you could not happen to appreciate the beautiful BMW cars of earlier times.  The colors of the cars were brilliantly displayed with colors that one could not help but to at least take a closer look!  The BMW museum - called BMW Welt (World) - was across from the Munich Olympic stadium where the infamous 1972 Munich Summer Olympics games were held.

After the museum, we returned to the hotel to begin packing and prepare for our early departure.  At 7 PM, we had a farewell dinner, a short visit from the hotel.   Unfortunately, it rained heavily on the walk to the restaurant. We fondly reflected on the ten-day tour of this Central European area.

We were blessed to have an excellent tour guide, Lela Delic, from Croatia.  She was a last-minute replacement due to an urgent matter that our original guide had to resolve.  It turned out that Lela was perhaps the best guide that we have ever had during the years of our touring.  She was stern when she needed to be with the group regarding being on time.  She also was quite knowledgeable about the region.  She also had a very unique perceptive, being a former journalist with the BBC.

We immediately went in anticipation of our 5:30 departure in the morning!

Link to audio of Dachau presentation:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ejvywew5qcc13xe/Dachau%20Info%20Movie4%20copy.m4a?dl=0

Dachua short video:

https://youtu.be/CVx-2_cqEos

Musicians in Munich performing on the main square:

https://youtu.be/BqMvEQ8A4AU

Video from BMW museum:

https://youtu.be/m1IEc3gHS5A