The recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a person of African descent who was shot to death, while jogging in Georgia bring to mind composer Joel Thompson ‘SEVEN LAST WORDS of the UNARMED’, a multi-movement work honoring the lives of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Kenneth Chamberlain, Amadou Diallo, and John Crawford.…
Each day, the KUSC Classical Radio “Play On, California!” blog is updated to reflect new digital content being produced up and down the state, small and large https://www.kusc.org/culture/staff-blog/play-on-california/ I have followed the amateur and professional career of soprano Julia Bullock with amazement. Julia Bullock recently posted a home performance of ONE BY ONE with…
Diversity in classical music must overcome the history of WHITE Supremacy embedded in the United States as a matter of foundational law. See Birth of A White Nation book by Dr. Jacqueline Battalora http://sbpra.com/jacquelinebattalora/ and lecture:
POLITICS of MUSIC Violinist Annelle Kazumi Gregory and other qualified violinist/violist remain steadfast to break the glass ceiling with top tier American orchestras. See Annelle Kazumi Gregory bio http://annelleviolin.com/about.html Please see Annelle Kazumi Gregory performance with collaborative pianist Richard Thompson, at age 17, during Sep. 22, 2012 Emancipation Proclamation concert in Los Angeles Also…
Nikole Hannah-Jones wins Pulitzer Prize (Journalism-Commentary) for 1619 Project. Please see https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/nikole-hannah-jones-wins-pulitzer-prize-1619-project and interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones:
Politics of Music Composer Anthony Davis wins Pulitzer Prize for contemporary Central Park Five Opera. Long Beach Opera premiered Central Park Five. See https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2020-05-04/anthony-davis-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-the-central-park-five-the-uc-san-diego-professors-fiery-opera and https://www.npr.org/2020/05/04/850166148/anthony-davis-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-his-opera-the-central-park-five
POLITICS of MUSIC The top American orchestras historically and currently do not program violin concertos by composers of African decent or program violinist or violist of African descent to perform music of any composer. One notable exception was the Philadelphia Orchestra performance of George Walker’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra featuring Gregory Walker, son of…
Pulitzer prize composer George Walker’s last major work, Sinfonia No. 5 “Visions”, was inspired by the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Todate the work has been ignored by ever major American Orchestra before and after the 2019 Seattle Symphony premiere. Please see https://seattlesymphony.org/watch-listen/beyondthestage/george-walker and https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/arts/music/george-walker-sinfonia-visions-seattle-symphony.html Sinfonia No.…
Soprano Leontyne Price share reflections in New York Times article 12-22-17. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/arts/music/leontyne-price-met-opera.html.
Austrian born Sir Rudolf Bing (opera impresario) served as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1950-1972. He guided the Met’s move to a new home in Lincoln Center. Other significant achievements of Bing’s tenure included the opening of the Met’s artistic roster to singers of color such as Reri Grist, Grace Bumbry, Shirley…