Thursday, November 5, Xian Zhang conducts the world premiere of the orchestral version of violist-composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Primal Message. See https://www.dso.org/watch-listen-and-connect/newsroom-2/this-month-on-dso-digital-concerts-classical-and-pnc-pops-performances
The opera Margaret Garner was originally performed in 2005 at Cincinnati Music Hall with music by Richard Danielpour, libretto by Toni Morrison and Mezzo Soprano Denyce Graves singing the title role. See announcement of encore radio broadcast Sunday, November 15, 2020 Classical 90.9 WGUC https://www.cincinnatiopera.org/calendar/wguc-encore-margaret-garner Denyce Graves has performed in the world’s great opera houses…
DetailsOctober 30, 2020 – Austin Opera announces a casting update for its spring 2021 production of Puccini’s Tosca. Celebrated American soprano Latonia Moore joins the cast in the title role. A native of Houston, Moore makes her Austin Opera debut as the fiery diva caught in the crossfire of love. She has recently sung Tosca…
DetailsGuest Artists Masterclass (Margaret Bonds & Florence Price) by Dr. Michael Cooper.
DetailsColburn School and Sphinx Organization Form Partnership to Engage, Develop, and Empower Young Artists of Color on the West Coast. Beginning in 2021, Colburn will provide full scholarships in its Academy program to pre-collegiate musicians who are winners and semi-finalists in the Junior Division of the Sphinx Competition; present the Sphinx Virtuosi in a…
DetailsLA Phil SOUND/STAGE (laphil.com/soundstage) Episode 6 – premieres Friday Oct 30, 2020 Kamasi Washington performs an excerpt from his original score to BECOMING: An intimate portrait of Michelle Obama – a new documentary based on the former First Lady’s bestselling memoir. See excerpt: https://www.laphil.com/about/watch-and-listen/soundstage-kamasi-washingtons-becoming
DetailsPREMIERE performance of a 1941 song by Florence Price on a text by Langston Hughes: the Monologue for the Working Class. Dr. Michael Cooper is responsible for this Florence Price revision and numerous other Florence Price and Margaret Bonds new discoveries and revisions.
DetailsLawrence Brownlee is busy preparing for the November 13 release of this new album, “Amici e Rivali”, where his soaring tenor, alongside Michael Spyres’, will pay homage to Rossini’s male arias and duets that are featured in seven of the composer’s 1800s operas. But in a year that also sparked conversations around racial justice—in America,…
DetailsCBS has hired Will Packer Media executive Sheila Ducksworth to head up its development efforts under a deal with the NAACP. Ducksworth will serve as president of the CBS/NAACP production partnership, supervising development of scripted, unscripted and documentary content across all platforms and designed to tell inclusive stories that give Black artists more visibility. Read…
DetailsSidiki Dembélé is a master of the n’goni and calabash (traditional African instruments). This song was written in dedication to his grandfather, who was the chief griot for the Ivory Coast. Sidiki is joined by the Manchester Collective string quartet. Voice and Percussion – Sidiki Dembélé Cello – Abel Selaocoe Violin – Rakhi Singh…
DetailsSouth African cellist Abel Selaocoe is redefining the parameters of the cello (between Western and non-Western musical traditions with a view of helping classical music reach a more diverse audience).
DetailsIn September, American Ballet Theatre announced the promotion of Calvin Royal III, making him the company’s first Black male Principal Dancer in over two decades. Royal joins Misty Copeland in the roster of American Ballet Theatre’s principal dancers. Royal joined the main Company as an apprentice in October 2010 and the corps de ballet in…
DetailsMusicUNTOLD is a national leader in producing JUNETEENTH concert celebrations featuring headliners in multiple genres including jazz, symphony, opera, African, gospel, and popular music.
DetailsLara Downes and NPR music announce AMPLIFY with Lara Downes, a new video conversation series with leading black musicians. Series premieres Saturday, October 17 on NPR Music.org and NPR’s YouTube and social media platforms. Click here to read the press release PDF. OCTOBER 16, 2020 – NPR Music and Lara Downes announce the launch…
DetailsMaster cellist Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun performed three movements (approximately 19 minutes) of Adolphus Hailstork Sonata for Solo Cello during a noon concert October 14, 2020 at The First United Methodist Church, Grand Junction, Colorado.
The concert halls and classrooms alike give the undeniable impression that while Blacks are vitally important and great in repertoires outside the concert halls (such as blues, jazz, and spirituals), the concert halls themselves are, and have always been, the domains of Whites—most of them men, most of them European. This impression is only corroborated…
DetailsPart 3 of 3 History of classical music by composers of African descent. In the final part of this series Eleanor Alberga touches on the impact of colonialism and immigration on classical music and considers the history of black composers in the UK. This program begins with music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was born in…
DetailsThe Metropolitan Opera open its 2021-22 season with Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” — the first work by a Black composer ever presented by the Met. Featuring a libretto by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, the opera tells a poignant and profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma…
DetailsComposer Michael Abels shared a track he produced for singer/composer Rhiannon Giddens forthcoming opera about a Muslim African enslaved and brought to Charleston in 1807.
Please see blog – Violinist Booker Rowe retires after 50 years https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2020/09/sergio-mims-6abccom-trailblazing.html
Part 1 of 3 series highlighting composers of African descent https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j2bs. See pic Janise White, Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra
Part 2 of 3 series highlighting composers of African descent https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j96f In this second program of the series, British composer Eleanor Alberga charts the contribution that black composers have made to the story of western classical music, the focus is America, and how “Black pride and identity” have helped to shape American classical music from…
DetailsLos Angeles Philharmonic Soundstage Episode 1- LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID Gustavo Dudamel, conductor María Valverde, narrator J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano LIEBERSON Neruda Songs: “Amor mío, si muero y tú no mueras” WALKER Lyric for Strings MAHLER Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 Read more at soundstage.laphil.com
DetailsThe Los Angeles Philharmonic’s SOUND/STAGE media project, an online compendium of concert films, debuts Friday, September 25, at 10am with “Love in the Time of COVID.” Friday, September 25, 2020, at 10am. Series Available at laphil.com/soundstage This first episode will be narrated in Spanish by actress María Valverde, wife of LA Phil Music & Artistic…
DetailsDEEP RIVER-The ART of the SPIRITUAL – academic discussion of Negro spirituals as art songs including comments and vocal performances by baritone Kevin Deas. Bass Baritone Kevin Deas volunteered performances of two opera arias during MusicUNTOLD Nov. 21, 2015 concert at Constitution Hall (Washington DC) celebrating the ‘150th Anniversary 13th Amendment to US Constitution…
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