The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: How can classical music be made less white? Nine Black artists suggest changes. Which ones will work best?
3 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
With all the attention given to and urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement — and other demonstrations and protests against personal and systemic racism as well as white privilege — it comes as no surprise that questions are being raised about the overwhelmingly white world of classical music and how to change it.
Most of the local classical music groups The Ear knows of have posted statements of solidarity.
If he recalls correctly, they include the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO), the Middleton Community Orchestra, the Willy Street Chamber Players and many others.
But beyond declarations of solidarity with people of color, the music groups face deeper issues that require action, not just words, and remain more difficult to solve: How to attract more Black classical musicians? How to foster more Black composers? And how to attract more Black audiences?
Diversity and equity are long-term issues, and quite a number of possible solutions loom.
Would performing more pieces, both historical and contemporary, by Black composers (below) work?
Would hiring more Black resident musicians help?
Would booking more Black guest artists and soloists help? (Below is the young and upcoming British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.)
Would changing the music curriculum in schools help? (Some important Black composers are explored in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Would generating more support to and from the Black community help?
Last week The New York Times did a fine piece of work in addressing these issues.
The reporter and music editor asked nine different accomplished Black conductors, instrumentalists, singers, critics and administrators in classical music about how to solve the inequity. The interviews were condensed and edited into very readable statements.
Here is a link to that story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/arts/music/black-classical-music-opera.html
Please read it.
Then let us know which suggestions you think should be attempted first and which solutions are most likely to work.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #BlackComposer, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackMozart, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChevalierdeSaint-Georges, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ContemporaryComposers, #CulturalDiversity, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FlorencePrice, #GreatBritain, #GuestArtist, #HistoricalFigure, #JacobStockinger, #Kanneh-Mason, #LivingComposers, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicCritic, #MusicEducation, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkTimes, #PeopleofColor, #residentmusicians, #ScottJoplin, #ShekuKanneh-Mason, #SocialChange, #SystemicRacism, #TheEar, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheUK, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WhitePrivilege, #WilliamGrantStill, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WyntonMarsalis, #YoungArtist, #YouTubevideo, action, address, administrator, Arts, attention, attract, audience, black, Black Lives Matter, Black Mozart, blog, Book, Britain, British, brown, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, change, Chevalier de Saint Georges, choral music, Classical music, classical musician, classicalmusic, community, composer, concerto, conductor, contemporary, critic, deeper, demonstration, different, difficult, diversity, edit, editor, ensemble, equity, explore, Facebook, Florence Price, forward, foster, generate, group, guest artist, historical, important, inequity, instrumentalist, interview, issue, Jacob Stockinger, link, living composers, local, long-term, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton Community Orchestra, movement, Mozart, Music, Music education, New York City, New York Times, opera, Orchestra, overwhelming, people of color, performer, personal, philosophy, Piano, piece, post, posting, privilege, protest, question, racism, raise, readable, resident, resident musicians, Scott Joplin, share, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, singer, social change, solidarity, soloist, solve, statement, story, strings, suggestions, support, surprise, symphony, systemic, systemic racism, tag, The Ear, The New York Times, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, upcoming, urgency, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, violinist, vocal music, white, white privilege, William Grant Still, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, world, Wynton Marsalis, young, young artist, YouTube
Classical music: Award-winning prodigy pianist Maxim Lando performs a recital at Farley’s on Sunday afternoon and gives a free public master class on Saturday afternoon
4 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
ALERT: At noon this Saturday, Nov. 16, Grace Presents offers a FREE one-hour concert by Lawren Brianna Ware and friends. The concert is at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, downtown on the Capitol Square.
Pianist and composer Ware, the 2017 Grand Prize Winner of the Overture Rising Stars Competition, will perform a program of original, contemporary and classical solo and chamber works entitled “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things.” Featured are works by Aram Khachaturian, Fazil Say, Frederic Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert W. Smith, Martin Ellerby and Eric Ewazen.
By Jacob Stockinger
You have to hand it to Farley’s House of Pianos and its Salon Piano Series: They sure know how to book young up-and-coming performers to stay ahead of the curve.
Last season, they presented Kenneth Broberg, a silver medalist at the last Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, before he was accepted into the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, where he won a bronze medal.
This weekend, the Salon Piano Series presents another timely choice.
This Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m., the 17-year-old American piano prodigy Maxim Lando (below, in a photo by Matt Dine) will perform a solo recital at Farley’s showroom, 6522 Seybold Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.
Once again, Lando was booked just before winning a big award and honor.
In addition, at his Salon Piano Series premiere, Lando will have grandparents in the audience, as well as an aunt, uncle and cousins, all from the Madison area.
The son of pianist Pippa Borisy, who grew up in Madison, and clarinetist Vadim Lando, Maxim was raised in Great Neck, Long Island, New York, and has a full-time career as a touring pianist while still finishing high school.
Lando first received national attention in 2017 when he performed with superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang and jazz great Chick Corea with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall’s Gala Opening Night.
He won the 2018 Young Concert Artists auditions at the age of 16 and Susan Hall of Berkshire Fine Arts has described him as having “a very old musical soul.”
This fall he received a Gilmore 2020 Young Artist Award, which recognizes the most promising of the new generation of U.S.-based pianists, age 22 or younger. He will perform a series of concerts this season at the Gilmore Keyboard Festival as part of the recognition.
For this Salon Piano Series concert, Lando will perform the same program he performed for recent sold-out performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Lando’s program includes: Nikolai Kapustin’s Concert Etude “Toccatina”; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 (you can hear the opening movement in the YouTube video at the bottom); Alexander Scriabin’s Prelude in B major and Etude in D-sharp minor; and Franz Liszt’s “Transcendental Etudes.”
Tickets are $45 in advance (full-time students are $10) or $50 at the door (if any remain). Service fees may apply. Student tickets can only be purchased online and are not available the day of the concert.
Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4275212
An artist’s reception will follow the concert.
For more information, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org/concerts.html
MASTER CLASS
Also, on this Saturday, Nov. 16, at 4 p.m., Maxim Lando will teach a master class at Farley’s House of Pianos, where he will instruct four local students.
This is a free event that the public is invited to observe.
For a complete list of the music by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Clementi to be performed as well as the names of the local students and their teachers, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org/concerts.html
The master classes for the 2019-20 season are supported by the law firm of Boardman and Clark LLP.
This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tags: #AlexanderScriabin, #AramKhachaturian, #BerkshireFineArts, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardmanandClark, #BrownPaperTickets, #CapitolSquare, #CarnegieHall, #ChamberMusic, #ChickCorea, #ChineseMusicians, #ChinesePianist, #ClarinetMusic, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #EricEwazen, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FazilSay, #FineArts, #FranzLiszt, #GermanComposer, #GilmoreCompetition, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #GrandPrize, #GreatNeck, #HighSchool, #HomeWebsite, #KennedyCenter, #KennethBroberg, #LangLang, #LawFirm, #LawrenBriannaWare, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MartinEllerby, #MaximLando, #MuzioClementi, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NewMusic, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #NikolaiKapustin, #OpeningNight, #OvertureCenter, #PhiladelphiaOrchestra, #PianoSonata, #RobertW.Smith, #RussianComposer, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SergeiProkofiev, #SoldOut, #StateOfWisconsin, #SuperstarPianist, #TchaikovskyCompetition, #TchaikovskyInternationalCompetition, #TheEar, #TranscendentalEtudes, #UnitedStates, #Up-and-Coming, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #WashingtonD.C., #WestTowneMall, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #YoungArtist, #YoungConcertArtists, #YouTubevideo, ahead, Alexander Scriabin, American, Aram Khachaturian, artist, Arts, attention, audience, award, Beethoven, Berkshire, blog, Boardman and Clark, bronze, Brown Paper Tickets, Capitol Square, career, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, Chick Corea, Chinese, choice, Chopin, Christian, Christianity, Chunese, church, clarinet, Classical music, Competition, composer, Concert, concerts, cousin, cousins, curve, D.C., donor, downtown, Eric Ewazen, etude, Facebook, Facebook post, Farley's House of Pianos, Fazıl Say, fee, festival, fine arts, forward, Franz Liszt, free, friends, fund, funds, gala, generation, German, Germany, Gilmore Compeititon, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, grand prize, grandparents, grant, great, Great Neck, haunting, help, high school, home website, honor, information, International Tchaikovsky Competition, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center, Kenneth Broberg, Keyboard, Lang Lang, Lauren Brianna Ware, law firm, like, link, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Martin Ellerby, master class, masterclass, Maxim Lando, medal, Moscow, Music, Muzio Clementi, name, national, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, new, New York City, Nikolai Kapustin, NPR, online, opening night, original, Overture Center, Pennsylvania, performer, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pianist, Piano, Piano sonata, Prelude, premiere, prize, prodigy, program, promising, public, purchase, reception, recital, recognition, Robert W. Smith, Russia, Russian, Salon Piano Series, Scriabin, Season, Sergei Prokofiev, series, service, share, showroom, silver, sold-out, solo, Sonata, soul, star, State of Wisconsin, Student, superstar, support, tag, Teacher, The Ear, ticket, time, timely, toccata, tour, touring, Transcendental Etudes, U.S., uncle, United States, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Washington, Washington D.C., Website, West Towne Mall, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, works, young, young artist, Young Concert Artists, YouTube
Classical music: Today is Memorial Day – a good time to remember the civilian dead as well as the military dead. The Ear likes Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin.” What music would you listen to to mark the holiday?
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Memorial Day, 2019, when the nation honors the men and women who died in military service. The Ear would like to see much more attention and remembrance paid to the huge number of civilians — much higher than military personnel and soldiers — who have died in wars and military service, whose lives weren’t given but taken.
In fact, why not establish and celebrate a separate holiday to honor civilian deaths in war? Perhaps it would help to know the detailed history and background of the holiday, since it is not as straightforward or modern as you might expect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
What piece of classical music would you listen to in order to mark the holiday?
There is a lot to choose from.
The Ear especially likes “Le Tombeau de Couperin” by the early 20th-century French composer Maurice Ravel. It is a “tombeau” – a metaphorical “tomb” or “grave” used by the French to mean paying homage to the dead – in two senses.
Its neo-Classical or neo-Baroque style recalls the 18th-century world of French composers and harpsichordists including Jean-Philippe Rameau and Francois Couperin. But in a second sense, Ravel (below, in 1910) dedicated each of the six movements to a friend – in one case, two brothers — who had died during World War I. So part of its appeal is that it is a very personal statement of grief.
Here is more detailed background about the piece:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_tombeau_de_Couperin
The work was orchestrated later, which added sonic color but cut out two movements. The Ear prefers the original piano version, which seems a little more percussive, austere and straightforward — less pretty but more beautiful, and more in keeping with the holiday by evoking sentiment without sentimentality.
In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear it in a live performance by Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt.
But there are lots of other works to choose from by many composers: John Adams (“The Wound Dresser” after poetry of Walt Whitman); Samuel Barber (Adagio for Strings); Ludwig van Beethoven (slow movements of Symphonies 3 and 7, and of the Piano Sonata Op. 26); Johannes Brahms (“A German Requiem”); Benjamin Britten (War Requiem); Frederic Chopin (Funeral March from Sonata No. 2, polonaises, preludes and the “Revolutionary” Etude); Aaron Copland (“Fanfare for the Common Man” and “Letter From Home”); Edward Elgar (“Nimrod” from “Enigma Variations”); Gabriel Faure (Requiem and Elegy for cello); Franz Joseph Haydn (“Mass in Time of War”); Paul Hindemith (“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d – A Requiem for Those We Love”); Charles Ives (Variations on “America” and “Decoration Day”); Henry Purcell (“When I Am Laid in Earth”); John Philip Sousa (“Honored Dead” March); Ralph Vaughan Williams (Symphony No. 3 “Pastoral”); and many others, including Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Here is a list from the British radio station Classical FM:
Here is a list of patriotic music from Nashville Public Radio:
Here is another list from an American source:
http://midamerica-music.com/blog/five-classical-works-memorial-day/
Here are more sound samples from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104341851
And here is another one from Northwest Public Radio:
https://www.nwpb.org/2015/05/22/memorial-day-music-commemorate-celebrate/
What do you think of a holiday commemorating civilian deaths in war?
What favorite piece of classical music would you play and listen to as you mark Memorial Day?
Let us know, with a YouTube link if possible, in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #18thCentury, #20thCentury, #AaronCopland, #AdagioforStrings, #AmericanPatriotism, #AngelaHewitt, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BenjaminBritten, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CharlesIves, #ChoralMusic, #Classicalera, #ClassicalStyle, #DecorationDay, #EdwardElgar, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FanfarefortheComonMan, #FrancoisCouperin, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FredericChopin, #Frenchcomposer, #FrenchHarpsichord, #FrenchMusic, #FuneralMarch, #GabrielFaure, #HenryPurcell, #IraqWar, #Jean-PhilippeRameau, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JohnPhilipSousa, #KoreanWar, #LeTombeaudeCouperin, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MauriceRavel, #MemorialDay, #NashvilleTennessee, #NationalPublicRadio, #NimrodVariation, #PatrioticMusic, #PaulHindemith, #PianoMusic, #PianoSonata, #PublicRadio, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #SamuelBarber, #TheCivilWar, #TheEar, #ThemeAndVariations, #VietnamWar, #VocalMusic, #WaltWhitman, #WarDead, #WarRequiem, #Wikipediaentry, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldWarI, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, 18th century, 20th-century, Aaron Copland, Adagio for Strings, Afghanistan, American, Angela Hewitt, appeal, Arts, attention, audience, austere, Bach, background, Baroque, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, blog, British, brother, Canada, Canadian, Cello, Chamber music, Charles Ives, choral music, Civil War, civilian, Classical, color, Compact Disc, composer, dead, Decoration Day, die, Early music, Earth, Edward Elgar, Elegy, evoking, Facebook, Fanfare, Fanfare for the Common Man, flag, FM, forward, François Couperin, Franz Joseph Haydn, Frédéric Chopin, French, friend, funeral march, Gabriel Fauré, give, given, grave, grief, harpsichord, Henry Purcell, History, Holiday, homage, Home, honor, Iraq, Iraq war, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, John Philip Sousa, Korean War, Le tombeau de Couperin, letter, like, link, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrics, Madison, mass, Maurice Ravel, memorial, Memorial Day, military, modern, movement, Mozart, Music, Nashville, Nimrod, northwest, NPR, opera, Orchestra, orchestrate, original, other, part, pastoral, Pastoral Symphony, PastoralSymphony, patriot, patriotic music, patriotism, Paul Hindemith, percussive, performer, personal, Piano, Piano sonata, Poetry, polonaise, Prelude, public radio, Radio, Ralph Vaughan Williams, remember, remembrance, Requiem, Samuel Barber, sentiment, sentimentality, service, share, Sonata, sonic, source, statement, style, symphony, tag, take, taken, The Ear, theme and variations, today, tomb, UK, United States, variations, Vietnam War, Violin, vocal music, war dead, War Requiem, we, Website, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, works, World War I, World War II, YouTube
Classical music: Longtime NPR host Robert Siegel brought his love of classical music to “All Things Considered.” Here are 10 interviews and some background to mark his recent retirement
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
If you are a fan of “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio – and The Ear certainly is – you probably already know not to listen for veteran host Robert Siegel (below) on this afternoon’s broadcast.
Or any other ATC broadcast in the future.
That is because last Friday afternoon Siegel had his last sign-off. He retired after spending 41 years with NPR – the first 10 as a reporter, including as a London correspondent, and the last 31 as a host of the prize-winning afternoon news and features magazine “All Things Considered,” which, by the way, was created by Jack Mitchell, who later came to teach Mass Communications at the UW-Madison.
There will be much to miss about Siegel. His qualities included a calming voice, a ready laugh, fairness and objectivity, a convivial studio presence and sharp but respectful interviewing skills.
One of the things that The Ear hopes will survive Siegel’s departure is the much-needed public attention he brought to classical music, which he loved and which the other media today so often ignore.
The mark his retirement, NPR classical music blogger Tom Huizenga compiled a list of 10 important interviews that Siegel conducted over the years. Then he put links to those interviews on an NPR blog.
Huizenga also got Siegel to open up about the formative influences that sparked his love for classical music. They included his young love for the Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, by Ludwig van Beethoven — the so-called “Emperor” Concerto, which you can hear played by Alfred Brendel in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Siegel went on to cover big stars like superstar soprano Renee Fleming; medium stars like violinist Gil Shaham (below), who performs with the Madison Symphony Orchestra this month; and smaller and new stars like the iconoclast harpsichord virtuoso Mahan Esfahani.
He also covered a U.S. Army rifleman who performed a violin recital for Churchill and Truman, and the role that music by Beethoven played in Communist China.
And there are many, many more, for which classical music and we listeners owe a debt to Siegel.
Check it out and enjoy! Here is a link to that posting on the Deceptive Cadence blog:
Tags: afternoon, Alfred Brendel, All Things Considered, America, Americans, Army, Arts, attention, Bach, balance, Baroque, Beethoven, big, blog, blogger, Broadcast, calm, calming, Cello, China, choral music, Churchill, Classical music, Communism, Communist, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, convivial, correspondent, D.C., Deceptive Cadence, departure, Early music, Emperor Concerto, fairness, fan, features, Franz Schubert, future, George Frideric Handel, Gil Shaham, guns, harpsichord, host, iconoclast, ignore, important, interview, Jack Mitchell, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, list, listener, listeners, London, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, magazine, mass communications, media, minimalism, Mozart, Music, new, news, NPR, objectivity, opera, Orchestra, Piano, presence, prize, public, Radio, recital, Renée Fleming, reporter, respect, retire, Retirement, rifle, rifleman, Robert Siegel, sign-off, skill, Sonata, soprano, star, studio, superstar, survive, symphony, today, Tom Huizenga, Truman, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, Veteran, Viola, Violin, vocal music, voice, Washington, win, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Vincent Fuh on Did Beethoven and his Fifth Sy… |
 | Daryl Sherman on Did Beethoven and his Fifth Sy… |
 | Luke Schulze on Did Beethoven and his Fifth Sy… |
 | George on Classical music review: If you… |
 | Frank Stowers on Did Beethoven and his Fifth Sy… |
