Conductor's Notebook
Writings, including academic papers and music criticism, as well as videos, audio, notes, and other content.
…a particularly pernicious pattern of argumentation that I want to identify, debate, and debunk. It is the argument that consciously selecting music with the aim of increasing equity, inclusion, and diversity in classical music makes it less likely that the performer will program “the best music,” the music of highest artistic integrity, because they are now selecting for an arbitrary trait rather than solely based on the musical merits.
Here’s what’s wrong with that:
…It is critical that we take care of ourselves and allow ourselves to be pleased with imperfect performances; after all, there is no such thing as a perfect performance! The goal is to strive for perfection, to get as close as we can, and then share the perfectly imperfect result with our fellow-travelers. In so doing, we learn a valuable lesson in self-forgiveness and self-care which is crucial to longevity in the music career…
Further searching through the so-called “cabin manuscripts” led to the discovery of a fifth symphony by composer Florence Price. G. Schirmer has announced plans to quickly produce a performable edition. Meanwhile performers in the Chicago area
When working with young composers preparing a composition to be read for the first time by orchestral musicians, I have a very simple premise. The best shot a composer has at a successful premiere is to have:
excellent musical ideas, 2. cast within thoughtfully engraved parts.
65 years after her death, one of the twentieth century’s most important voices has finally begun to receive the attention she so richly deserves. Florence Beatrice Price, born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1887, was the first African-American woman to have a composition performed in concert by a major American orchestra.
…We discussed a variety of job opportunities centered around, but expanding outward from an undergraduate degree in music education… I particularly enjoyed sharing some experiences to do with my experiences as a church Music Director. My position is that instrumental music teachers benefit immensely from coming to better understand choral music repertoire and the mechanics of the voice…
There is nothing quite like leading a group of musicians who devote their precious free time to performing in an orchestra.…opportunity to conduct a small taste of the music of Florence Price. We performed the Andante from Price’s three-movement suite, Ethiopia’s Shadow in America.
