Our series of blogs about women in classical music continues with the first known woman composer, Hildegard von Bingen. She lived 900 years ago and was an abbess, visionary, healer, poet, composer and saint. Born in 1098 in Bermershein on…
For so many years, classical music was a male-dominated industry. If women had any participation in classical music, it was as entertainment for the family, on the operatic stage, or as teachers. Often, as was the case with the Mendelssohn…
Today we continue our celebration of Black History Month with a composer/performer/entrepreneur you may not know, but one we think you should and will enjoy…flutist Valerie Coleman. And we are not alone in accolades of her. She was recently named…
Along with those Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the first Coffee Concert of the New Mexico Philharmonic on Friday, February 11th at 10:45 a.m. will feature a work by another Black composer, George Walker. His beautiful Lyric for Strings…
With a name like that, you would expect him to be dashing and handsome. And indeed he was! The first classical composer of African descent we know of is the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. He was born Joseph Bologne on Christmas…
All this month I will be blogging about the many important contributions that Black musicians have made to classical music throughout history. I’m going to begin with a 20th c. African-American woman composer that Alexis Corbin has been highlighting for…
This time of year the airwaves are awash with Holiday Classics like “White Christmas”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and yes, even “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “All I want for Christmas Is You.” But perhaps you are searching…
Nigel Kennedy made headlines last week for pulling out of a concert at the Royal Albert Hall when he was told he wouldn’t be allowed to play a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. KHFM listeners let me know that they were…
Percy Grainger: Composer, arranger, pianist, and… clothing designer? As it turns out, yes. For several years, the composer of Lincolnshire Posy and Molly on the Shore proudly created and wore his own wardrobe- made out of towels! In his words…
SYMPHONIC POEM = TONE POEM: Single movement work for orchestra in which a poem or program provides the basis for musical narrative. The term Symphonic Poem was coined by Franz Liszt.Richard Strauss preferred the label Tone Poem.The musical structure is…