"The Philharmonia Orchestra has also launched its 2023/24 London season programme, featuring a series dedicated to the sounds of America
The Philharmonia's Let Freedom Ring series will celebrate the diversity of American music, and the creative cross-currents between classical music and jazz. The season will take in lesser-known composers such as William Grant Still, Margaret Bonds and James P. Johnson, as well as the familiar sounds of Gershwin, Bernstein and Copland, in its exploration of 'wide landscapes and restless cities, universal human experiences and extraordinary individuals, struggle and freedom'."
"Had the vernacular of slave songs, spirituals and jazz taken root in our classical music, we would have a different landscape today — and a classical sound that is uniquely American.
Joseph Horowitz says it almost happened. In his article "New World Prophecy," published last week in the autumn edition of The American Scholar, the cultural historian argues that the seeds of a truly American sound were sown but never watered, as American composers in the late 19th century largely resisted the influence of African American music. Horowitz, who has written numerous books about the history of music in America, pays special attention to George Gershwin — one white composer who did embrace black music — and a handful of African American composers who found genuine success in the 1930s, only to see it quickly fade. William Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony, premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra with superstar conductor Leopold Stokowski, is held up in particular as a neglected American treasure.
Horowitz joined me to talk about what he sees as a long series of missed opportunities, from Antonín Dvořák's insistence in the 1890s that the "Negro melodies" were the future of American music, to the acclaimed but undervalued work of African American composers like Florence Price and William Grant Still. That trove of melody-rich, expressive black music could have taken root in America's classical music, Horowitz maintains, but it didn't — and as a result, our classical music has remained overwhelmingly white and increasingly marginalized."
"Nathaniel Dett's oratorio The Ordering of Moses was premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony in 1937 on national radio. But midway through, the broadcast was stopped."
Library of Congress
"Performed during a live BBC Choral Evensong, 6 November 1974, from the chapel of Christ Church College, Oxford. Choir of Christ Church Oxford (Oxford Cathedral), directed by Simon Preston.
"I wonder why [Porgy and Bess] hasn't spawned any kind of progeny, so to speak?
Gershwin was a genius — that's certainly the most obvious reason. That sounds like a very kind of imprecise thing to say, but as a creative force he transcends his colleagues. To me it's self-evident that he's a greater composer than Copland. In my article, there's a statement by David Gockley, the impresario whose Houston Grand Opera played a key role in the revival of Porgy and Bess, who says if Gershwin hadn't died young, he would have changed the course of classical music in America."
"During intermission of the Live in HD transmission of Bizet’s Carmen, host Matthew Polenzani speaks with mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina about her experience singing the title role. 2023–24 season."
"We are saddened and shocked by the news that Michaela DePrince has passed away. Michaela was a very special artist and person, whose life story, courage, talent and grace inspired so many.
She danced with us as a guest artist in 2017, in the role of Myrtha in Giselle at the London Coliseum.
Her star shone brightly, on and off stage, and will continue to do so in the hearts of everyone who connected with her story and art.
Our thoughts are with her loved ones, family and colleagues at this very difficult time.
Portrait by Wikkie Hermkens.
Photo of Michaela DePrince as Myrtha by Laurent Liotardo"
"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Michaela Mabinty DePrince. DePrince started her professional ballet career at Dance Theatre of Harlem, making history as the youngest dancer to be featured in principal roles."
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