Video Premiere: Exciting Brass Ensemble The Westerlies Plays ‘This is Water’
How a speech by David Foster Wallace inspired a new triptych for brass quartet.
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15 Queer Composers You Should Know
Can you imagine a world without the music of Handel, Tchaikovsky, or Britten? These great composers of the past are just a few of many important musical figures who did not identify as heterosexual.
Signifyin’ in Song: How the Sounds of Slavery Changed Music Forever
Music and dance provided an outlet for enslaved people to express their sorrow, though often their cries of pain sounded quite the opposite to slave owners.
9 Living Black Composers You Need To Know
If you’re not familiar with these 9 composers, we’ve got 2 things to say: 1. You’re missing out on a lot of great music. 2. Now’s your chance to catch up! June is African-American Music Appreciation Month, and while you shouldn’t limit your appreciation of music by African-American composers to the month of June, it’s a nice excuse to explore ...
How One Chord Changed the World: “Tristan” at 150
If you’re a music lover, you may have heard of the so-called “Tristan chord” from Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde. Audiences were stunned to hear this infamous harmony when the opera premiered on June 10, 1865 in Munich, Germany. As Tristan turns 150, let’s take a look at what makes the Tristan chord so unique. The “Vorspiel,” or Prelude, to Tristan begins with with a “dissonant” chord. The terms “consonance” ...
What If Nina Simone Had Been a Classical Pianist?
Before Nina Simone became one of America’s most iconic jazz musicians, she wanted to have a career as a classical pianist.
Minnesota Orchestra To Perform Historic Concerts in Cuba
WFMT will join American Public Media for a live broadcast from the Teatro Nacional in Havana, Cuba, featuring the Minnesota Orchestra.
Listen: Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Piece of Music that Changed His Life
A conversation with Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish composer-conductor widely considered to be one of the most important in his field.
Star Soprano Kate Royal on the Joys and Difficulties of Singing Rare French Works
Soprano Kate Royal has made her name singing in some of the oldest and most beloved operas in the repertoire by Monteverdi and Mozart, but the London native is also drawn to and sought-after to perform in more modern operas.
Playlist: 5 Mexican Composers You Should Know
Learn more about Mexico’s most celebrated composers of the past and present. Here are 5 Mexican composers you should know because of their incredible contributions to the world of music.
Playlist: 6 Songs to Welcome the Merry Month of May
“April is the cruelest month,” T.S. Eliot famously wrote. But May is here, and what better way to welcome this merry month than with music? Here are six songs to help you say goodbye to April showers and say hello to May flowers.
