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The Americana Music Association said the new award has been created to honor those who have “either made a lasting impression through music or inspired art to recognize the legacy of Americana music traditions.”
Classical and jazz composer-pianist Anthony Davis’ latest opera, The Central Park Five, with a libretto by Richard Wesley, premiered in June 2019. We spoke with the composer and members of the creative team about bringing the opera to life.
“You have these pieces of music that are part of you, part of your DNA, and every time you return to them, it just comes out differently because you are different.”
Renée Baker’s interest in Baldwin began when she first heard recordings of his voice. “The person that I’d only accessed from books became quite real once I was able to actually hear and listen to him speak.” She notes.
In addition to the acclaim she has won for her interpretations of music by well-known composers like Bach, Handel, and Paganini, Rachel Barton Pine has long sought to include underrepresented composers in her repertoire.
Bach’s Minuet in G major from the Notebooks for Anna Magdalena Bach is famous enough today that you may have had it as your cell phone ringtone. One arrangement, recorded by a ’60s girl group called The Toys, was a #1 single in the US and reached #5 on the UK Global charts.
“We want to dismantle the notion that classical music is reserved for a certain group of people,” said D-Composed Chicago founder Kori Coleman.
Though African Americans have faced oppression throughout American history and the arts, Black composers’ contributions to music have been nothing short of history-changing.
Did you know Broadway’s Mykal Kilgore is a classically trained opera singer? He spoke about opera, activism, and singing for Maxine Waters backstage at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Irene Britton Smith, Nora Holt, and countless other women of color contributed to the Chicago Black Renaissance and changed classical music around the world.
The Chicago Sinfonietta has been devoted to diversity and inclusion since it was founded by pioneering African-American conductor Paul Freeman, and that legacy continues to this day.
Learn how Lawrence Brownlee, hailed as one of the world’s leading tenors, is developing new works that respond to issues facing men of color today.
As you fire up the grill, we have the perfect soundtrack for you: some of our favorite American works, from classics like Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to modern masterpieces like John Adams’ City Noir.
The Chicago Sinfonietta recently announced its 30th season line-up, as well as the launch of its Commissions by Women Composers Project, a season-long effort to close music’s gender equality gap by commissioning, performing, and recording, works by women composers.
“My heart began to race when I was listening to this piece for the first time. It’s upsetting for me to listen to. I don’t like this piece,” composer Nkeiru Okoye said.
Hear a rarely-heard live performance by Mahalia Jackson’s broadcast from the Morrison Hotel in 1975 courtesy of the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.
If you’re looking to expand your own repertoire, why not explore the music of living composers? Check out these 10 composers changing contemporary classical music today who also all happen to be women.
Author and activist Maya Angelou is best for her autobiographical memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. But have you heard Angelou sing?
Maestro Muti sat down with Sheila Jones, coordinator of the CSO’s African American Network, years ago to ask, “How do we bring the African American community into Symphony Center?”
Composer and cellist Tomeka Reid presents the world premiere of “Present Awareness” alongside the works of Alvin Singleton, Olly Wilson, and Kahil El’ Zabar.
Mahalia Jackson is undoubtedly one of the most influential singers of the 20th century. Learn about how musicians and music historians are changing the conversation about the “Queen of Gospel.”
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.
Before Nina Simone became one of America’s most iconic jazz musicians, she wanted to have a career as a classical pianist.