The Second Street Dreams Audio Network

Sometimes there’s a meeting of the minds and hearts between classical artists. In this case, Quinn Mason, the young and fast rising composer and conductor and the experienced pianist, and producer and Classical Woman Of The Year, Lara Downes. Mason and Downes have formed sort of a loose partnership.

Blackface. A word and an action that draws gasps and anger and in some cases, a shrug. It motivated one international opera singer to back away from performing a cherished role. Her name is Angel Joy Blue. The interview here on this August 2022 edition of Classical Music In Color took place BEFORE her withdrawal from Arena di Verona. It does offer a glimpse of the woman who would make this decisio...

Even though composer William Grant Still wrote nearly 200 compositions, many of not most of them have never been recorded. That changed with the new album “William Grant Still” performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on the Naxos label. Conductor Avlana Eisenberg was encouraged to record this album by her mother – a violinist. Still’s granddaughter Celeste Headlee provided insight into...

If you don’t know who wrote the libretto to your favorite opera, perhaps it’s time you did. Acclaimed librettist Mark Campbell feels so strongly about that, he created and funded the Opera America Campbell Opera Librettist Prize. This year, it went to Stephanie Fleischmann who’s written the words to at least 20 musical pieces over her long career.

When we think of Black people in the 19th century, violin music doesn’t often come to mind. David McCormick, the Executive Director of Early Music America researched the “Fiddlers of Monticello” and found a tome of research on them which included the Black male children of our third president, Thomas Jefferson with their enslaved mother Sally Hemmings. There is even a documentary about it. Also on...

The Austin Chamber Music Center Festival continues this week with a little jazz mixed in with the classical performances. Andre Hayward of Austin is a trombonist with a stellar career with some of the nation’s most revered jazz and classical performers. He and his friends perform new works focusing on African-American composers.

Summer festivals are underway all over the country. In Austin, the Austin Chamber Music Festival starts July 8th. The festival will feature a performance of scenes from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale with music curated by the Austin Chamber Music Center’s Artistic Director Michelle Schumann and directed by Austin Shakespeare’s Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella. One of the actors, Babs George says...

The recently concluded Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth had many moving parts. To keep things running smoothly and an eager audience informed, they hired a classical pianist with Austin roots. Dr. Artina McCain, now a Professor of Piano at the University of Memphis, stepped in as the Mistress of Ceremonies. She says it’s tougher than it looks.

The New York Times called composer Jessie Montgomery the “future of classical music”. She was gobsmacked by that, even though orchestras all over the country are clamoring to play her works. The Austin Symphony will perform one of her pieces in November. In addition she’s on a three year assignment with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as their Mead Composer in Residence. This makes her one of the b...

New Music USA, a group advocating for new music discoveries in the United States is upping the ante for the nation’s orchestras. Their program Amplifying Voices has 30 orchestras collaborating to co-commission works by 9 composers of color. Vanessa Reed, the President and CEO of New Music USA says they’re trying to expand the canon of classical music.

After the pandemic halted the quadrennial Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2021 it has returned. The 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is now underway in Fort Worth, Texas. Jacques Marquis, President and CEO of The Cliburn says this year is fitting, in a way, because it’s the 60th anniversary of the competition.

10 years is a long time but it seems like it was just yesterday for Ashleigh Gordon of Castle of Our Skins. The organization is celebrating its first decade with a fundraiser for the National Negro Opera Company House and other events. There’s also tributes to George Floyd from the Colour Of Music Festival and Memorial Day remembrances from the Air Force.

Memorial Day ushers in so much promise because of its status as the gateway to summer. However, the day is meant to celebrate the men and women in the military, who gave their lives in service. The Air Force has, once again, released two videos honoring their sacrifice. One of them – Goin' Home – has a Dvorak connection.

What calamity!! Composer Bill Banfield, who’s also a retired professor, an author, mentor and all around happy guy now, says life has thrown him a couple of curves. Covid and a symphony score lost for 20 years. Now though, things are back on track. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performed his “lost” symphony this year and there’s more. Hear all the “deets” !

What are you doing on Monday, May 9th and perhaps thereafter? The newly formed Black Orchestral Network is calling for a Day Of Solidarity in their quest to get more orchestras to hire more Black musicians. Listen to find out the other changes they’d like to see in American orchestras.

Composers get their inspirations from many things. One of them is poets and authors. One man, Gerald F Sweeney wrote a book about this called US Composers and Poets — The Intersection of American Classical Music and American Literature. Emily Dickinson was the subject of one such work by Aaron Copland and many others. Charles Ives composed music in honor of four writers who were transcendentalists...

A pianist who’s worked with opera singers, rock bands and jazz musicians was shocked when he heard the music of Amenian folk songs. Joel A. Martin was shocked because he’d never heard this music before and he immediately fell in love with it. So much so that he arranged some of the tunes that were written down by Komitas Vartapet nearly 90 years ago. The album is called Jazzical Komitas.

Now that many of us are attending live in person concerts, the musicians are there for it. Jacob Collier uses his audience as a choir. For the stay at home folks, a couple has produced a documentary about the first successful American female composer Amy Beach, and Philharmonia Fantastique a live action/animated concert film releases its soundtrack.

The book world has been rocked by the book, The Violin Conspiracy. Mainly because this first novel by author Brendan Slocumb, details the career of an African-American violinist and the difficulties that came with it. It’s also the story of a valuable family heirloom that was stolen at the worst possible moment. Also in this edition of Classical Music In Color, hear when the first performance at C...

Attention all Flute players: Claire Chase has a message for you. She’s nine years into the project she started called Density 2036. She’s seeking to expand the flute repertoire like Edgard Varèse did with Density 21.5 in 1936.

Every state has its own state song. Like Texas, Our Texas. There’s a composer in Colorado who’s writing new songs for every state. Marcia Stockton responded to a challenge from a composer friend to compose music for all 50 states. Hear the one she wrote for Texas and the 11 other state tunes she’s composed so far.

It was quite a wonderful surprise when my main event interview on this episode actually called me back HIMSELF within a half hour of my calling his contact number. It is an interview with Mr. Adolphus Hailstork, a composer extraordinaire about his latest premiere: A piece about George Floyd to be performed by the National Philharmonic. Hear about the South Bend Symphony holding symposiums about th...

Black History Month is officially over but many of the programs honoring African-Americans in classical music were recorded for online viewing. One such concert is Deep River: Black Currents in Classical Music. The live stream of the event is still available to view. There’s also a Black History Month playlist from SPHINX, new George Walker album and Early Music America is offering a bit of help t...

KMFA, Austin’s classical music radio station, would like you to meet its first ever Draylen Mason Composer in Residence. He is Quinn Mason of Dallas. He already has a long resume at the age of 25. KMFA introduced him to the public last week in the Draylen Mason Studio. Listen to the unusual story of how he got to where he is now and where he’s going.

There are hundreds of groups celebrating Black History Month. One of them is the Fort Worth Opera who’s presenting its 2nd annual Night Of Black Excellence. It features lots of local talent and Met Opera Soprano Karen Slack. Find out what’s new with the music of Florence Price, and there’s a midwestern premiere of a concert play about Joseph Boulogne.