The Second Street Dreams Audio Network

If you feel like it’s time to release the tether to your real life, there’s a place for you. The SKYSPACE on the campus of UT is open again. It's a naked eye observatory with lights and sound and music. Andrée Bober, Director of the Landmarks Public Art Program at UT says the sunset light show is an aural feast.

The Grammy winning choral group, Conspirare, is celebrating Black History Month with two concerts focusing on the words of African-American activist W.E.B. DuBois. He wrote his Credo in 1904. Years later, composer Margaret Bonds put it to music. In another program, Conspirare will sing composer Benedict Sheehan’s new movement, honoring DuBois’ words, to his Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Craig He...

With Valentine’s Day approaching, perhaps you are stumped for ideas on how to celebrate the day with your loved one. Austin Camerata, Ventana Ballet and Fever have collaborated on a program for lovers everywhere. Candlelight: A Valentine’s Day Special has dancers moving to classical music and other tunes.

There is at least one university in the US teaching its business students empathy via the arts. MBA students at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are offered a chance to take courses outside of the traditional MBA curriculum, like music, art and poetry. Program Managers Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner say students learn the difference between being a man...

Imagine being a high school student and a Grammy nominated composer teaches you how, in a very unique way, to compose a new piece. This piece however is not solely your own because it was a collaborative composition. Austin Classical Guitar invited composer Clarice Assad to take on this task. Artistic Director Joe Williams says the completed work will be performed on Saturday, January 29th.

Violinist Randall Goosby represents a new, fresh generation of classical musicians. With his debut album ROOTS, he’s redefining and/or adding composers to the traditional canon. He performs the music of mostly African-American composers on his first album.

There is still some music to mine from the early days of the pandemic. The brother and sister team of cellist Sheku and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason of England, recorded a new album because they could no longer tour. It’s called Muse and includes at least one work that isn’t played very often.

Perhaps we’re entering the new year full of questions about what’s next but are holding on to that “can-do” attitude. There are several events on the calendar for 2022 and some that have been canceled, in part because of the uncertainty of 2022. Here are some of them.

Auditions underway for one of Austin’s latest musical groups. The National Children’s Chorus. They are looking for young singers from 5 to 18 years old. The Artistic Director and CEO Luke McEndarfer says they opened an Austin chapter and an academy because the city is already known for making music.

We love our animal friends. There’s one composer, Noam Oxem, who’s making music with photos of your beloved pet and other animals. He calls them Sympawnies.

The Fall Into Music Instrument Drive ended about two weeks ago with a large number of instruments donated to the students of Austin Soundwaves. Development Manager Ciyadh Wells says just because the drive has ended doesn’t mean you have to wait until next year to donate instruments.

The Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts starting airing Saturday, December 4th. You’ll be hearing someone new on MET RADIO this year. She is Debra Lee Harder the new Voice Of The Met. This classical music announcer has a medical degree and a Doctorate in Music.

If you like classical music AND football or sports of any kind, it’s not that far afield for you to imagine musicians are like pro athletes. They suffer the same type of injuries but don’t make the same kind of money to treat those injuries. In comes the Musician Treatment Foundation which treats musicians for little or no money.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, we’ve compiled some of the classical music written by, about and for military Veterans. It includes FREEDOM SONG composed by Betsy Listenfelt. Gustav Holst Ode to Death, John Adams’ Tromba Lontana or Distant Trumpet, Aaron Copland – Fanfare for the Common Man and Olivier Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time

For the third year in a row, even during the Covid shutdown, the Dallas Symphony has hosted the Women in Classical Music Symposium. It’s aim says Ross Perot President and CEO Kim Noltemy is to advance the status of women as conductors and administrators in the orchestral community and beyond. The Women in Classical Music Symposium runs November 7th through November 10th.

Orchestral leaders, conductors, music directors and others are looking to include more composers of color and women in their upcoming seasons. Since many are unfamiliar with composers of color and their music, they’re looking at at least two websites: The Institute For Composer Diversity and the The African Diaspora Music Database.

It’s been a quirky and productive 20 years for Forklift Danceworks of Austin. The “dances” choreographed by founder Allison Orr over the years include Sanitation workers, Austin Energy linesmen and women, firefighters and so much more. Orr is now celebrating this milestone with a glamorous and fun filled party at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden on October 28th.

Pain and Trauma are difficult to process. One composer, Blake Allen found a way to release it with his new album The Shards Of An Honor Code Junkie, produced by No Reverse Records. It’s a musical retelling of his difficulty coming out as a gay man while a Mormon and a student at Brigham Young University.

Like many performing arts organizations, – Local Opera, Local Artist or LOLA in Austin, Texas had to use digital forms of communication to premiere a couple of new chamber operas. Now, under the leadership of Liz Cass they’re performing for an in-person audience and livestreaming their latest production. Good Country is about a transgender man in 19th century Northern California. It’ll be at KMFA’...

It looked for a while like it might be safer to attend live in person concerts but with the Delta variant many arts patrons aren’t so sure. Alan Brown of Wolf Brown says his Audience Outlook Monitor found many people still want to stay home while yearning to attend live in person performances. Digital offers some solace with performance videos like The Hill We Climb.

The classical music world mourns the death of the long time conductor of the Oakland Symphony, Michael Morgan. How did his unorthodox choices work for this rare Black conductor? Curtis Stewart, a violinist and composer, finds his voice on his unusual album "Of Power". Amanda Gorman’s poem from the inaugural inspired a new composition and a performance video. There’s more good news about the works...

This year, for the second year in a row, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California went virtual. It means that if you missed any of the new music at last month’s festival, you can still see it online. One composer, Sean Shepherd, premiered his new work about the environment. It was sort of a sequel to an earlier work that took a dark view of our days ahead.

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC is celebrating the 50th anniversary of MASS, the Leonard Bernstein production that opened the Kennedy Center in 1971. There are at least two prominent members of the classical music community in Austin, Texas who saw the original production. Ann Hume Wilson, President and General Manager of Austin’s classical music radio station KMFA and Austin Symphony conduct...

Texas Performing Arts has a full calendar on the What’s Coming Up This Fall series for Staccato. They are celebrating 40 Years On The 40 Acres, a $3 million dollar renovation and a new leader. The new Executive and Artistic Director Bob Bursey says he brought back performing arts groups that are returning to TAP and those who are new.

It looks like French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges might be getting rediscovered. This 18th century contemporary of Mozart has been lost to history almost since his lonely death in Paris in 1799. The Winston-Salem Symphony, with Music Director Timothy Redmond, is performing a play with music about this Black man, written by playwright Bill Barclay called The Chevalier – A Voi...