Grieving and healing: Julia Perry’s “Stabat Mater”

The U.S. continues to mourn the massacre of nine African Americans in a South Carolina church.  At the Rev. Clementa Pinckney’s funeral service, President Barack Obama drew on the healing power of words melded with music, as he sang “Amazing Grace.”  This was a...
Portrait of the Composer as a Young Woman

Portrait of the Composer as a Young Woman

As noted earlier, I’m performing in the BARS Concert June 6. I’ve written the program notes for the concert, and here they are! The three pieces on our program today are linked, as our title suggests, by all being composed when their creators were young...
Portrait of the Composer as a Young Woman

WPA President as Orchestral Cellist

“I’d like to play in that,” was my immediate reaction on hearing about the program planned for June 6, 2015, by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony in San Francisco.   I’d been communicating with BARS about how to obtain the score and parts for Ethel Smyth’s...

Curtis on tour features Higdon Viola Concerto!

(3/14/2015)    “Curtis On Tour” is the Curtis Institute of Music’s annual showcase of its students and some distinguished alumni.  Last year I attended their concert in Boston, and just last night I was thrilled to be able to hear their chamber orchestra at U.C....