Composers You Should Know: Margaret Bonds

Composers You Should Know: Margaret Bonds

by | Mar 4, 2016

Happy 103rd birthday to American pianist and composer Margaret Bonds! Born and raised in Chicago, Bonds showed an early aptitude for music and composition.  She pursued formal education in music, studying at Northwestern University and Juilliard.  She then sought...
Higdon World Premiere

Higdon World Premiere

by | Feb 5, 2015

  A new work by Jennifer Higdon will be premiered on Monday night (February 9) at Carnegie Hall.  Thomas Hampson will be featured in the song cycle for baritone and piano titled Civil Words.  It was commissioned by Carnegie Hall.  In Higdon’s own words:...

Concerning Race

by | Aug 13, 2014

Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy is working to level the playing field when it comes to the representation of works by women in the classical music repertoire.  But it goes without saying that there is a need for equal representation not only of works by women, but...

Must-Listen Radio: WQXR’s Price of Admission

by | Mar 13, 2013

Offering the perfect coda to our recent posts on Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, WQXR’s just-produced radio documentary The Price of Admission devotes a full hour to the life and music of Price. Hosted by former Morehouse professor of music Terrance McKnight,...
Honoring Margaret Bonds

Honoring Margaret Bonds

by | Mar 11, 2013

I was thrilled to hear NPR reporting on a woman composer on All Things Considered recently. Celeste Headlee spoke with Louise Toppin, opera singer and voice professor at the University of North Carolina, on the life and work of Margaret Bonds. Bonds, who died in 1972,...