Author: Joanna Bettelheim

On June 6, the Philadelphia Orchestra hosted HearTOGETHER: A Healing Conversation in Music and Words, following the May 25 killing of George Floyd and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and national protests in support of racial and social justice. Guests Wynton Marsalis, Valerie Coleman, and Joseph Conyers joined Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky to discuss racial and social justice, and creative equity and inclusion, in orchestras. Now, the orchestra is expanding HearTOGETHER into a monthly livestream series of dialogue and music with industry thought leaders and guest artists. The next installment of HearTOGETHER, hosted by Tarnopolsky, will take place on July 29 and include a conversation with Vijay Iyer, Afa Dworkin, and Shariq Yosufzai. The series continues on August 26, marking Women’s Equality Day and the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. The Philadelphia Orchestra will present a day of content showcasing women artists and composers, culminating in the HearTOGETHER program, moderated by Philadelphia Orchestra First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang and featuring Gabriela Lena Frank, Angel Blue, and Jennifer Higdon. HearTOGETHER will be livestreamed on www.philorch.org and www.facebook.com/philorch. Details about upcoming HearTOGETHER events will be announced.

“Berklee College of Music announced Wednesday it will offer courses exclusively online for the fall semester because of the coronavirus pandemic,” writes Nick Stoico in Wednesday’s (7/22) Boston Globe. “The … Boston school … had announced last month it would offer a hybrid model that allowed in-person and remote learning. But with coronavirus cases rising across the nation, school officials said ‘we simply don’t feel confident that it would be healthy and safe for our community to be on campus this fall.’ … Berklee is the first college in the area to reverse course from its hybrid reopening to a completely remote fall semester. All classes offered at Berklee, as well as the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, will be fully remote for the fall semester. Study abroad programs at the college’s campus in Valencia, Spain, will not be offered this year. The college said it will provide a one-time, $2,500 grant to full-time degree students that can be used for equipment or to offset tuition…. Full-time students are also eligible for two tuition-free credit-bearing courses … next summer. In June, the school announced it was eliminating a 3.45 percent tuition increase that was planned for this year.”

“In the arts, should racial diversity matter more than quality?” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Saturday’s (7/26) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.“ New York Times chief critic Anthony Tommasini recently called for an end to the orchestral practice of blind auditions, arguing that orchestras should take a musician’s race into account when making hiring decisions to increase diversity. It’s a provocative call for affirmative action in the ivory, statuesque world of professional classical music … American orchestras lack racial diversity…. Common arguments for increasing orchestral diversity focus on better reflecting the racial makeup of the communities they serve and encouraging more young musicians of color…. Organizations like the League of American Orchestras, a trade organization, the Sphinx Organization and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation are creating and promoting funds to help … students from underrepresented backgrounds, providing funding for things like private lessons, summer festivals and instruments. There are more than a dozen professional fellowships at some of America’s top orchestras … The current demand for change is operating on a much swifter timescale than these projects…. Is it enough to claim systems provide equal opportunity, or should they actively seek racial equity to ensure more diverse hiring practices due to historic oppression?”

“Elgin Symphony Orchestra has canceled its fall slate of performances and concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization announced Friday,” writes Rafael Guerrero in Friday’s (7/24) Elgin Courier-News (IL). “The cancellations … through the end of 2020 … include what was to be the season-opening concert of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, The Music of Journey and Queen, and the annual Holiday Concert…. The organization is planning some smaller performances to help with the cancellations…. Two of these concerts have been announced: one scheduled for Sept. 11 at Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard in Pingree Grove, followed by another performance at The Haight events venue in downtown Elgin on the 12th. These performances will feature George Walker’s Lyric for Strings and Haydn’s Symphony No. 60 and will feature virtuoso violinist and Chicago resident Philippe Quint [in music by] Massenet and Sarasate…. A limited number of tickets will be made available to these performances…. Events will be live-streamed and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra will be selling streaming-only tickets as well…. The organization launched a new crowdsourcing campaign called ‘ESO Crescendo’ [to] help the orchestra ‘weather this viral storm until it is safe for us all to gather together again.’ ”

“Live music is making a comeback in Bemidji next week after a five-month coronavirus hiatus,” writes Dennis Doeden in Friday’s (7/24) Bemidji Pioneer (Minnesota). “Music Director Beverly Everett and five [string musicians] of the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra will perform three outdoor concerts called ‘Positive Vibrations’ from the porch at Lake Bemidji Bed & Breakfast … on July 31, Aug. 1, and Aug. 2. The orchestra’s final two concerts of the 2019-20 season were canceled because of COVID-19 restrictions, and the popular Summer Pops concert also was called off.… The concerts are free, but only about 25 tickets are available for each performance, and attendees must reserve tickets online…. Attendees are required to bring their own face mask to wear, to bring their own lawn chair, and to sit at least six feet from the nearest group…. The concerts will also be streamed live on Facebook, and videos will be available on YouTube, Facebook and the BSO website at a later time…. Since the group is unable to rehearse ahead of the concerts, Everett said the Friday night performance will feature mostly solos chosen by each of the musicians. They will add more ensemble pieces for the Saturday and Sunday concerts.”

“Dallas Symphony Orchestra members are focusing their talents on spreading joy through music, but at a distance,” writes Eva Raggio in Friday’s (7/24) Dallas Observer. “In May, the organization sent two violinists to serenade a former DSO member on her 100th birthday. ‘When we stopped performing concerts as an orchestra back in March, it became clear that new ways to reach and serve our community were needed,’ says [associate principal bassoon] Scott Walzel … who also serves as the organization’s director of community development and outreach. Through their current project, the DSO One 2 One program, orchestra members are serenading hospital patients via video.” Some videos are prerecorded on the Meyerson stage, others live or pre-recorded at musicians’ private studios or homes. “After doing a woodwind recording session, Walzel says he had a conversation with [DSO president and CEO Kim] Noltemy in which they agreed to share these videos, along with other selected DSO videos from past concerts, with two local hospital systems…. In the last few months, orchestra members have performed outside of hospitals, and the company is sending videos to others…. Musicians perform for patients via Zoom or FaceTime, sometimes pre-recorded…. Clips are between 3-6 minutes in length.”

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will partner with composer Ngatai Huata to perform the Maori song “Pokarekare Ana” on April 18 at 3 p.m., and is inviting New Zealanders to participate in the performance. The song was written by Huata’s grandfather, Paraire Henare Tomoana, more than 100 years ago, as a love song to his future wife, Kuini Ripeka Ryland Tomoana; it is one of the best-known Maori songs and has been performed frequently, including a well-known rendition by soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. The lyrics and sheet music to the song have been posted at https://www.nzso.co.nz/nzso-engage/pokarekare-ana/ for participants to download. All New Zealanders are encouraged to play “Pokarekare Ana” on any instrument, or sing from their balcony, driveway, front lawn, or garden shed. A countdown will begin at 2:50 p.m. at facebook.com/newzealandsymphonyorchestra on April 18 before the 3 p.m. mass performance. “In these current challenging times, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with our whānau Tomoana [Tomoana extended family] invites New Zealand and the world to join together in song to uplift our spirits and to share our creative gifts of music and song through this popular iconic love song of New Zealand,” says Ngatai Huata.