Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy Accepting Applications for Grants to Expand Equity and Inclusion at Orchestras
Tag: Equity Diversity and Inclusion
Henderson Symphony to Perform “Black Panther” Film Score Live at Free Screening
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra Broadens Repertoire—and Audiences
League Webinar: “Exploring Audience Attitudes about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”
In April 2023, 27 American orchestras participated in a joint study of audience attitudes about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), yielding almost 15,000 responses. On Tuesday, July 25 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific, the League of American Orchestras will present “Exploring Audience Attitudes about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion,” a 60-minute webinar that takes stock of high-level findings at the aggregate level and addresses such questions as: How important is EDI to audience members? Are orchestras’ efforts towards increased levels of EDI legible to audiences? Do programs featuring diverse artists, conductors, and repertoire attract a more diverse audience? How willing are audience members to support their orchestra’s EDI efforts more actively? Speakers at the webinar are Alan Brown, Managing Principal, WolfBrown; Deanna Hoying, Executive Director, Symphony NH; and Laura Reynolds, Vice President of Impact and Innovation, San Diego Symphony.
“Exploring Audience Attitudes about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” takes place on Tuesday, July 25 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific. Learn more and register here. The League offers 50% off registrations to staff of NYC arts organizations, thanks to the generosity of the Howard Gilman Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. If you can’t attend the webinar live, register to receive the recording. Questions? Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.
Review: Anna Clyne’s “This Moment” Gets World Premiere by Philadelphia Orchestra at Bravo! Vail Music Festival
In Thursday’s (7/20) I Care If You Listen, Esteban Meneses writes, “From July 12 to 14, I attended the last three concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 16th Bravo! [Vail Music Festival] residency … I gravitated toward the contemporary offerings … the highlight of which was the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s ‘This Moment.’… ‘This Moment’ was commissioned by a multi-orchestra consortium led by the League of American Orchestras, and created to celebrate women composers. Five orchestras will perform the piece during the 2023–24 season…. It quotes themes from [Mozart’s] Requiem … and also takes inspiration from a line by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh … ‘When you meditate on death, you love life more, you cherish life more.’… ‘This Moment’ emerges from glacial strings, with a lightly brushed ominous gong and a bowed vibraphone. A long, anguished theme starts taking shape in the strings, with languid responses from the woodwinds. Suddenly, the music gets much louder, with tuba and trombones blasting sustained tones; when the theme for strings returns, it is transmogrified … shaken up by loud gong crashes…. The music ends in quiet weightiness, suggesting not resignation but acceptance…. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted with expressive attentiveness.” Learn more about the League of American Orchestras’ Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program.
36 Orchestra and Arts Professionals to Participate in League of American Orchestras’ Essentials of Orchestra Management Program
An international group of 36 orchestra and arts professionals will participate in Essentials of Orchestra Management, the League of American Orchestras’ signature leadership development program. The 10-day program, running from July 26 to August 4, 2023, is presented in collaboration with Juilliard Extension and will take place in New York at Juilliard’s Lincoln Center Campus. The country’s foremost program for early- and mid-career orchestra and arts professionals, Essentials of Orchestra Management provides tomorrow’s leaders with the knowledge they need to enhance their careers. Topics include artistic planning and artistic leadership; development, finance, and strategic planning; equity, diversity, and inclusion; education, community engagement, and community and youth programs; human resources and organizational culture; leadership and governance; advocacy, marketing, and communications; orchestra operations; and negotiations. The program includes concerts by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and a tour of David Geffen Hall, as well as peer discussions and mentoring opportunities. This year’s seminar is taught and directed by a faculty of expert leaders from the orchestra field and beyond. The 2023 Essentials participants include professionals working at American, Canadian, and Danish orchestras, conservatories, and arts organizations, as well as career changers interested in exploring orchestra management positions. Read the complete list of participants here.
“Black Metropolis” World Premiere: Hip-Hop Meets the Philadelphia Orchestra
In Tuesday’s (7/18) Philadelphia Inquirer (log-in may be required), Peter Dobrin writes, “Hip-hop is now notching a half century, which means it’s had more staying power than a few other major movements in music…. Neoclassicism and serialism seem like blips on the screen compared to the genre that came out of New York City in the 1970s and grew up in Philadelphia. It’s a point not lost on Chill Moody and Darin Atwater, whose hip-hop-infused, symphonic-fortified ‘Black Metropolis’ makes its world premiere July 19 in a free concert at the Mann Center…. ‘Black Metropolis’—which was commissioned by the Mann Center—speaks to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, but more specifically to hip-hop as a ‘social movement and how music is constructed around culture,’ says Atwater, the Baltimore-based composer and pianist…. Atwater’s score draws on parts of his earlier Paint Factory and features the composer on piano and Moody as rapper, the Soulful Symphony Choir and Rhythm Section, DJ Wendel Patrick, various saxes and a Hammond B3 organ, and the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Jonathan Taylor Rush…. The Philadelphia Orchestra … thinks this is the ensemble’s first time performing with a hip-hop artist. It has worked with Atwater before, premiering his stunning ‘South Side: Symphonic Dances’ … in 2018.”
Tamar-kali’s New “Sea Island Symphony” Looks Back—and Forward
Baltimore Symphony Receives $1 Million to Support OrchKids and Community Concerts
Seattle Symphony Promotes Paul R. Johnson to VP of People and Culture and Chief Diversity Officer
