Giancarlo Guerrero conducts the Nashville Symphony this week in a program devoted entirely to American women composers, including the world premiere of a major new choral-orchestral commission from Julia Wolfe titled Her Story. My program notes for the concert are available here (link on lower right).
My December began with one of the most thrilling performance experiences in a very long time: the Met Opera premiere of Kaija Saariaho’sL’amour de loin. Another highlight this year was Julia Bullock’s performance in the revised version of Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone at the Ojai Festival.
In honor of Saariaho, here’s a piece I wrote this past spring about women in music:
It took until 1920 for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to be ratified, guaranteeing female citizens the right to vote. But almost 100 years later, the status quo in classical music still needs a whole lot of shaking up if women are to have any chance of fair representation.
Shlomo Perel, who survived the Holocaust through surreal subterfuge and an extraordinary odyssey that inspired his own writing and an internationally renowned film, has died in Israel.
Poet J. Ivy is a nominee for the Grammys' Best Spoken Word Poetry Album award — a new category he helped create, after petitioning the Recording Academy.
Dreamed up by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales more than 600 years ago, the Wife of Bath was known for her lusty appetites, gossipy asides and fondness for wine.
In the Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, Alice Wong shares pieces of her story and experience as a disabled Asian American through a collection of essays, interviews, photos and illustrations.
When Dungeons & Dragons fans saw a leaked draft of proposed changes to the game's copyright license, the backlash against publisher Wizards of the Coast was so severe it reversed course.
If you enjoyed having a good cry over This Is Us, then Dear Edward, about the aftermath of a plane crash, is for you. But it's a Very Sad Show and your heartstrings should know what they're in for.
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: The Last of Us, The Looney Tunes Show and Ice Merchants.