…If we really want to effect lasting anti-racist change in the operatic industry and art form, we need to focus on systems – not people. Because of its reliance on external, industry-wide consultation, the situation at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents a unique opportunity to examine the systems that maintain the operatic White status quo….
Read More“I have a vivid memory of my parents taking me to see Midori perform at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI. I was about 9 years old, and a group of local Suzuki violin students went to see this prodigy, who had already catapulted to international fame by the time she was our age. When we saw her, she couldn’t have been more than 17…”
Read More…Banned from our concert halls and opera houses, many of us musicians (Americans, in particular) have been told we will not be able to perform for live audiences until next year at the earliest…Not really certain when we will be able to return to the live stage, isolated from our colleagues and audiences, this moment feels endless. Much like Blake’s droopy sunflower, I find myself “weary of time”…
Read MoreIf there are any lessons to be garnered from Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the announcement of the freedom of slaves in Texas nearly three years after the Emancipation Proclamation, it is that the work of anti-racism, anti-bigotry, and the battle for civil rights is never over.
Read MoreAs I’ve worked on this essay in my apartment in the midst of a citywide curfew here in San Francisco, after having spent the afternoons protesting the murderous brutality of the police against black men, these poems and Vaughan Williams’ accompanying music – which brings them even more vividly to life – feel as relevant as ever. While all ten of these songs in Vaughan Williams’ cycle have a relevance to today, none are more timely than these two, as we work to recognize and combat the dangerous divisions in our society….
Read More“In the case of ‘guerrilla’ that glories ‘gay’, that is to say there aren’t many gay guerrillas, I don’t feel that gaydom has, does have that strength, so therefore I use that word in hopes that they will…So therefore that is the reason I use ‘gay guerrilla’ in hopes that I might be one of them, if called upon.” - Julius Eastman
Read MoreAt the risk of sounding saccharine, I really do relish my life in music. Thus, I relate deeply to the first line of Blake’s deceptively simple poem. In these times of pandemic, as we are physically cut off from our audiences, the fleeting sweetness of pre-COVID musical life is brought into extra sharp relief…
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