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November 3, 2021
Coda: Upbeat
Byron Stripling makes concepts like crossover irrelevant. He attended Eastman School of Music to study classical trumpet—and became an in-demand master of jazz trumpet. He played with legendary jazz bands—and guested with scores of American orchestras. He led jazz bands, played with pops stars—and now he’s the principal pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
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November 3, 2021
Return to Pops
Pops artists, like the orchestras they perform with, took a hit last season. Now they are beginning to return to orchestra stages across the country and hitting a note of realistic optimism. Ten pops artists reveal how they have fared, what they have missed, what they most look forward to, and what they have planned for the season ahead.
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November 3, 2021
Aiming for a More Inclusive Canon
In an excerpt from his new book, Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Classical Music, Joseph Horowitz examines why classical music in America “stayed white” and failed to become more inclusive.
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November 3, 2021
Conference 2021: Embracing a Changed World
The League of American Orchestras’ 2021 National Conference featured new ideas, new voices, new formats, new music, and drew thousands of orchestra professionals—all online.
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November 3, 2021
Forward Thinking: Power in Sharing
Arts organizations have long been dominated by the singular artistic leader at the top whose vision sets the course for the organization. As society changes and expectations for the sharing of power grow, that model is shifting in exciting ways. The Public Theater in New York is embracing a model of shared artistic leadership, with new voices and perspectives at the top—and is finding fresh success. What might orchestras learn? League President and CEO Simon Woods interviews Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater.
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June 28, 2021
Coda: Sound Embrace
Xian Zhang, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s music director, brings a sky-high energy level and full-body approach to the podium. She leans in almost as if to embrace the musicians, and that’s not accidental. Even during the past year, with people socially distanced due to the pandemic, she has stayed tightly connected with NJSO musicians—and a film crew—to craft imaginative concert films.
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June 24, 2021
African Diaspora Music Project
An online repository of concert works by composers of the African Diaspora.
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June 15, 2021
Conference 2021: Spring of 2021: A Renewed Awakening of A Needed Conversation
The rise of anti-Asian American violence in the spring of 2021 led to a watershed moment for the Asian American Pacific Islander community, and AAPI musicians, staff, board members and supporters in our field found themselves confronting issues on many fronts. Among those issues is the centering of AAPI voices in programming. In this session, a composer, an academic, and an artistic administrator discussed how these voices can be celebrated with equity and how we can overcome obstacles to achieving that goal.
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June 15, 2021
Conference 2021: The Summer of 2020
During the summer of 2020, in the wake of global protests against anti-Black racism, artistic leaders were once again confronted with the realities of racism in our society.
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June 15, 2021
Conference 2021: The Artistically Responsive Orchestra
During the pandemic, orchestras forged forward, with creativity and innovation unseen before, to respond artistically to the uncertainty of the pandemic. In this session, we heard from three artistic leaders who rose to the challenge. We investigated the responses their organizations made and how sustainable those responses were in the long term as they balanced a return to the concert hall.
