Last summer, most music festivals were on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, but this year many festivals are gearing up to return—for a very different kind of summer season. As classical music fans head to outdoor stages or log in to soak up the sounds of orchestral music, what can they expect to see and hear?
Music by composers from Navajo, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and many other tribes is increasingly being performed and commissioned by orchestras as they seek to broaden the range of music they perform. While these artists are working in a classical European tradition, they embrace their cultural heritage and see music as a way to express Indigenous worldviews.
Blind auditions, in which musicians perform behind a screen to shield their identity, were instituted to redress the longstanding exclusion of people of color and women from orchestras. Blind auditions were successful in some regards, but the percentage of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color musicians has not risen significantly over the years. Is it time to rethink blind auditions?
The transition of board leadership at orchestras is always a delicate balancing act, and the pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to board chairs—as well as unexpected opportunities. Here, incoming and outgoing board chairs at three orchestras reveal how they view their roles, what they foresee for the future, and how they got involved with orchestras in the first place.
The world has radically changed from just a year ago, as orchestras have grappled with the pandemic and have sought to confront racial injustice. The League’s 2021 National Conference will explore what must change from the past, what the future might look like, and how we will get there.
News and updates from orchestras everywhere. In this issue: League Issues Statement Condemning Violence Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Sounds of Santa Rosa Clearing the Air with Music 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grants Announced
Read the whole issue online via Issuu.
It sounds like sci fi: “the before times.” But before COVID-19, orchestra seasons were planned down to the hemidemisemiquaver, announced half a year before opening night, and then launched like so many swans—gorgeous and unruffled on top, paddling madly below. Change—when it happened—was difficult, protracted, in part because of practicalities like the availability of in-demand …
Join the Volunteer Council as we explore new ideas and strategies to reinvigorate our volunteers. Topics include: evaluating your role as orchestra volunteers in a post-COVID world, diversifying your membership, recruiting and prospecting, how to engage and mentor new members, and best practices in recognizing, rewarding, and retaining members. Joining us will be Doris Parent, Vice President of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Strategies (IDEAS) at The Philadelphia Orchestra.
We congratulate the Ford Musician Awardees! They work with both adults and children in a rich variety of community settings: using music as a therapeutic tool for adults with severe and persistent mental health challenges; providing pop-up concerts during food bank distributions; bringing orchestra musicians to a regional hospital and the many constituents it serves; …