by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Announcements: Ohio Arts Council announces approval of $600K in grants
•Job listings & opportunities: bookkeeper at Firelands Symphony, after-school coordinator for Piano Cleveland, Saxophone & Jazz Day at Dana School of Music, U of A All-Star Band and Honor Band, and OMEA Solo Prep Day
•In the news: two Israeli Philharmonic musicians on the outbreak of war
•Almanac: Alexander Andreyevich Archangelsky & Ned Rorem
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
At its October 18 meeting, the Ohio Arts Council board announced approval of 182 grants totaling nearly $600,000. Details here.
JOB LISTINGS & OTHER OPPORTUNITIES:
The Firelands Symphony is looking for a part-time bookkeeper at its office in Huron.
Piano Cleveland is looking for a coordinator for the PianoLab after-school program.
The Dana School of Music invites high school jazz musicians, saxophone students, music educators, and college music students to attend Saxophone & Jazz Day on November 4 at Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center. The event will feature guest artists Branford Marsalis and Valentin Kovakev (pictured). Register here.
The University of Akron All-Star Band and Honor Band are open for registration and auditions. Those selected will perform alongside UA bands at the 2023 Ohio Band Directors Conference, which takes place on campus from December 1-2. The deadline is today, October 23. More information here.
And high school brass players are invited to sign up for U of A’s OMEA Solo Prep Day, to be held at 5:30 pm tomorrow, October 24 at Guzzetta Hall. Brass faculty will help attendees pick a solo for Ohio Music Educator Association adjudicated events, in addition to offering practice tips (and free pizza). Email jjohnson@uakron.edu for details.
IN THE NEWS:
Writing for VAN Magazine, Merle Krafeld interviews two musicians from the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra to talk about the outbreak of war and how it has changed them. Read here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
by Daniel Hathaway
Russian choral director and composer Alexander Andreyevich Archangelsky was born on (or near) this date in 1846. A niche figure in the greater stream of Russian music, he mainly wrote Russian Orthodox Church music, including an All Night Vigil and masses, and led a choir that made successful tours of Russia and Europe, eventually transitioning from all-male voices to male and female singers.
Listen here to his chilling anthem about the day of judgement, and here to his setting of the Song of Simeon or Nunc Dimittis. Note the octave doublings of the bass line (octavism), which are such a unique feature of Russian choral music.
And American composer and diarist Ned Rorem was born on this date in 1923 in Richmond, Indiana. A prolific composer of art songs, he penned a few operas as well — listen here to a performance of his musical version of Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town. Baldwin Wallace produced the work in 2010.
Rorem’s tell-all diaries have tended to overshadow his compositions. The New Yorker published The Ultimate Diary, a wicked parody of his writings in 1975, and The Paris Review wrote about them in 1999. Rorem sat for an interview with New Music USA’s Frank J. Oteri in 2006. Watch “Ned Rorem at Home” here.