by Daniel Hathaway
TODAY’S ALMANAC — A QUIZ!
See if you can identify from the bulleted clues these five composers whose milestones we celebrate today, then click through the link to check your answers and enjoy examples of their music.
Died in Paris in 1772
- worked at Versailles from 1739-1770
- wrote a set of a dozen pieces you’ll not likely hear played in June
- but you might hear a performance of Le coucou
Click here for the answer
Born in Bergen in 1843
- family name associated with the Scottish Clan Gregor
- distantly related to Glenn Gould
- honored with a statue in Seattle and a crater on the planet Mercury
Click here for the answer
Born in Armagh, Ireland in 1886
- taught both Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells
- first director of music and organist at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
- co-edited three books of carols with G.R. Woodward using Renaissance tunes
Click here for the answer
Born in Kansas City in 1894
- worked as George Gershwin’s assistant and orchestrator
- wrote more than seven symphonies and five concertos
- wrote orchestrations for the film versions of Showboat and Oklahoma!
Click here for the answer
Born in Milwaukee in 1900
- studied with Busoni and was actor and stage manager for James Joyce’s English Players
- conducted the premieres of Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All and Menotti’s The Medium
- his manipulations of flute recordings on magnetic tape in a 1952 concert at MOMA led to an appearance on The Today Show with Dave Garroway
Click here for the answer
TODAY ONLINE:
It’s summer, and the calendar is thinning out — at least on days like today. Late tonight, tune in to the West Coast Chamber Music Concerts to hear Portraits of Josephine, by Imani Winds’ flutist Valerie Coleman, along with works by Ligeti and Beethoven.\
Or explore the Musical America calendar of (mostly) free online events through the link at the top of our Concert Listings page. We comb these listings to select items we think will be of particular interest to the Northeast Ohio audience, but you may discover something you find personally interesting. Today’s streams bring you performances by Bach Collegium Japan, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, International Contemporary Ensemble, Caramoor, the MET Opera, and The Knights (from Naumburg, Germany).
IN THE NEWS:
The Cleveland Institute of Music has appointed Scott Harrison as the school’s first executive vice president and provost, effective August 16, completing a leadership team that includes Deans Jerrod Price, Dean Southern and Madeline Lucas Tolliver. Read more here.
Oberlin’s Assistant Professor of Conducting Tiffany Chang has been named an inaugural recipient of OPERA America’s 2021 Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors. Chang will make her debut at Opera Columbus conducting Puccini’s Tosca during the 2021-22 season. Read the press release here.
Cleveland Orchestra violinist Miho Hashizume is one of five U.S. musicians to receive a Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service by the League of American Orchestras. Hashizume was honored for her work with the Orchestra’s Crescendo program, which brings together musicians and students in some of Cleveland’s most under-resourced neighborhoods, and has provided instruments and music instruction to students in Slavic Village and Hough since 2018. Watch a video here.
INTERESTING READ:
Earlier in his career, the celebrated pianist Andras Schiff dismissed period instrument performances, telling a reporter in a 1983 interview, “I’ve heard some ghastly things done in the name of authenticity.” Jaws are now dropping as the pianist, now 67, has made a U-turn and recently recorded both of Brahms’ concertos using a contemporary instrument made by Julius Blüthner in Leipzig in 1859. Conducting from the keyboard, Schiff leads an ensemble of 50-some members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, who perform on gut strings. Read a New York Times story here.