CONCERT PREVIEW: Viola and Vixens: Women in Classical Composition

Posted on March 31, 2016 by maestrobeats

If you attended a major symphony performance anywhere in the U.S. last year, chances are you did not see any works by women composers.

Infographic by Rachel Upton and Ricky O’Bannon.

In fact, if you’re like most Americans, it’s quite conceivable that you have never seen a live performance of a symphonic work by a woman composer.

According to a survey of the 22 largest American orchestras, women composers accounted for only 1.8 percent of the total pieces performed in the 2014-2015 concert season. And of the performances of works by living composers, women accounted for just 14.3 percent.

To say that women are underrepresented in the classical music canon would be an understatement. Women are clearly not being heard—the question is, why is nobody listening?

Amber Archibald-Sesek Learn about this and many more issues of feminism in classical music at Dr. Amber Archibald-Sešek’s FREE Viola and Vixens recital tonight, which features the WORLD PREMIERE of Seattle-based composer and clarinetist Angelique Poteat’s new piece, “Water Pastels.” Also included on the program are three other leading contemporary female composers: Rebecca Clarke, Libby Larsen, and Amanda Harberg.

I am also very proud to announce that yours truly will be presenting the pre-concert lecture on the past, present, and future of feminism in classical music.

My lecture will traverse the following topics:

1. Who are some of the key women composers in music history?
2. Why are these women are not included in the Western classical music canon?
3. How does this relate to larger issues in feminism?
4. How can we begin fixing the issue of women being underrepresented?
5. What might the future of classical music might look like?

I won’t give too much away, but I will say it’s an event you definitely do not want to miss!

Viola and Vixens is on Thursday, March 31 at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium on Capitol Hill. This concert is FREE, though donations will be accepted to help fund the Seattle U viola studio’s upcoming trip the American Viola Society conference in Oberlin, Ohio. The pre-concert lecture starts at 6:30 p.m., and the concert starts at 7:30 p.m. For more information, please visit this link.

Second Inversion presents Seattle Rock Orchestra Quintet & Tamara Power-Drutis (Saturday, April 9, 8pm)

Posted on March 30, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

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For nearly 70 years, KING FM has been Seattle’s classical radio station. In this day and age, radio stations are becoming much more than boxes that play music.

Our latest venture is a concert series of intimate performances at Bellevue’s newest concert hall, RESONANCE at SOMA Towers. Throughout the 2015-16 season, each concert has spotlighted brilliant local musicians and includes a little something extra, whether it’s food, wine, dancing or exclusive talks. Early Music Underground kicked off the season with a music and wine pairing, KING FM hosts Lisa Bergman, Dave Beck, and Bryan Lowe came out of the broadcast booth and onto the stage with their instruments. A Viennese New Years Waltz kicked off 2016 with style and grace. Musical husband-wife duos took the stage for a Valentine’s Day celebration. The Sempre Sisters, Brandon Vance & Eliot Grasso, and Magical Strings infused classical music with Irish fervor for a happy hour concert during the week of St. Paddy’s day.

And now, on Saturday, April 9 at 8pm, to close the season, Second Inversion is taking over and bringing some cross-genre fusion to RESONANCE with the Seattle Rock Orchestra Quintet featuring the inimitable, versatile vocalist Tamara Power-Drutis. These fine musicians will transform popular song into art song, performing a program that reimagines the work of artists such as Radiohead, Beck, Bjork and others as intimate and emotional chamber works born for the recital hall.

Join us there!

Guest Blogging at New Music Box

Posted on March 22, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Last month, I had the great pleasure of blogging over at New Music Box, a publication from New Music USA. My topics ranged from careers in music to community to classifying genre to the state of radio. If you missed any of them, we’ve got a recap for you here!

What I Didn’t Learn in Music School: “If you’re earning a comfortable wage and living a happy life doing Exactly What You Thought You’d Do With Your Degree(s), I applaud you. Sincerely! I am among the many people in the music world who are not, but I couldn’t be happier with where I landed…” Read the full post here.

Overthinking Genre: “Second Inversion is a project dedicated to rethinking classical music, presenting new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre. What does that mean? All corners of the classical genre? Even just ‘genre’? And how does one describe, define, and label this sonic palate that is perhaps most commonly referred to as ‘new music’? It’s a question I confront daily, but there’s no clear answer and it’s a hot topic in recent blog posts and Facebook discussions within the community…” Read the full post here.

An Ode to Community: “Which communities do I belong to? Why are they important to me? What is my role in each one? Does community mean the same thing to me as to other people? What value do they add to my life? How can I impact my fellow community members in positive ways? Though I’m a part of many communities, I realize now that I’ve spent much of my life simply existing and participating in them, but not fully appreciating the innumerable facets of beauty and possibility that they offer….” Read the full post here.

The Case for Radio: “‘Is radio dying?’ I’ve been hearing this ominous question for years, especially in the context of the plethora of digital music platforms—Spotify, Pandora, our personal music collections, YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and many more. Can good old-fashioned radio continue to thrive among the other options out there? I believe the answer is yes; radio is evolving, not dying, and there are foundational principles of radio that can’t compete with fancy new technologies…” Read the full post here.

And for fun, a related info graphic from the University of Florida.

LIVE BROADCAST: Friday, March 18 at 7:30pm: Pianist Jeremy Denk presented by the UW World Series

Posted on March 15, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

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Join us for a special LIVE broadcast this Friday, March 18 at 7:30pm (PT) of pianist Jeremy Denk presented by the UW World Series at Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. Denk is the winner of a 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award. This Friday’s program features a huge variety of music, some newer, some older, all worth tuning in for or better yet, coming to see live if you’re in Seattle! The New York Times called Denk a musician “you want to hear no matter what he performs.”

Program:
Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808
Byrd: Ninth Pavan and Galliard in D Minor from Lady Nevell’s Book
Bolcom: Graceful Ghost Rag
Hayden/Joplin: Sunflower Slow Drag
Tatum: Tea for Two
Hindemith: Ragtime from 1922
Stravinsky: Piano-Rag-Music
Ives: Ragtime Dances No. 3 & 4 from Four Ragtime Dances
Nancarrow: Canon
Lambert: Pilgrim’s Chorus from Tannhauser
Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

SI host Geoffrey Larson will keep you company on the stream for the broadcast on Friday night and if you come to the show, say hello to Maggie Molloy in the lobby, enter to win a fabulous prize, and grab some SI swag!

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LIVE BROADCAST: Thursday, February 25 at 7:30pm: ‘we do it to one another’ by Joshua Roman

Posted on February 24, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Join us for a special LIVE broadcast this Thursday, February 25 at 7:30pm (PT) from Town Hall, Seattle. This program features Joshua Roman’s commissioned song cycle, we do it to one another set to Tracy K. Smith’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of Poetry, Life on Mars (conducted by Joshua Roman and featuring Soprano soloist Jessica Rivera), readings by Smith, and a conversation between the artists on the creative process, music, and poetry.

The Seattle premiere of this piece is an unprecedented partnership between Town Hall and local literary organization Seattle Arts & Lectures, bringing together all the elements we love about events here–community, collaboration, and creation of new work. Truly history in the making.

If you’re in Seattle, we’d love to see you there! Tickets are available here. Say hi to Seth Tompkins at the Second Inversion broadcast table and grab a Second Inversion magnet!

Download our app or click here to listen to the broadcast, streaming live on Thursday evening at 7:30pm!