Music Meets Drama

November and December of 2015 will be the months remembered for the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.  As a nation, we mourn and sympathize with the country of France and the state of California.  Social media lit up with pictures of Paris and San Bernardino, expressions of sympathy, pictures of the French flag, quotes from politicians, religious, and philosophical leaders.  Our hearts go out to all affected by these horrible acts and to those who survived. Multiple times on Facebook appeared a quote from American composer/conductor, Leonard Bernstein.  In reply to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, Bernstein wrote a letter to be included in the New York Philharmonic programs that weekend.  The quote: “We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime.  But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rathe...

Women Composers………………. What a pleasure it was in early September of this year to read that young Jessy McCabe, a student at the private Twyford Church of England High School in London, England, stood up to exam boards for the A level music tests.  Among the 63 composers listed on the exam, not one of them was a woman nor were women composers listed on the syllabus for course work.  In Miss McCabe’s estimation, something had to be done and it was her responsibility to correct the wrong done to women composers.  She began a journey to change the way advanced music courses were taught.  She received an apology from the exam board and an assurance that women composers would be included in her music classes.  This young lady had taken a course entitled, “Fearless Futures” which raised the subject of gender inequality.  Her eyes were opened to the role of sexism in all facets of our everyday life.  With her determination to see an end to this so...

Norm Carlberg Looking at my calendar today brought me a reminder that my friend and colleague, Norm Carlberg died unexpectedly ten years ago today.  As we all say, how time has flown.  Yet my memories of Norm are clear and filled with admiration of a good, true, giving person who was extraordinarily talented. In July 2010 my blog entry was about the three directors who made my “Life! Love! Song!  A Visit with Gena Branscombe” show come alive.  Norm Carlberg, Evan Pappas and Ellen Harvey gave of their talents to guide me through the development and performance of this wonderful and fun one-woman show. It was Norm Carlberg with whom I first shared my idea of the show.  Over dinner, I sought his advice on how to go about writing and creating my idea….how to make it a reality.  Listening intently as I recounted my Gena Branscombe journey up to that day, Norm slowly spoke in his deep bass voice, “Just start writing” was his advice….”write and writ...

Stephanie Samaras….. During one’s years as a music student, then as a professional working musician we have many people who guide us, teach us, offer advice and help us along the crazy path of this career. For any musician, your private teacher is much more than a teacher of technique and musical style. My voice teacher, StephanieSamaras , has been the champion and guide of my vocal technique for well over 15 years.  Her knowledge of the human body, human voice and how it all functions to form beautiful sound is to be respected and revered.  Her ability to listen to her student’s singing, diagnose the problem and fix it with exercises or verbal images is something to behold.  I am thankful for her wisdom.  Much more than that, Stephanie is a cheerleader for her students, always making suggestions for repertoire, auditions or work they might find.  Cheerleading also means she is part therapist as well.  Her interest in her students is always for...

Imagine the pain a mother and her family experience when they lose a three year old child to influenza.  The depth of panic and foreboding tragedy that parents feel as they strive to save their baby, all the while knowing there is no hope, is beyond comprehension.  Yet, in early 1919 this scenario was experienced by Gena Branscombe and her husband, John Ferguson Tenney.  In late 1918 the entire family with the exception of Gena had been struck with influenza.  In January 1919, third daughter, Betty, and her older sister Vivian were particularly ill.  Today this outbreak is known as the great influenza epidemic of 1919.  In its wake, the epidemic took young Betty’s life leaving her parents, her two sisters and extended family devastated.  Grief is an animal in and of itself leaving each of us to find our own path to dealing with the loss of someone beloved.  In the process of mourning, we learn to move forward with our lives.  Miss Br...

Preparing art song recitals has always been one of my great loves.  Choosing a theme or a story to tell through songs, then, hunting through countless volumes and stacks of music by assorted composers, finding just the right poetry and songs that fit my idea takes hours and hours of research.  My hope always is that the 15-20 art songs I choose to perform will be a musical challenge for my pianist and me, then the audience will be engaged for a musical journey of not only poignant but entertaining songs.  Yes, this is a lot of work however it is work that brings me joy.   Over the July 4 th weekend of 2014, pianist Julia Bad y and I performed at the Deerfield, Massachusetts’ Memorial Hall Museum. Since this was the celebration of our nation’s independence, why not celebrate America’s poets and composers?  My research took me to anthologies of American songs and song cycles ….. what set our country apart, what songs would best depict life in Amer...

Fifteen years ago my friend, colleague and composer Heather Seaton along with several of her fellow student composers founded the Women Composers Festival of Hartford.  Their collective anger came from the fact that not one woman composer was represented on the Hartt School of Music’s recital programs.  For the next nine years, Heather and her friends saw their initial season of the Women Composers Festival blossom into an international event.  See my blog post of September 2011.  Six years ago Heather invited Martin and I to perform Life! Love! Song! A Visit with Gena Branscombe in Hartford  The following day there was a concert of Gena’s instrumental and choral works.  A weekend of celebrating Gena Branscombe, her life and music was a dream come true.  At the end of her ninth season as director, Heather gave up her leadership and handed off the management role to Daniel Morel.  He has kept the Women Composers Festival moving int...

Published in 1926, Gena Branscombe’s choral work, “The Dancer of Fjaard” was performed frequently by her own Branscombe Choral, the MacDowell Club Chorus of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, the New York Matinee Musicale, Massachusetts Federation of Women’s Clubs and the National Federation of Music Clubs.  Miss Branscombe was the conductor of these performances. What a wonderful selling and purchasing tool E-bay is in our world.  A copy of “The Dancer of Fjaard” came up for sale and obviously I bid on the item and won.  When the music arrived yesterday I opened the envelope and looked at the upper left hand corner of the cover where in very light pencil is written - Monday 9, Tuesday 1:30, Wed 1:00.  Musicians will often write final rehearsal days and times in their music and whoever originally owned and sang this piece did exactly that. Imagine my surprise when I opened to the front page and found Gena Branscombe’s autograph and good wishes.  There i...

Among my treasured musical possessions is a personal letter written to me from conductor Antonia Brico.  Miss Brico (1902-1989) was a famous conductor and pianist, most important a woman conductor, who was known for many firsts during her long career.  The first woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, the first woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic, conducts the San Francisco Symphony, Helsinki Symphony and Hamburg, Germany Symphony orchestras and many more.  She was named conductor of the Women’s Symphony Orchestra in 1939 which later became the Brico Symphony Orchestra.    Settling in Denver, Colorado, Miss Brico founded the Women’s String Ensemble, conducted the Denver Businessmen’s Orchestra that became the Brico Symphony Orchestra and eventually was conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra.  Among her most famous piano students was Judy Collins, folk singer.  A documentary film about the conductor’s life, “Antonia: A Po...