Music Meets Drama

Among conductor Xian Zhang’s many accomplishments are eight seasons of being Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  With the Philadelphia Orchestra she won a Grammy Award for the Deutsche Grammophon release Letters for Future .  As guest conductor she has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.   Quite impressive!   Add to those accomplishments, she is the new Music Director of the Seattle Symphony having signed a five-year contract beginning in the 2025-2026 season.  Another land mark for her, Zhang is the first woman to lead a major West Coast orchestra.  Congratulations to Xian Zhang and many thanks to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for choosing a woman conductor who will lead your orchestra into the future.   #BringingBackBranscombe

  In August 2011 I wrote of Gena Branscombe’s initiation and membership in three professional fraternities, one of which was Zeta Tau Alpha.   Recently an article from “Themis of Zeta Tau Alpha” dated November 1, 1941, came into my possession. In the article are two pictures of Miss Branscombe that I have previously never seen.  The picture of her holding a baton; with intensity she is in control ready to give a downbeat, her performers’ complete attention is obvious from the look in her eyes.  Let the music ring forth.  She is performance ready; she’s wearing a string of pearls!   The second picture was taken on the evening of her initiation into Zeta Tau Alpha which took place in Edgewater Gulf, Mississippi.     Gena became an editor for the Zeta Tau Alpha song book.  Not only was she a national initiate, she was actively involved sharing her musical talent.    The article is biographical describing her family, educa...

  The glass ceiling for women conductors is being shattered this summer when three women lead performances of Wagner’s operas at the Bayreuth Festival.   YES!   In  2021, Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv became the first woman to conduct at Richard Wagner’s theatre, Bayreuth.  Wagner initiated his company in 1876 ---- it only took 145 years for a woman to conduct there.  Maestra Lyniv debuted conducting “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)” and has returned this summer to lead that same opera. Simone Young , the first Australian conductor at Bayreuth, will lead performances of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” She is the first woman to ever perform those four wonderful operas at Wagner’s Bayreuth festival ---- 147 years after its founding.   French conductor Nathalie Stutzmann made her Bayreuth debut in 2023 leading performances of “Tannhauser.”   She returns this summer to lead an open air concert and “Tannhauser.”     Congratulations...

Congratulations and welcome to The Gena Branscombe Project's Board, Jessica Bloch.  A music entrepreneur, wonderful soprano, voice teacher, performer and as you can tell, a real go-getter!     #BringingBackBranscombe

Congratulations to The Gena Branscombe Project 2024 Scholarship Winners! Emily Clements - Composer Braeden Weyhrich - Conductor Maclain Hardin-Kurza - Arts Administration #BringingBackBranscombe  

 When my phone rang this morning with the caller being a friend from Bar Harbor, Maine, where I had performed countless times with conductor Shirley Smith, I knew what news might be coming.  Shirley had died yesterday.  A large Maine coast ocean wave of sadness washed over me.  Shirley…..how does one describe Shirley Smith?   Down home, no nonsense, wore jeans, t shirts and sneakers to rehearsal, rugged enough to survive numerous brutal Maine winters and damaging ice storms, honest, sentimental, lover of dogs, a good musician and organist, a good conductor, crazy sense of humor whose contagious laughter sent sparks of delight through a room.   For 23 years she led the Acadia Choral Society in programs from the Mozart “Requiem,”   Verdi’s “Requiem,” opera choruses, Purcell’s “Ode on St. Cecilia,” a staged version of “Dido and Aeneas,” Brahms’ “Requiem,” creative Holiday programs and much more.   Her chorus was always well prepared and her orchest...

  The Vienna Philharmonic was founded in 1844.   For the first time in their 180 years of male exclusivity, the Vienna Philharmonic has invited a woman to conduct a subscription concert.   180 years of misogyny!   Breaking that 180 year record, Lithuanian born Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla will make her debut with the orchestra on May 3, 2025.     She is the former music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony, has conducted at the Bavarian State Opera and the Proms.   She is the first female conductor to sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.     Another hurdle for women conductors was made at the Metropolitan Opera.   Since the 1880s the Metropolitan Opera has had only four women conductors grace their podium including Sarah Caldwell, Simone Young, Jane Glover and Susanna Mälkki. On April 19 th Oksana Lyniv conducted Puccini’s “Turandot,” April 20 th Speranza Scappucci conducted Puccini’s “La Rodine,” April 23 rd saw Ma...