Welcome to my life

            

I was first introduced to the power of music as a 3-year old sitting in church with my parents. I remember keenly watching the pianist play the hymns each week before going home to try and figure out what I had just heard. Since then, I've never lost the urge to discover all that I can about music and how it works. 

 

However, as I've grown older, I've also given more thought to the ways that music functions as part of our larger society. This stems in many ways from the time I spent in college studying broadcast journalism (my second major) and working as a field reporter for the local news station. Those experiences opened my eyes to the shocking lack of awareness that many people have surrounding not only world issues, but issues facing their local communities.
 
I attribute this mainly to a failure of all parties to clearly communicate with each other. Music can bridge these gaps and provide all of us with a digestible way to plug into the world outside of our doors. It is for this reason that I devote a significant portion of my programming to music that speaks towards current social issues, rather than limit myself solely to the wonderful, though sometimes overplayed traditional repertoire. It may be an unreachable aspiration, but I aim to be a conduit for positive social change with every program that I learn.

SO A CLARINETIST & COMEDIAN WALK INTO A BAR…. Classical clarinetist Anthony McGill, the 2020 Avery Fisher prize recipient and the first Black principal player of the New York Philharmonic, and writer/comedian (and fellow clarinetist!) Kimberly Clark (Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready – Season 2 on Netflix; The Late Late Show w/ James Corden) reminisce about growing up as Black band kids in a heartwarming new project honoring the power of music education.

Through a heartwarming combination of photos, performance and conversation, Anthony and Kimberly connect over how being middle school band geeks continues to inform them as performers and people. They share their art and even come together to collaborate on a triumphant clarinet duet. They discuss their intersecting journeys as Black entertainers thriving in entertainment fields dominated by white men.

$55

Gavotte et Six Doubles
Jean-Philippe Rameau 1683-1764

Passacaglia in C-sharp minor
Irene Britton Smith 1907-1999

7 Variations on God Save The King Wo0. 49
Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770-1827

Short Break

Three-Fours Op. 71
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor 1875-1912 I. Allegro molto II. Andante III. Allegro moderato IV. Vivace V. Andante molto VI. Allegro assai

Troubled Water
Margaret Bonds 1913-1972

Fantasie Negre No. 1
Florence B. Price 1887-1953

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