Billy Childs: Creative Process, Internal Pressures & Racial Identity
Composer/pianist Billy Childs shares the impact of the pandemic and systemic racism in America on his creativity and how he returns to his writing process with practice and persistence.
Writing Music for Developing Instrumentalists and Singers
Developing instrumentalists and singers need technically and financially accessible works from living composers. Here is a mix of practical and philosophical ideas for how you can help.
Dale Trumbore: Recognizing Anxiety, Creating with Empathy
Composers and best friends Dale Trumbore and Julia Adolphe discuss living with anxiety disorders and writing during a pandemic.
Different Cities Different Voices: Chicago
Different Cities Different Voices is a new bi-monthly series from NewMusicBox that explores music communities across the US through the voices of local creators and innovators. Discover what is unique about each city’s new music scene through a set of personal essays written by people living and creating there, and hear music from local artists… Read more »
Sidney Hopson: Resilience Through Music & Cultural Policy
Percussionist and arts policy consultant Sidney Hopson’s discovery of cultural policy enabled him to combat audition anxiety, a decade of depression, and the pervasive racism of the classical music industry.
Choral Singing on the Brink of Delta
Concert cancellations are likely to commence in the coming weeks and we should be concerned for the musicians and the small choral art organizations who support them.
Renée Baker: Nothing's Gonna Stop You From Creating
Spending an hour over Zoom chatting with Renée Baker about her more than two thousand musical compositions and perhaps almost as many paintings was inspirational as well as motivational. Renée does not let anything deter her and while her music is extremely wide ranging and gleefully embraces freedom of expression, her daily schedule is precise and meticulous.
Zoom Tips for Private Music Instructors
Unfortunately, many of us are back to feeling unsafe when it comes to in-person learning, due to the increase in the Delta variant. Here are some tips for private music teachers who are transitioning back to Zoom learning.
Aiden K. Feltkamp: Transgender Identity, Neurodivergence & the Lens of Equity
Librettist & Singer Aiden K. Feltkamp, who serves as the Emerging Composers and Diversity Director at the American Composers Orchestra, speaks openly about their personal experience transitioning, the impact that Gender Dysphoria (experiencing discord between one’s gender identity & one’s assigned sex at birth) had on their mental health, & how writing helped their healing process.
Wanted: Orchestral Scores by Composers Not Named Beethoven
As I comb the internet for pieces to use in the introductory orchestration course I will teach for the second time this fall, I am reminded of a familiar frustration: it is easy to find scores by white men, and much harder to find scores by anyone else.
Hila Plitmann: Healing through Creativity
Soprano Hila Plitman shares her thoughts on mantra singing, motherhood, and how “the mind is a playful instrument.”
Adolphus Hailstork: Music is a Service
“Music is supposed to have meaning,” says Dr. Adolphus Hailstork whose music captures the tribulations and the occasional triumphs of African Americans in this country. Hailstork’s 80th birthday year got off to an impressive start with a performance of his music as part of the Presidential Inauguration ceremony of Joe Biden. Since then there has been a world premiere of a concert aria he composed to commemorate the centenary of the Tulsa Massacre and he awaits the premiere of his recently completed Fourth Symphony.
Jessie Montgomery: Reclaiming Creative Play & the Process of Anti-Racism
Composer and Violinist Jessie Montgomery shares how she has shifted her creative process since the pandemic began to cultivate a sense of playful freedom and reconnect with her childhood love of diverse musical styles.
Do You Hear What I See?
A visual that inspires the composer or improviser is sure to also inspire audiences to a fuller and more moving experience. The Kentler International Drawing Center is driving this connection home with its now-touring exhibition Music as Image and Metaphor.
McQueen & Blankenship: Partnership, Power & Vulnerability
Co-hosts of the Trilloquy podcast Garrett McQueen and Scott Blankenship share their experiences with depression, therapy, medication, cannabis, creativity, and addiction.
Upon Arrival: Experiencing My First Live Concert in Over 15 Months
I never thought I would feel so grateful for the small sounds of people coexisting with me, yet there I was, bobbing my head along, feeling pure contentment and gratitude for sharing this space with all of these strangers.
Susie Ibarra: Hybrid Culture
Susie Ibarra’s collaborative approach has informed her work with jazz, classical, indie rock, and traditional Philippine musicians.
Anxiety as an Editing Eye
The lingering anxiety that appears while I write can actually serve as a tool in the editing process, provided it remains in check and in direct dialogue with my work.
Christopher Trapani: Depression, Memory & Communication
Christopher Trapani evades and encodes the filter of depression into his music, as he tells Julia Adolphe in the latest episode of her LooseLeaf Notebook podcast. They also discuss myths about the tortured artist, medication, and therapy, and how mental health challenges can be better addressed in the workplace and in schools.
Tania León Orchestral Work Stride Awarded 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music
Tania León has been awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her orchestra work Stride which received its world premiere in a performance by The New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden in David Geffen Hall in New York City on February 13, 2020. According to the Pulitzer Prize guidelines, the annually awarded… Read more »
The Art of Being True: Sonic Ritual & Favorite Quarantine Recipes
In our final pair of excerpts from the M³ anthology, The Art of Being True, Val Jeanty explains how Vodou Culture has informed her own artistic practice and Tomeka Reid shares her recipe for Sunflower Butter.
The Art of Being True: Liberalism in Music & Stream of Consciousness
In our 5th installment of excerpts from the M³ anthology, Lesley Mok explains how conservatories co-opt the politics of “anti-racism” and Romarna Campbell describes the multiple identities contained for her in the word “skin.”
The Attraction of the Tortured Artist Myth
Julia Adolphe shares her thoughts on why the myth of the tortured artist has been attractive to society as well as to herself personally as she was struggling to come to terms with Anxiety Disorder.
The Art of Being True: Remembering Philly Joe & Your Backstory Is the Real Story
In our latest installment of excerpts from the M³ anthology, Sumi Tonooka remember Philly Joe Jones — “the last band leader that any parent would want to see their teenage daughter go out on the road with!” — and Jen Shyu contemplates parenthood: “Don’t wait for your ‘clock’ to start ticking. You might not hear it.”
