Peabody Alumni Weekend is coming soon: April 29 – May 2! This year, we are offering alumni the opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni and make new connections with current students, faculty, and Conservatory leadership with our virtual programming. We will be featuring performances, programs on financial planning, departmental gatherings, and more! For any questions, please reach out to peabodyalumni@jhu.edu.

It has been just a few short weeks since I wrote to members of the Peabody community in response to the horrific shootings that took place in Atlanta, whose victims included mostly Asian American women. This tragic event took on even more gravity in the context of the alarming rise in hate crimes targeting Asians and Asian Americans in this country over the last several years. It is also not unreasonable to conclude that these events have been exacerbated by political rhetoric pertaining to the pandemic and the origin of the virus. As the dad of an Asian American child, I can attest first hand to the impact that these events have had on our Asian American citizens. It is for this reason that this week Peabody hosts a Town Hall for our campus community on this recent escalation in violence against Asians and Asian Americans. At the same time, over this past week, we’ve watched the trial on the George Floyd murder unfolding and heard the excruciating testimony of eyewitnesses as they relived the trauma of that event.

I know I speak for all of Peabody when I say we stand against these unacceptable, violent, and racist acts by any individual or group. And more than that, Peabody will continue to make anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion a centerpiece of our mission and a force for change in the performing arts field through the proactive work we will continue to do in the creation of a more diverse faculty, student cohort, staff, and advisory board at Peabody; through the work to diversify and open up our curriculum; and through the hard work necessary to ensure a culture that is inclusive, welcoming, and safe for every member of our community and an example for our field.

Fred Bronstein, Dean

Guitar Professor Manuel Barrueco (BM ’75, Guitar) will perform a recital online through the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society. The performance will include works by Scarlatti, Ponce, Malats, and Cervantes, as well as the world premiere of “Between Earth and Sky” by Jordan Chase (DMA ’20, Composition), commissioned by BCGS and performed by the Barrueco Studio Ensemble. Find tickets at BCGS.org.

Percussion faculty artist Ji Su Jung (BM ’16, GPD ’17, Percussion) makes her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut in Emmanuel Séjourné's Concerto for Marimba and Strings, in a streaming concert also featuring BSO Assistant Conductor Jonathan Rush (MM ’19, Conducting). This free episode of the BSO Sessions series premieres on April 14 and is available on-demand through June 2021.

Natalie Draper’s (DMA ’17, Composition) electronic composition “Monochrome” will be one of three new artworks featured in Mind on Fire's Virtual Variety Show. Mind on Fire is a musical arts cooperative directed by James David Young (DMA ’14, Composition) and Allison Clendaniel (BM ’12, Voice). The virtual event is free and open to the public.

Cello Professor Amit Peled presents a one-hour, in-person recital entitled “When Bach Met Bloch,” featuring works for solo cello by J. S. Bach and Ernest Bloch. The event is part of the Sounds of Hope & Harmony recital series, presented by Classical Movements at The Secret Garden at the Rectory in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Tickets and details, including about COVID precautions, are available on EventBrite.

Composition Professor Michael Hersch (BM ’95, MM ’97, Composition) joined forces with sculptor Christopher Cairns to create "...thus far and no further," a series of intimate, in-person concerts in Cairns’ studio space in Havertown, Pennsylvania. This second performance in the series will feature soprano and Associate Professor of Voice Ah Young Hong with violinist Miranda Cuckson performing works by Missy Mazzoli, György Kurtág, and Distinguished Composer-in-Residence Georg Friedrich Haas. Visit arezzomusic.com/thusfar for details.

_______________________________

Peabody Notes highlights select off-campus performances featuring Peabody performers. For other events, please visit our Peabody Conservatory Facebook page.