Celebrating Founder's Day
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Each year on February 12 – the date of George Peabody’s founding letter in 1857 – we honor the generosity that established the Peabody Institute with a celebration of the art of philanthropy. The “Today is a Gift” campaign honors George Peabody, who transformed the cultural landscape of 19th-century Baltimore and extended the nation’s intellectual horizons. 162 years after his founding gift, philanthropy and private funding remain critical to sustaining Peabody’s historical excellence. This year, with the help of Nancy Grasmick, a Johns Hopkins University alum and a longtime supporter of the Peabody Institute, we are able to highlight the Breakthrough Curriculum with a special 1:1 matching gift
campaign.
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Recently, two colleagues from other music schools and I delivered a presentation on the subject of diversity in classical music to the chief executive officers of the top orchestras in North America at the League of American Orchestras in New York. Diversity as it pertains to underrepresented minorities is an area that has long vexed our industry, especially in the orchestra world. In 2017, Peabody added
Diversity as its fifth Pillar in its Breakthrough Plan to clearly signal that this is an area of key strategic interest to both Peabody and the wider field. The classical music world can no longer afford to see diversity as peripheral, or even on par with other key issues. In fact, it’s an existential question, key to future audience development and the very survival of the art form. Currently, the United States is a two-thirds white, one-third non-white country. By 2060, it will be the inverse. And we know that the current trajectory for classical music audiences is not a good one. If we want to grow audiences for the future, given demographic trends, we simply must make them more diverse. And audiences will only become truly diverse when the performers on our stages are diverse, making the focus on diversity and inclusion a strategic imperative for the future of classical music and in the interest of all genres of music, dance, and the performing arts in general.
It is for these reasons that Peabody is focused on increasing diversity in what has been a historically homogeneous field. One of the reasons Peabody was asked to help lead the discussion at the League is our commitment to this important work, which has started to show demonstrative results. In fall 2018, the number of underrepresented minority (URM) members of the faculty increased to 17 (10 percent of faculty) as compared with 10 URM faculty (6.5 percent of faculty) in the prior year. And the total URM student cohort for the 2018-19 academic year reached 80 students – the largest to date, representing 13 percent of the total student body, a 36 percent increase from three years ago. We are hopeful in light of this progress, yet much work remains to be done. For that reason, diversity will continue to be an area of intense focus and commitment for Peabody in the years ahead.
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Saturday, February 9, 7:30 pm
Faculty artist Leon Fleisher, piano, will present a concert at the Kennedy Center’s
Terrace Theater in celebration of his 90th birthday. He will be joined by Jonathan Biss, the Dover Quartet, and Rachel Cain in performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Leon Kirchner, and Mozart. The evening includes a Q&A with
Washington Post Chief Classical Music Critic Anne Midgette, who co-authored Fleisher’s memoir,
My Nine Lives.
Saturday, February 9, 8:00 pm
Faculty artist Manuel Barrueco (
BM ’75, Guitar) will perform at
92nd Street Y in the Kaufmann Concert Hall. He will present works from Cuba and Spain, the two most important sources of music for the guitar. Works by Milán, Angulo, Cervates, Orbón, Granados, and Albéniz will be played.
Monday, February 11, 7:30 pm
PREformances, founded by Allison Charney (
MM ’91, AD ’94, Voice), will present New York Philharmonic principal cellist Carter Brey (
BM ’76, Cello) in his series debut at the Kaufman Music Center. Charney, who serves as artistic director of the series, will perform the final movement from Kim Sherman’s
THE CLARA CYCLE, which receives its world premiere at Steinway Hall in honor of Women’s History Month on the new series Her/Music; Her/Story.
February 14-17
Members of the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble will perform in the
Conciertos de la Villa de Santo Domingo Festival, February 14-17. Students Olivia Castor, harp; Colton Hodge, bass viola da gamba; Katherine Holobinko, soprano; Sarah Shodja, recorders; Cameron Welke, lute; Mara Yaffee, soprano; and Stephanie Zimmerman, Renaissance violin, will present two concerts as well as outreach concerts in the Dominican Republic.
Monday, February 18, Tuesday, February 19, 6:00 pm
The Conservatory Project at the Kennedy Center will present Peabody students and alumni on the Millennium Stage. On Monday, Ankit Anil (
BM ’18, Viola), Preparatory alumna Rebecca Barnett, and Minzo Kim (
BM ’16, Cello) will perform Brahms’ Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 1. On Tuesday, February 19, the Peabody Percussion Group will perform works by Alejandro Viñao, Keith Jarrett, Matt Keown, and George Hamilton Green.
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Peabody Events highlights select off-campus or live-streamed performances featuring Peabody performers. For other events, please visit our Peabody Institute Concerts Facebook page. For the complete weekly list of concerts at Peabody, subscribe to Events at Peabody at peabody.jhu.edu/news.
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Jason Love (
BM '92, Cello; MM '94, Conducting) will celebrate his 20th anniversary conducting the
Columbia Orchestra with a concert featuring Mussorgsky’s
Pictures at an Exhibition, the first piece Love conducted with the orchestra in 1999. Love will also perform as featured cello soloist for the U.S. premiere of a cello concerto by Guillaume Connesson, led by Glenn Quader (
MM '03, Conducting).
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Soprano Christine Lyons (
MM ’16, Voice) won first place in the New England regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions held at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall on January 27. She won $6,000, coaching time with the Metropolitan Opera's artistic staff, and will advance to the national semifinals on March 24.
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Master’s candidate William Meinert, bass, won first place in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition and performed in its major gala, the Concert of Arias. The competition is held annually to identify candidates for the opera’s internationally acclaimed studio program, which nurtures young artists who have the potential for major careers in opera.
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Composer Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei (
MM ’17, Composition) was selected to participate in the Choral Art Program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. This workshop brings together composers, conductors, and choirs to explore the creation and presentation of choral music century. From February 11 to March 2, Sabzghabaei will be in residence at the Banff Centre, working with Pro Coro Canada.
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Richard Antoine White (
BM ’96, Tuba) is the subject of a documentary film called
R.A.W. Tuba. The film chronicles White’s journey from being a homeless child in West Baltimore to his successes as the first African American to earn a doctorate in music for tuba performance. The film will be pre-screened at sold out events at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where White began his music education, this weekend.
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Jake Leckie (
MA '08, Audio Sciences) released his debut album,
The Abode, which brings together a wide range of musicians and displays many different styles and ideas of music. Released on Outside in Music, the eight tracks on this collection evoke a true sense of place and home.
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Faculty artist Amit Peled, cello, released his latest album, Bach Suites Volume 1, on CTM Classics. This CD is the first time that Bach’s Suites have been recorded on the 1733 Goffriller cello formerly owned by Pablo Casals since Casals’ own path-breaking venture in 1936.
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The British pianist Adam Swayne released an album featuring Amy Beth Kirsten’s (
DMA '10, Composition) titular work for vocalizing pianist, “Speak to Me.” The CD presents piano works, some of which refer to current political events or pop culture.
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Alumni Celebration Weekend
Save the Dates!
April 26 – 28, 2019
Honored Classes:
50th Reunion, 1968 & 1969
40th Reunion, 1978 & 1979
25th Reunion, 1993 & 1994
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