The killing of George Floyd and the impact that it has had on communities across the country, including the pain that it has caused many members of our Peabody community, is profound. Like you, I was horrified by what we all witnessed, and while I cannot begin to understand how this feels as a member of the Black community, I personally want to understand the contributing systemic issues at the deepest level, and I pledge that I am working to do that.
At Peabody we must take action right here, in our community. While Peabody has started to do serious work in diversity, equity, and inclusion in recent years, it is not enough, and we have just begun. That means we must own up to, and confront racism, in our community. We must also help lead change across an industry that for too long has been unwelcoming, exclusionary, and resistant to change. This is an opportunity to not just reflect on these recent events but galvanize our own commitment into action and, in the process, set an example for our field.
I invite you to please review my recent
message to our community addressing these events and laying out a series of specific actions that Peabody is taking going forward. As always, I invite your engagement and thoughts.
Thank you.
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Summer Lessons with Conservatory Faculty
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The Peabody Institute has introduced two exciting new opportunities to study with renowned Conservatory faculty members this summer. Alumni and professional or talented amateur musicians can apply to take six private online lessons with select faculty members through the
Peabody Pro: Summer Lessons package, for professional development or creative inspiration.
Power Up for Conservatory provides an opportunity for talented middle and high school students to study with Conservatory studio faculty and benefit from Peabody’s leading expertise in music entrepreneurship, performance health, and technology – all online. Applications for both programs are due by June 15 and require a performance resume and two short recordings, with all activities available for flexible scheduling between June 29 and August 15.
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Aaron Dworkin
Peabody Preparatory alumnus Aaron Dworkin, founder of the Sphinx Organization, will join other musicians in “
Learning to Listen,” a roundtable discussion addressing the nuances of the Black experience within the classical music community and beyond on Wednesday, June 10, at 5:00 pm ET. The discussion is sponsored by the Young Concert Artists and is in direct response to what is happening across our country.
Washington Garcia
The Omaha Performing Arts will stream an all-Chopin
recital by Washington Garcia (
MM ’98, DMA ’03, Piano) on its Facebook “Live on the Stream Series” on Wednesday, July 1, at 1:00 pm ET.
Andrea González Caballero
Andrea González Caballero (
GPD ’20, Guitar) collaborated remotely to create a new work with composer Dustin Carlson as part of a project by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. To raise money for performers who have lost employment because of COVID-19, 65 GLFCAM composers donated their time to create solo works of 1-3 minutes each. Caballero appeared in a
video premiering one movement of Carlson's
Picture Wandering Ground.
Joel Puckett
Chair and Associate Professor of Music Theory Joel Puckett's opera
The Fix will be included in the Minnesota Opera's new digital summer
series. The opera, a tale of epic proportions set against the backdrop of America’s favorite pastime, baseball, is available for streaming online through Sunday, July 19.
John Walker’s Organ Studio
The organ studio of John Walker presented a virtual
recital featuring Midori Ataka, Wendy Johnston, and Jordan Prescott performing works by J.S. Bach, Samuel Barber, Georg Bohm, and Johannes Brahms.
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Peabody Notes highlights select online performances featuring Peabody performers. For other events, please visit our Peabody Conservatory Facebook
page.
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Matthew Burtner (
MM ’97, Electronic/Computer Music) has been elected to the 2020 class of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars. A sound artist and eco-acoustician, Burtner is a composition and computer technologies professor at the University of Virginia, where he co-directs the Coastal Futures Conservatory. He is also director of the Alaskan-based environmental arts nonprofit organization, EcoSono.
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Composition master's student Victor LaBozzetta III has received the 2019-20 Presser Graduate Music Award. He will receive $10,000 to initiate a performance tour of an interdisciplinary concert, combining dance with new compositions for hammered dulcimer. The concert will explore the transformation of everyday imagination from escapism to profound ideas and actions.
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Wendel Patrick, Warren Wolf, and Brandon Woody
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Assistant Professor Wendel Patrick (pictured), faculty artist Warren Wolf, and Preparatory alumnus Brandon Woody are three of 25 Baltimore artists considered essential listening in a
Baltimore Magazine
article "Black Musicians Write the Soundtrack of the City."
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Alan Choo (
MM ’14, Violin, Early Music; GPD ’16, Violin) and eight other Peabody alumni have formed Singapore's first Baroque orchestra, Red Dot Baroque. The group released a fun educational
video presenting the life, mishaps, and music of the French Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully.
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Adam Rosenblatt and Meng Su
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Preparatory faculty artist Adam Rosenblatt (
BM ’10, Percussion; A&S BS ’10, Molecular/Cellular Biology) and Meng Su (
PC ’09, GPD ’11, MM ’16, AD ’18, Guitar; GPD ’15, Chamber Ensemble) were two recipients of the Maryland State Arts Council's $10,000 Independence Artist Award. Director of LAUNCHPad and guitar faculty artist Zane Forshee (
MM ’01, GPD ’03, DMA ’11, Guitar), Alexandra Gardner (
MM ’97, Composition), and Russell Kirk (
BM ’05, Jazz Saxophone) are among the recipients of the $2,000 award.
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In this new CD by Judith Ingolfsson, professor of violin, she performs the highly demanding sonatas for solo violin by Artur Schnabel, as well as Eduard Erdmann, whose works have not been recorded commercially until now.
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Call for Submissions: Peabody ArtReach
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Peabody ArtReach is a collection of resources and performances to help our artistic community weather the COVID-19 pandemic and stay connected. You can enjoy the amazing performances, teaching moments, healing resources and more that Peabody students, alumni, faculty, and staff have been creating during this time by visiting
Peabody ArtReach online. If you are a member of the Peabody community who has created content in response to the crisis, you can also be a part of this online community project by submitting your creative work to be considered for ArtReach and the Friedheim Library's ArtReach archive, which will serve as a lasting record of our creative processes and innovation during a difficult time. Please visit the
ArtReach archive to learn more and submit your materials.
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