Carlos Simon (composer)
Carlos Simon (born 1986) is an African-American composer of Western classical music. He is the composer in residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, inaugural Composer Chair for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and associate professor at Georgetown University. Early life and career Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Atlanta, Simon is the son of a preacher and grew up in a household where he was forbidden to listen to anything other than gospel music; he has described gospel's improvisatory nature as a critical influence in the development of his own compositional style, alongside the more formal elements of the work of such composers as Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. Beginning at the age of ten he played piano for Sunday services at his father's church, at which point he began formal piano lessons as well. Later in life he spent time as keyboardist and musical director for R&B artists Angie Stone and Jennifer Holliday. He completed degrees at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Western Classical Music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can also be applied to List of classical and art music traditions, non-Western art musics. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and Harmony, harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century, it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated music notation, notational system, as well as accompanying literature in music analysis, analytical, music criticism, critical, Music history, historiographical, musicology, musicological and Philosophy of music, philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or com ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sphinx Organization
The Sphinx Organization is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of young Black and Latino classical musicians. Based in Detroit, Michigan, it was founded by the American violinist Aaron Dworkin. The Sphinx was chosen to represent this organization because of what it symbolizes: "the power, wisdom and persistence" that the organization hopes to instill in its participants. History At age 25, Aaron P. Dworkin began the Sphinx Competition. While he was immediately met with skepticism from his violin teacher and the dean of the University of Michigan School of Music, his passion about the endeavor won them over. He was allotted $40,000 over the course of three years from the dean, Dr. Paul Boylan and gained grant money from other organizations including Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, Ford Motor Co., Masco Corp., and the Wolfensohn Family Foundation. In January 2010 the Sphinx Competition celebrated its 13th year. Since the start of the first annual co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shooting Of Trayvon Martin
On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, who was visiting his father while suspended from his Miami-area school. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old multiracial man who identifies as Hispanic, was a neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community where Martin was visiting relatives at the time of the shooting. Zimmerman became suspicious of Martin and called police; Martin attacked Zimmerman and then Zimmerman shot him with a pistol he was licensed to carry. In a widely reported trial, Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for Martin's death, but acquitted by the jury after claiming self-defense, although Martin was unarmed. The incident was reviewed by the Department of Justice for potential civil rights violations, but no additional charges were filed. Parties involved Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin was the son of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Marti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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String Quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violinists, a Viola, violist, and a Cello, cellist. The string quartet was developed into its present form by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, whose works in the 1750s established the ensemble as a group of four more-or-less equal partners. Since that time, the string quartet has been considered a prestigious form; writing for four instruments with broadly similar characteristics both constrains and tests a composer. String quartet composition flourished in the Classical music era, Classical era, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven and Franz Schubert, Schubert each wrote a number of them. Many Romantic era music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-twentieth-century composers composed string quarte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Social Justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fulfill their societal roles and receive their due from society. In the current movements for social justice, the emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets, and economic justice. Social justice assigns rights and duties in the institutions of society, which enables people to receive the basic benefits and burdens of cooperation. The relevant institutions often include taxation, social insurance, public health, public school, public services, labor law and regulation of markets, to ensure distribution of wealth, and equal opportunity. Modernist interpretations that relate justice to a reciprocal relationship to society a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for ceremonial state affairs, presidential inaugurations and official holiday celebrations, including the annual ''National Memorial Day Concert'' in May and ''A Capitol Fourth'' concerts on July 4. The NSO presents a 52-week season of approximately 175 concerts each year. These include classical subscription series, Traditional pop, pops concerts, and educational programs. History After an initial ad-hoc concert on January 31, 1930, the NSO was officially organized by the Dutch-born American cellist Hans Kindler in 1931, and remained under his direction until 1949. In the early years, Kindler often relied on unemployed local talent or borrowed musici ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall * The DiMenna Center * The Mannes School of Music * Winter Garden at Brookfield Place * Miller Theatre at Columbia University History Francis Thorne, Dennis Russell Davies, Paul Lustig Dunkel and Nicolas Roussakis co-founded the ACO in 1975. The ACO gave its first performance on 7 February 1977 at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Davies served as the ACO's founding music director from 1977 to 2002, and now has the title of conductor laureate with the ACO. In November 2000, Steven Sloane was named the ACO's new music director, effective with the 2002–2003 season. The appointment was unusual in that Sloane had not conducted the ACO prior to his appointment. Sloane's first conducting appearance with the ACO was in Ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reno Philharmonic Orchestra
The Reno Philharmonic Orchestra (Reno Phil) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Reno, Nevada. Its season runs from late September through April. The current music director is Laura Jackson. History and organizational facts The orchestra was founded in 1969 and is now led by music director Laura Jackson, is made up of over 60 professional musicians. They perform in Reno, Carson Valley, and the Lake Tahoe Region in various outdoor and indoor venues. The popular Classix Series is presented from September to April. The orchestra also presents over 10 specialty performances throughout the year from the holiday classic, Spirit of the Season to July 4 in Genoa, Lake Tahoe Music Festival, and the perennially sold out Pops on the River. The first performance in the orchestra was in 1969. Conductor Laura Jackson was named music director after the 2008–2009 audition season. The two-year search audition gained national recognition for its detailed process, the talented and dive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Washington National Opera
Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Opera in Washington, DC had become established after World War I and it did flourish for a time as the Washington National Opera Association until the Depression and World War Two years, and into the 1960s in various outdoor opera venues. However, with the establishment of the Opera Society of Washington in 1956–57, the way was laid for a company to function in the city, especially after the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971 and its move there in 1979. After making initial appearances with the company from 1986 onwards, tenor Plácido Domingo took over as general director in 1996, a post which he held until June 2011, after which the company ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with Enrico Lopez-Yañez as Principal Pops Conductor, Tabita Berglund as Principal Guest Conductor and Na'Zir McFadden as assistant conductor. Leonard Slatkin, the previous music director, is the orchestra's current music director laureate. Neeme Järvi, music director from 1990 to 2005, is the orchestra's current music director emeritus. History Founding and growth The DSO performed the first concert of its first subscription season at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, 1887 at the Detroit Opera House. The conductor was Rudolph Speil. He was succeeded in subsequent seasons by a variety of conductors until 1900 when Hugo Kalsow was appo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, numbering over 130 annually, at Marian Anderson Hall (formerly Verizon Hall). From its founding until 2001, the Philadelphia Orchestra gave its concerts at the Academy of Music. The orchestra continues to own the Academy, and returns there one week per year for the Academy of Music's annual gala concert and concerts for school children. The Philadelphia Orchestra's summer home is the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. It also has summer residencies at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and since July 2007 at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival in Vail, Colorado. The orchestra also performs an annual series of concerts at Carnegie Hall. From its earliest days the orchestra has been active in the recording studio, primarily for RCA Victor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera, originally called the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadership Spanish tenor and conductor Plácido Domingo was general director of Los Angeles Opera from 2003 to 2019. Domingo sang 27 different roles with the company. He has also conducted 16 different operas and numerous concerts with the company. Domingo resigned in October 2019 following numerous accusations of sexual misconduct. Los Angeles Opera subsequently hired the law firm of Gibson Dunn, under the leadership of former United States Attorney and Superior Court Judge Debra Wong Yang, to conduct an independent investigation of the accusations. After interviewing 44 individuals, Gibson Dunn found that Domingo neither engaged in sexual quid pro quo nor any professional retaliation agai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |