Max Barrett / Courtesy of the artist
Lara Downes is among the foremost American pianists of her generation, a trailblazer both on and off the stage, whose musical roadmap seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family and collective memory. As a chart-topping recording artist, a powerfully charismatic performer, a curator and tastemaker, Downes is recognized as a cultural visionary on the national arts scene.
Downes forays into the broad landscape of American music have created a series of acclaimed recordings, including
America Again, hailed by
Boston Globe as a balm for a country riven by disunion.
With a fierce commitment to arts advocacy, Downes enjoys creative collaborations with a range of leading artists, including multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Rhiannon Giddens, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, folk icon Judy Collins, writer Adam Gopnik, and former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove. Her close partnerships with prominent composers
South Bend Symphony Orchestra principal oboist Jennet Ingle tests one of the reeds she makes for herself and to sell online as part of her side business in September. On Saturday, she performs as the featured soloist with the SBSO in its first concert with a live audience in more than a year.
Tribune File Photo/MICHAEL CATERINA
Adriane White
Conductor Marin Alsop talks to CPR Classical s Karla Walker about the women composers you should be listening to right now.
Classical music conductors are hugely influential in determining what music you hear at concerts. They are the single biggest gatekeepers for whether most living composers will have their works performed or not. Conductor Marin Alsop stands firm in her commitment to championing the works of women composers. I try to program with diversity in mind, always adhering to my principle that I have to believe in the music in order to champion it, she said.
We asked Marin for a list of 10 women composers we should know, but she cautions, “there are at least 50 who I can think of off the top of my head who are worth listening to and deserve to be represented.
Verdi’s
La Traviata. Conductor: Giacomo Sagripanti, director: Simon Stone. With Pretty Yende, Juan Diego Flórez, Igor Golovatenko, and Margaret Plummer. Register for free and view here. LIVE
2 pm ET: London Symphony Orchestra presents Rattle conducts Stravinsky. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the LSO in Stravinsky’s Octet for Wind Instruments,
Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920),
Four Norwegian Moods, Suite No 1, and Suite No 2. View here.
2 pm ET: VOCES8 Live from London, Spring presents
Joanna MacGregor. To celebrate International Women’s Day, pianist Joanna MacGregor curates a journey from the Deep South to New York, from Russian poetry to an African paradise. The program includes Florence Price’s spiritual arrangements, Margaret Bond’s