The Songs of Lili‘uokalani, Queen of Hawai‘i

Lili‘uokalani (1838-1917) was the Queen Regnant of Hawai‘i from 1891-1893, and was the nation’s last monarch. During her reign, she resisted the annexation of Hawai‘i by the United States, and after the coup that deposed her, she remained dedicated to the interests of the Hawaiian people.

A trained singer, choir director and organist, Lili‘uokalani composed more than 150 mele, Hawaiian songs and chants. Her legacy of music remains greatly loved: she is one of the most-performed composers among Hawaiian musicians. The Queen’s songs transcend genre and are constantly reinterpreted, whether it be in popular or folk styles, as accompaniment to Hawaiian dance, in hymnlike choral arrangements, or as songs with piano.

Oregon ArtsWatch Highlights ICAN & RII

We are delighted to share that All Classical Portland’s International Children’s Arts Network (ICAN) and the Recording Inclusivity Initiative (RII) have been featured in an article by Oregon ArtsWatch.

In the article “Radio Rejuvenation,” Brett Campbell highlights All Classical Portland’s programs and initiatives that strive to bring classical music to a wider, more diverse audience.

ICAN
“I think All Classical Portland has seized the opportunity to influence the future,” shared All Classical Portland’s President & CEO Suzanne Nance. “We want to make sure children feel like they have a home in classical music, a place in the concert hall. All our initiatives are aimed at amplifying young voices and encouraging them to tell stories of their communities.”

RII
All Classical Portland’s newest initiative seeks to address the gap of classical music composers and musicians from underrepresented communities that make it into the concert hall and onto the airwaves: “The Recording Inclusivity Initiative will elevate and amplify underrepresented composers and their music through the new recordings we produce and distribute together. We hope that the work we do through RII has a ripple effect that inspires others to act,” states Suzanne Nance.

RII recordings begin this week at NM Bodecker Foundation’s Halfling Studio. Flutist, and All Classical Portland’s 2020 – 2021 Artist In Residence, Adam Eccleston and pianist Monica Ohuchi will launch the initiative’s next phase by recording RII’s posthumous awardee Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Sonata for Flute and Piano.

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You can read the article at Oregon ArtsWatch to learn more how ICAN and RII are working to ensure a diverse playlist, and broad and inclusive access to classical music.

Simone Dinnerstein’s “An American Mosaic”

John’s latest conversation with American pianist Simone Dinnerstein on her second recording made at home during the pandemic: An American Mosaic. The title is for the multi-movement piece written for her by Richard Danielpour who, finding himself isolated during lockdown, found solace in Ms. Dinnerstein’s recordings. Each movement is a portrait of groups of people who responded to the pandemic, both in helpful and obstructive ways.

An American Mosaic was commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival and debuted (online, understandably), by Dinnerstein, and is now available on disc. John’s recorded chat with Simone sheds more light on this timely, moving and very personal work.

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A Playlist of Music by Jewish-American Women

Composers, teachers, performers, conductors, singers, and cantors: the outstanding contributions of Jewish women to American music are ubiquitous. May is Jewish-American Heritage Month, and as part of our celebration at All Classical Portland, we hope you enjoy this playlist of music by remarkable Jewish-American women.

Check out our Spotify Playlist, which features these composers in a slightly different lineup of compositions.

Where We Live: Outside The Frame

Tune in this Saturday at 5:15pm as we explore Outside the Frame, a program that teaches filmmaking to youth experiencing houselessness, through the Where We Live series.

Outside the Frame is an independent nonprofit that offers a model educational and vocational program, where young people create films about issues that matter to them and share them with the public. Nili Yosha, Founder, Artistic and Executive Director, shares how homeless & marginalized youth become the directors of their own films and lives.

Where We Live is a radio program that shines a spotlight on a variety of organizations in our community that are providing programs in art, theater or music that explore the intersection of art and social issues. Through this newly branded series of on-air spotlights, we seek to promote equity, foster inclusion and encourage emotional literacy.

Where We Live is part of All Classical Portland’s JOY (Joyous Outreach to You/th) program dedicated to equity and inclusivity.

An Emily Dickinson Playlist

Music is a natural complement to the poetry of Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). Her lyrical voice is often cast in the singable meters of American hymnody: for example, just try singing this Dickinson text to the tune of “Amazing Grace:”

The Bee is not afraid of me.
I know the Butterfly.
The pretty people in the Woods
Receive me cordially —

The line between music and text can blur in Dickinson’s poetry. Not only does poetry sing for Emily Dickinson, but music talks as well:

I’ve heard an Organ talk, sometimes —
In a Cathedral Aisle,
And understood no word it said —
Yet held my breath, the while —

It’s no wonder that composers are often drawn to Emily Dickinson. In honor of National Poetry Month, here is a playlist featuring just a few of the pieces inspired by her work.

Dickinson’s idiosyncratic punctuation and syntax led to a variety of editorial changes in printed versions of her poems. The poems quoted in this article are mostly taken from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. In some of these musical works, the text set to music differs slightly.

Songbirds of Oregon

From the Gorge to Mt. Hood, the Alvord Desert to Crater Lake, Oregon provides unique geological and ecological sites with incredible diversity in flora and fauna. Even with nature all around us, we can sometimes forget to appreciate it in urban spaces or in our own backyards. For Earth Day, we’d like to show appreciation for some of the best natural music-makers we get to listen to every day.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is “Uncovered”

Program Director John Pitman talks with violinist Karla Donehew Perez, of Catalyst Quartet, about the exciting new project they launched in January called “Uncovered”, focusing on underrepresented composers in classical music. Volume 1 sheds light on three beautiful works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), a British composer who was greatly admired by contemporary audiences, as well as composers such as Edward Elgar. Ms. Donehew Perez shares the story of bringing this music to life – through the challenges of neglected manuscript scores, to educating audiences about composers such as Coleridge-Taylor – and give an indication of an important new series that will go a long way toward restoring these composers to radio playlists and concert programs.

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Kassiani: The Enduring Works of a Trailblazing Female Composer

Kassiani, sometimes called Kassia, was an abbess, a poet, and a composer in 9th century Byzantium, and she is the earliest female composer whose music has survived to the present day. In this article, we’ll explore Kassia and her music, the enduring works of a trailblazing female composer.

John Pitman Review: “Babel” Speaks Clearly Through the Language of Music

Program Director John Pitman discusses the second release by the Calidore String Quartet, which contemplates the intersection of music and language. Violinist Estelle Choi, one of the four founding members of Calidore, shares how “the desire to explore the innate human drive for communication,” became the focus of their new recording. Choi describes the inspiration for Three Essays by Caroline Shaw, Robert Schumann’s String Quartet No. 3, and String Quartet No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

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