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| Image Credit: Wikipedia |
Showing posts with label cultural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cultural. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Glastonbury Banned the Sale of Native American War Bonnets - Here's Why Other Festivals Should Follow Suit
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Weekly Music News Roundup: Week ending April 12th
We are one week closer to clearance Easter candy, and one week closer to summer holidays. Sure, we complain about how it's still cold now, but just wait until July when we all clamour for November to arrive. Here's this weeks music news:
-Fiddle virtuoso Mark O'Connor drops and seriously damages instrument seconds before a concert, and requests to use the concert master's violin - if I were that concert master, I would be terrified to let my instrument into the hands of someone who just did likely irreparable damage to their own. (Source)
-Even the world's top violinists can't tell a Stradivarius from a high end new violin- but I bet an insurance claims adjuster can. (Source)
-How do you know when a composition is done? When do you stop editing? (Answer: when it is forcibly ripped from your hands.) (Source)
-All musicians have "day jobs." This article is inspirational and makes you feel like slightly less of a failure. (Link)
-To no one's surprise, Ian Campbell was booed last Sunday when he came out to announce what may be the final San Diego Opera production. (Source)
-In a world first, Kristine Opolais had her debut in two Met opera productions within one day. I cannot imagine the nap she took after she was finished. (Source)
-Johnny Cash's son, John Carter Cash, says he will never let his father's music to be used to advertise drinking or smoking, and I think that's awesome. (Source)
-Everyone thinks that music was better in their day. Surprise! (Source)
That's the news for this week, check back every Friday for more current events in music! If you know of a story that needs some publicity, you can contact me on Twitter @AngelinaPanozzo or through my website, AngelinaPanozzo.com. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Top 5 Irish Drinking Songs
Here in Dublin, it is day 3 of the St. Patrick's Day festival. It began on Friday with the "Greening of the City," where green lights are cast on all of the downtown buildings, and was followed by music and food yesterday - complete with the added bonus of Ireland winning the 6 Nations rugby cup - continuing today, with the festival culminating in the gargantuan parade down Parnell and O'Connell street tomorrow. The streets will be rammed with people from all over the world who come here to celebrate an authentic St. Paddy's Day, where it is a national holiday on par with Christmas and Easter.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
The Death of a Legacy - the von Trapp Family Singers, who Inspired "The Sound of Music"
Maria Franziska von Trapp: Petition for USA naturalization, 1948
So, who were the von Trapps, really?
Sunday, 16 February 2014
White Supremacy in Music
Black History Month tends to elicit a wide range of emotions in the United States - one look at Twitter's trending tags will show you that many people still don't understand why we have a month dedicated to Black History. "What about WHITE history month?" they ask. Well, what about it? The simple fact is, 11 months out of the year is our white history month. History classes from kindergarten through university focus on white history - North American and European history, to be exact. Many of us never learn about any African history at all (except the colonized areas, of course), even though the continent of Africa grossly dwarfs North America and Europe. I'm sure some of us remember a few notable characters in Black History: Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King, Jr. - but compare that against the army of white folks in history, and the representation is nowhere near equal. Some ignorant people will try to argue that its because Black people simply didn't have as much to contribute to society, but anyone who has ever been part of a marginalized group knows how untrue that is. As a part of a marginalized group, you just don't get the same opportunities to succeed.
Even in 2014, 45 years after the civil rights movement, orchestras are still overwhelmingly white. When you consider that inner-city schools rarely have music programs, the absence of black talent in classical music isn't surprising. When you also consider the lingering racism in many opera houses, it isn't a shock that most of the top-billing singers are white. Can you remember the last time you saw a black conductor? In my entire musical career, singing and working with a wide variety of ensembles, I cannot recall a single black conductor. In a quick Google search on "Black conductor," the first result is an article about the gifted conductor, Kwamè Ryan - from 10 YEARS ago. The most relevant search result is from a decade ago, and it quotes him as saying that he doesn't have hope for the future, because the seeds of interest aren't being planted in the minds of black kids; those same kids are the ones going to schools that don't have music programs. Even when high-risk schools do have music teachers, many times those teachers have never studied music and get shuffled around from school to school. Though studies have shown time after time that music education and performing in ensembles increases SAT scores, eligibility for higher education via grades and scholarships, and decreases student crime, somehow music is always first on the chopping block in these poor districts that are barely surviving with charter schools cannibalizing their students for the for-profit companies that run them.
It is arguable that the genres in which Black people have more avenues to success are the popular ones: jazz, pop, and rap. Even as such, white artists continue to appropriate Black culture and happily accept the accolades that show just how "progressive" they are, even as they recite hollow speeches that completely ignore the culture they are stealing from. It didn't start with Elvis, but he serves as a good example - emulating Black culture earned him fame and fortune, because he was a "safe" white man. Audiences have always loved the beats and groove of Black music, but many couldn't look past their ingrained racism and listen to Black artists.
Many people will say their dislike of rap music stems from the misogyny and descriptions of crime in the lyrics, but don't realize that rap in its original form was about fighting the system that oppressed them. It wasn't until record labels wanted to draw in white audiences that artists started releasing albums full of the stereotypes of abusers and drug dealers that so many white people have been raised to believe are the absolute truth. Many of these same people who dislike Black artists for their misogyny are quick to praise Eminem, whose lyrics I find far more offensive than most Black rappers'. Then we of course have Macklemore, who tweeted a picture of his text to Kendrick Lamar, saying that he didn't deserve the Grammy he'd been given, probably in some attempt to appear progressive and gracious. Macklemore is a poseur of the utmost degree - raking in cash from the oppressed groups while retaining his shining straight white male privilege.
Miley Cyrus is another example of appropriation, with her twerking fiasco at the 2013 MTV VMAs. I don't really care what she was wearing, it was the deliberate sexualization and de-personification of her Black back-up dancers that left a sour taste in my mouth. What made that sour taste turn to bile was when multiple news sources alleged that Cyrus had invented twerking, when it has been a staple of Black artists since before she was born. She repeatedly makes statements about how she isn't racist - but having racist attitudes is more than burning crosses and white hoods.
That is the real crux of the problem, isn't it? We aren't taught in schools that 76% of scholarship recipients are white. We aren't taught about lynching. We aren't taught about African culture and history. Not about Black inventors and scientists, and not about Black musicians either. We learn about Mozart and Beethoven, but the portraits and photographs of Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington are absent from many textbooks. We don't learn that racism is so much more than outright violence and segregated bathrooms. Its ingrained stereotypes, passed down from parents, teachers, and media. Racism keeps Black kids out of music programs and Black adults out of orchestras and opera halls. Racism is when white musicians get Grammys for appropriating Black culture, and no Black people are even nominated.
In order for things to improve, those of us with white privilege need to step up, own our privilege, and use it to continue dismantling the idioms in society that prevent Black people from succeeding in music. This isn't about feeling guilty or shaming white people for being white. This isn't about "reverse racism," which by the way isn't even a real thing, and it certainly isn't about your feelings. Its about recognizing a glaring schism in the opportunities that are afforded, and correcting that imbalance. Its about realizing that racism still exists, its still a problem, and it is absolutely still affecting us today, in 2014.
Don't you think its time we took a stand? Don't you think we should still be fighting for equality?
I do.
Even in 2014, 45 years after the civil rights movement, orchestras are still overwhelmingly white. When you consider that inner-city schools rarely have music programs, the absence of black talent in classical music isn't surprising. When you also consider the lingering racism in many opera houses, it isn't a shock that most of the top-billing singers are white. Can you remember the last time you saw a black conductor? In my entire musical career, singing and working with a wide variety of ensembles, I cannot recall a single black conductor. In a quick Google search on "Black conductor," the first result is an article about the gifted conductor, Kwamè Ryan - from 10 YEARS ago. The most relevant search result is from a decade ago, and it quotes him as saying that he doesn't have hope for the future, because the seeds of interest aren't being planted in the minds of black kids; those same kids are the ones going to schools that don't have music programs. Even when high-risk schools do have music teachers, many times those teachers have never studied music and get shuffled around from school to school. Though studies have shown time after time that music education and performing in ensembles increases SAT scores, eligibility for higher education via grades and scholarships, and decreases student crime, somehow music is always first on the chopping block in these poor districts that are barely surviving with charter schools cannibalizing their students for the for-profit companies that run them.
It is arguable that the genres in which Black people have more avenues to success are the popular ones: jazz, pop, and rap. Even as such, white artists continue to appropriate Black culture and happily accept the accolades that show just how "progressive" they are, even as they recite hollow speeches that completely ignore the culture they are stealing from. It didn't start with Elvis, but he serves as a good example - emulating Black culture earned him fame and fortune, because he was a "safe" white man. Audiences have always loved the beats and groove of Black music, but many couldn't look past their ingrained racism and listen to Black artists.
Many people will say their dislike of rap music stems from the misogyny and descriptions of crime in the lyrics, but don't realize that rap in its original form was about fighting the system that oppressed them. It wasn't until record labels wanted to draw in white audiences that artists started releasing albums full of the stereotypes of abusers and drug dealers that so many white people have been raised to believe are the absolute truth. Many of these same people who dislike Black artists for their misogyny are quick to praise Eminem, whose lyrics I find far more offensive than most Black rappers'. Then we of course have Macklemore, who tweeted a picture of his text to Kendrick Lamar, saying that he didn't deserve the Grammy he'd been given, probably in some attempt to appear progressive and gracious. Macklemore is a poseur of the utmost degree - raking in cash from the oppressed groups while retaining his shining straight white male privilege.
Miley Cyrus is another example of appropriation, with her twerking fiasco at the 2013 MTV VMAs. I don't really care what she was wearing, it was the deliberate sexualization and de-personification of her Black back-up dancers that left a sour taste in my mouth. What made that sour taste turn to bile was when multiple news sources alleged that Cyrus had invented twerking, when it has been a staple of Black artists since before she was born. She repeatedly makes statements about how she isn't racist - but having racist attitudes is more than burning crosses and white hoods.
That is the real crux of the problem, isn't it? We aren't taught in schools that 76% of scholarship recipients are white. We aren't taught about lynching. We aren't taught about African culture and history. Not about Black inventors and scientists, and not about Black musicians either. We learn about Mozart and Beethoven, but the portraits and photographs of Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington are absent from many textbooks. We don't learn that racism is so much more than outright violence and segregated bathrooms. Its ingrained stereotypes, passed down from parents, teachers, and media. Racism keeps Black kids out of music programs and Black adults out of orchestras and opera halls. Racism is when white musicians get Grammys for appropriating Black culture, and no Black people are even nominated.
In order for things to improve, those of us with white privilege need to step up, own our privilege, and use it to continue dismantling the idioms in society that prevent Black people from succeeding in music. This isn't about feeling guilty or shaming white people for being white. This isn't about "reverse racism," which by the way isn't even a real thing, and it certainly isn't about your feelings. Its about recognizing a glaring schism in the opportunities that are afforded, and correcting that imbalance. Its about realizing that racism still exists, its still a problem, and it is absolutely still affecting us today, in 2014.
Don't you think its time we took a stand? Don't you think we should still be fighting for equality?
I do.
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
"Chanukah Suite" by Jason Robert Brown
In celebration of Chanukah (or Hanukkah, depending on how you spell it), which begins tonight and lasts until December 5th, I wanted to feature some really lovely music which nearly always gets overlooked during the holiday season. Christmas kind of takes over everything, and other holidays (like Chanukah, Yule, and Kwanzaa, to name a very few) are forgotten and glossed over, much to the chagrin of those who celebrate them. Winter festivals are not unique to any culture or religion, and can be traced back incredibly far - the earliest festivals and celebrations can be attributed to the Pagan communities with their celebration of the Winter solstice (also called Yule).
That said - I went in search of one of the embarrassingly few Chanukah songs I know, which is called S'vivon, and ended up discovering a really wonderful medley called "Chanukah Suite," by Jewish composer, Jason Robert Brown (who also wrote music for Parade, The Last Five Years, and Urban Cowboy).
That said - I went in search of one of the embarrassingly few Chanukah songs I know, which is called S'vivon, and ended up discovering a really wonderful medley called "Chanukah Suite," by Jewish composer, Jason Robert Brown (who also wrote music for Parade, The Last Five Years, and Urban Cowboy).
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| Jason Robert Brown, photo courtesy News.Harvard.Edu |
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