We live in an era of identity, where background and personal experiences shape the work, practice, and professional associations of all, but particularly those in the arts. Though an ubiquitous issue to some observers today, for composers the question of identity has always manifested in their work as an expression of racial ethnicity, geographic or national culture, and other personally defining aspects of their lives. We will explore the works of two such examples in the work of British/Sierra Leonian composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Czech composer Antonín Dvorák. Both composers drew heavily from their own backgrounds and experiences to compose music that was uniquely their own, raising issues of genre and appropriation that are still relevant today.

This event is included with purchase of a Grand Festival Pass! A Day Pass for Tuesday, August 23 is available here.

The time in Europe just following the First World War was a period of great rearrangement of society and a renegotiation of relationship with authority. As composing for orchestras became impractical due to the economic disasters of the war, Stravinsky wrote L’Histoire du soldat, a cross-disciplinary work that used a mixed chamber ensemble and narrator. His plans for a European tour were curtailed by the Spanish Flu of 1918, but the piece remains an ever popular one, and an example of a composer responding to the challenges of his time with a highly flexible and entertaining work. This Inside Pitch will explore the many facets of The Soldier’s Tale, from the history of its composition and first performance, to its folktale text and decidedly international musical forms.

This event is included with purchase of a Grand Festival Pass! A Day Pass for Wednesday, August 24 is available here.