Posted in: talk
Czech music is extraordinarily rich and varied, many would agree. But who actually gets to be called Czech? Professor Michael Beckerman hosted a panel discussion about how to conceive of questions of Czech nationality/ethnicity in music from the early Renaissance to the 20th century. Invited panelists included scholars and musicians Erika Supria Honisch, David Hoose, and Carl C. Bettendorf.
Musicologist and author Michael Beckerman presented a talk about the remarkable Czech composer, phenomenal pianist and elemental musician Jaroslav Ježek and his last years in New York where he lived in exile after fleeing the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939.
On January 18th, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, DAHA presented a virtual panel discussion with Marcus Pyle, NYU/Davidson University, Douglas Shadle, Vanderbilt University, and Michael Beckerman, New York University. This broad exploration of musical and cultural issues raised pressing contemporary questions.
Casting new light on the US-based musical activities of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), musicologist Jon Meadow presented a lecture/recital exploring the composer's special relationship with the viola, historically a somewhat under-appreciated instrument. Violinist Laura Jean Goldberg and violist Danielle Farina played selections from Martinů's Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola, composed in New York City, and from the chamber music that inspired his work, Mozart's Duo in G for Violin and Viola.
Michael Beckerman is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music at New York University and Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic for the 2017-18 season,
On Sunday, February 26th, DAHA presented a panel discussion for Black History Month in which distinguished scholars and musicians explored the social and aesthetic history and outcomes of Dvořák’s significant connections with the late 19th century African-American community as he composed the “New World” Symphony.