Series to feature Rev. Mark Tyler, Brandi Waller-Pace, Eleonora Beck, and Composer-in-Residence Gabriela Lena Frank
HearTOGETHER provides a space for conversation on racial and social justice, and creative equity and inclusion, through the lens of classical music
(Philadelphia, January 15, 2021)—HearTOGETHER, The Philadelphia Orchestra’s podcast series exploring racial and social justice, and creative equity and inclusion, through the lens of orchestral music, will resume on January 20 with new monthly episodes featuring artists and activists working hard to improve our world. The winter/spring 2021 schedule is as follows:
- January 20: Rev. Mark Tyler of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church will discuss his journey to becoming a community leader and activist and his vision for a better future through faith. Rev. Tyler will also be featured in the Orchestra’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Tribute Concert on January 18.
- February 17: Brandi Waller-Pace will discuss her life in music that led her to found Decolonizing the Music Room, a non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting non-dominant cultures and identities in the field of music education to build a more equitable future.
- March 17: Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College and precedent-setting agitator for equality Eleonora Beck will talk about standing up for her identity and her rights.
- April 21: TBD
- May 19: Philadelphia Orchestra Composer-in-Residence Gabriela Lena Frank will share how her Chinese, Peruvian, and Latvian-Jewish roots each show up in her music, and why composition is "her sharpest sword."
HearTOGETHER is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more, as well as at www.philorch.org/heartogether.
“HearTOGETHER provides a space for dialogue with leaders inside and outside of the world of orchestral music on topics vital to the future of the arts and society at large,” said Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky. “These important conversations address pressing issues of our day and the response that classical music can, and should, have.”
On June 6, 2020, following the killing of George Floyd and countless others, Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra hosted HearTOGETHER: A Healing Conversation in Music and Words, featuring composer and trumpet player Wynton Marsalis, composer Valerie Coleman, and Orchestra Acting Associate Principal Bass Joseph Conyers. The conversation continued in July with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, Sphinx Organization President and Artistic Director Afa Dworkin, and Accordant Advisors CEO Shariq Yosufzai. On August 28, 2020, in honor of Women’s Equality Day and the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, HearTOGETHER featured First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang with soprano Angel Blue and composer Jennifer Higdon. The series then transformed into a monthly podcast series featuring community leaders such as Jeannine A. Cook, owner of Harriett’s Bookshop, and Jillian Patricia Pirtle, CEO of the Marian Anderson Museum, and artists and industry leaders including bass-baritone Davóne Tines, who will be featured on the Orchestra’s Digital Stage, and the Orchestra’s Principal Librarian Nicole Jordan.
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.
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