Classical

The Nashville Symphony has selected a new conductor to handle the orchestra’s community, pops and educational concerts. Enrico Lopez-Yañez has served in a similar role with the Omaha Symphony since 2015.  

The notion of the traveling musician is nothing new. From the transient troubadors of the 13th century to modern touring artists, musicianship and travel have gone hand in hand for centuries. 

With summer in full swing and families making pilgrimages to favorite beach spots and mountain retreats, spend some time with a few composers that found musical inspiration in their travels.  

Yes, you read the headline correctly — since 1989, June has been designated as National Accordion Awareness Month. Chances are, if you’ve ever been around an accordion, it’s difficult to not be aware of it; the instruments (and its many variants) are unique in both physicality and timbre. So why a whole month dedicated to them?

As composers in the mid-20th century began wild experiments in sound, the practice of traditional music notation became increasingly inadequate. How, for example, could the sound of John Cage’s amplified cactus, or the electroacoustic experiments of Pierre Schaeffer be effectively scored by notes on a staff?

As a result, the art of graphic notation — the use of shapes or patterns instead of, or together with, conventional notation — began. The scores generally fall in one of two categories: Some strive to communicate specific compositional intentions, while others are meant to inspire the performer’s imagination.

Here’s a look at a few graphic scores, the ways they’ve been interpreted by performers and how the tradition has evolved over the years.

As dads across the country open homemade macaroni cards this Father's Day, take a look at some of the fathers throughout classical history that influenced—for better or for worse—the musical lives of their children. Some are famous composers themselves, others are best remembered for fostering musical talent in their kids. All were probably equipped with at least a few good dad jokes.   

Leopold Mozart

Giancarlo Guerrero will be taking on a new position in the next concert season. In addition to his role as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony, Guerrero has been named Music Director of the Wrocław Philharmonic in Poland.

With the Nashville Predators facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Nashville’s first-ever Stanley Cup Final, hockey fever has swept through the city, including its concert halls.

Today marks the much-discussed 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles masterpiece considered by some to be the “most important rock & roll album ever made”

The last time Zuill Bailey played with the Nashville Symphony, he gave a Grammy-winning performance. It’s an experience the virtuoso cellist describes as “capturing lightning in a bottle.”