In this conversation, the first of a multi-part interview series with performers, scholars, and pedagogues of early music, historically informed performance, and related topics, David Miller spoke with conductor, instrumentalist, and musicologist Joshua Rifkin. A transcript is provided for increased accessibility. As a conductor and performer on various keyboard… Read More
The international attention Ukraine has received in the 270 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its sovereign neighbor is unprecedented. The world has never before shown such support for and interest in Ukrainian culture, including the world of the performing arts. Countless benefit concerts have been organized by high-profile orchestras,… Read More
On February 24, 2022, after Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, award-winning curator Sasha Andrusyk posted on social media: “I’ve lived a very happy, very full life in Ukraine, and I intend to continue. The end of [Putin’s] Russia is fast approaching.” Despite the expectation of further attacks and the… Read More
Protesters chanting “Ricky Renuncia” outside the Governor’s Mansion during summer protests of 2019 in Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of Ricardo Alcaraz. On July 24, 2019, Puerto Rico, “the oldest colony in the world,” achieved the unimaginable in ousting Governor Ricky Rosselló from office. In an unprecedented manner, the social movement… Read More
On May 14, 2017, while waiting to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin was filmed playing two Soviet-era popular tunes on a grand piano: Solov’ev Sodoy’s “Evening Song,” a famous melody in St. Petersburg (the song’s lyrics refer to the city by its Soviet-era… Read More
What of music in the time of war? It is not a new question, but a question whose answers unfold along complex and specific paths. In the eighteen days since the Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, music and musicians have been part of many of this… Read More
I have this theory about Indians. Actually, the theory is not really about Indians, it’s about everyone else. Here’s the thing: although I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, generally speaking white people who are interested in Indians are not very bright. Generally speaking white… Read More
For some readers, the word “protest” and the sounds of banging pots might call to mind Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, the attack on the US national capitol on Jan 6, or the scenes of people banging pots and pans as positive public expressions of support for health… Read More
This essay is a contribution to the Musicology Now Roundtable, “Protest in Latin America: 2019 and Beyond.” “Si el río suena es porque agua lleva” (“If the river sounds, it is because it carries water”) is an old Spanish proverb broadly used in the Hispanic world. It metaphorically expresses that a… Read More
This recorded conversation is an audio contribution to Musicology Now’s Sounds of Social Justice Roundtable. Neil Verma speaks with Yvette Janine Jackson about her recent piece, The Coding (2021), and how it engages with problems of language, race, colonial thinking, and two phenomena that have a strange overlap… Read More