At least six U.S. orchestras are performing the music of Florence Price this Women’s History Month.  Other women composers are getting the spotlight too.  That’s nice says Liane Curtis, the President of Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, but it’s not really enough.  The organization has released its Repertoire Report which analyzes the programming of the top 21 U.S. Symphony Orchestras.

The League of American Orchestras is in the middle of a new program aimed at improving gender equity among top orchestra executives. Cane Thomason Redus, the VP of inclusion and Learning at the League Six Women and Non-Binary Orchestra Professionals were chosen for the inaugural Anne Parsons Leadership Program from the League of American Orchestras.   One of the six is Violist Catherine Beeson from Austin, now playing for the Colorado Symphony.

It’s a big successful time for Austin Soundwaves, a group that’s been teaching student musicians from all backgrounds since 2011. Their most recent expansion is their summer music camp. Their award-winning Executive Director Patrick Slevin says this “new” camp is a full day and offers classes they’ve never offered before. They are hoping the students will take their musical training to the next level and maybe even apply to be a Draylen Mason Fellow.

When most of us attend classical music concerts, we’re most likely not thinking about how our fellow patrons are enjoying the music. Apparently, we’re all affected by the performance at the same rate called Embodied Cognition. That’s according to a study by Dr. Wolfgang Tschacher, Professor Emeritus at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He and his team at the Experimental Concert Research Project found that our heart and breathing rates become the same during the concert.

During Black History Month, many organizations are celebrating what’s known as Black Excellence. The Department of Music at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas is presenting a performance by pianist Althea Waites this month. She may be under the radar of more well known pianist but her talent and experience has carried her through over a near 60 year career.

Valentine’s Day is 3 weeks away.

That’s just enough time for you to prepare to attend the Mid-Texas Symphony’s Romance and Chocolates concert with a side of diamonds.

Music Director, Akiko Fujimoto has curated classical music and movie soundtracks to celebrate. In addition, patrons will be given chocolates to eat while listening to one of the works. There’s also a raffle for diamond studs.

The new year brings new opportunities and one of them might be for the young ones in your life. The National Children’s Chorus is holding auditions right now for their Austin chapter.

It’s for children aged 5 to 18. Artistic Director and CEO Luke McEndarfer says any child who loves music and wants to sing is invited to take part.

Austin is one of 8 cities with chapters of the National Children’s Chorus

Have you ever heard of Vicente Lusitano?

During his lifetime in the 1500s he lit up the Early Music/Renaissance world with his music, intelligence, and moxie. Unfortunately this Afro-Portuguese composer’s mixed parentage and the prejudices of the period meant his legacy would not survive. But his music remains. In this January 21st edition of Classical Music In Color, two Lusitano experts, Garrett Schumann and Joseph McHardy, talk about his life and works and revival today, almost five centuries later.

The Austin Opera is about to do something they’ve never done before.

They are presenting the world’s first Mariachi Opera, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. It will also be the first time they are staging an opera sung in Spanish with help from the new Butler Fund for Spanish Programming. Some of the cast is from Ópera de Bellas Artes, the national opera company of Mexico.

Going back to work this week might seem like somewhat of a letdown after all the fun and frivolity of the holiday season.

There is a way to make it all better.

Listen to music at the office.

A recent study found that workers are happier and more productive when listening to instrumental music while on the job. However, other researchers have somewhat opposing ideas about listening to music at the office. Find out what kind of music puts you in the mood to tackle that big project. And find out if any of this applies to you if you work from home.