Sometimes closing our eyes and listening, rather than looking at a screen can be the better choice. In this particular Black History Month, Baritone Will Liverman releases an album of songs by Black composers. Dreams Of A New Day features the works of some contemporary composers of color along with the work of an older generation.

Even though 2020 still has a grip on 2021, we are attempting to move in a different direction in this new year. Much of what we learned how to do during the pandemic year of 2020 is now (almost) muscle memory. In this, the January 2021 edition of Classical Music In Color, listen to composer Tyshawn Sorey’s “new age” way of composing music with Alarm Will Sound’s Alan Pierson. Then stay tuned for a fun interview with Tenors Lawrence (or is it Larry?) Brownlee and Michael Spyers about their new album of Rossini duets, Amici e Rivali. And between those two, hear about the first ever prize being offered for Opera Librettists.

Early in 2020, two men pushed to give opera librettist as much attention as opera composers. One of the men who started this campaign, Mark Campbell, is now funding the first ever prize just for the men and women who write the words in operas. The Mark Campbell Librettist Prize.

2020 is extremely similar to another tough year that ended 52 years ago with an uplifting and spiritual message from space. The astronauts aboard Apollo 8 delivered their Christmas message while orbiting the moon. A message heard in the historic re-telling of the mission in the documentary First to the Moon: The Journey of Apollo 8 with a soundtrack composed by Alexander Bornstein.

2021 brings with it the trauma from 2020. In the classical music community this transition comes with hope and some joy that classical music composed and performed by Black classical musicians will be recognized more so than ever before.

There’s D-Composed, a Chicago Black music ensemble formed by two women who took it upon themselves to focus on Black classical music and and those in other genre’s of music too. There’s Heartbeat Opera in New York who produced a visual ablum of music by Black composers. It’s called Breathing Free. In addition, there are books and online programs for the children in your life.

It is entirely possible that you won’t be able to spend the holidays with a loved one who’s in a nursing home or otherwise being treated for cognitive decline. Music and Memory, a group dedicated to helping these patients re-engage by using music, says you should create a playlist just for your special person as a gift.

As we move deeper into the difficulties 2020 has brought us, one New York based opera company is doing a deep dive into its programming. Heartbeat Opera has produced a 6 part visual album highlighting the music of Black composers. It’s called Breathing Free.

Composer Rudy Perrault writes a musical conversation between Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr about President Barack Obama. Auditions are coming up for a new opera company in Houston for singers of color. We talk to the founder of I Colori Dell'opera, Errin Hatter.

During these difficult days, creativity abounds. Composer John Dante Prevedini decided to use his own face for a new composition. It’s called, appropriately, SELFIE.

It’s been 8 months of orchestras, chamber groups, opera companies and more, trying to figure out how to hold performances, safely. Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and the Brown School of Engineering recently completed a study on how that could happen. One finding? Social Distancing and masks are just ONE part of getting full orchestras or operas on stage with an audience watching.