Early Music News & Reviews

Friends and colleagues have shared with me, and I know from experience, that vocalists with exclusively “classical” training can sometimes be blind to the richness of other music. We tend to minimize our efforts when approaching different or less “formal” genres, or even avoid them completely.

At EMA, we often hear versions of a basic question: How do I get my ensemble and concerts previewed, reviewed, mentioned in the press? Artists run their own social media but, in truth, you want someone else talking up your projects and performances. That attention, in turn, helps ticket sales and fundraising. It puts the organization on an upward spiral.

EMA Engagement Awards are intended to promote awareness and appreciation of early music and historical performance with the goal of drawing new audiences and participants. Awards of up to $2,500 are offered annually to support engagement projects for children and/or adults by organizations, ensembles, and individual artists.

Music, much of it performed by military bands, is inextricably linked to the mythology of the American Revolution. Yet one of early America's most popular musical ensembles, the regimental band, has been obscured from the late 18th-c. soundscape.