Richard Taruskin, Vigorously Polemical Musicologist, Dies at 77
Author, critic, teacher and public intellectual, he was an unabashed flamethrower who challenged conventional thinking about classical music.
The Extraordinary Life of One of Colonial America’s Earliest Musicians
The turbulent life of John Antes, an American of pluck and imagination, is part of global histories on colonialism, revolution, nationalism and religion, and international trade. It reads like an early-music adventure novel.
CD Review: Rewarding Music for Virginal on a c. 1590 Instrument
Performer-scholar Charles Metz’s 2021 valuable recording includes English virginal music by William Tisdale, plus 16 works by other late 16th-century English composers. The lovely instrument, mostly preserved, dates to c. 1590.
For a Thai-American Violinist, It’s All About Connections
Sallynee Amawat, raised in two distinct cultures, is eager to take artistic risks and hungry to link continents and ideas. Her latest projects with Infusion Baroque cover topics as varied as gender, courtly dance, and ‘exoticized’ repertoire.
CD Review: Cellist Elinor Frey Explores Early Italian Concertos
A champion of under-performed 18-century treasures for cello, Elinor Frey’s latest recording is high in virtuosity and appeal. As the cover suggests, she has two instruments at her disposal: one a standard Strad-model cello, the other a 3/4 size cello that allows several of the works to really sing.
EMA Board Issues Statement Against Sexual Harassment and Assault
The EMA board of directors, meeting last week in Berkeley, California, voted to release the following statement against sexual harassment and assault in our field and across society.
Vicente Lusitano: Why was the first Black published composer just a footnote in histories?
A BLM placard in New York encouraged a conductor in London to discover more about this 16th-century pioneer of European classical music.
Book Review: Exploring a Missing Link in Medieval English Motets
Two damaged fragments of parchment, circa 1300, have an amazing story to tell. The Dorset rotulus, a scroll of music, helps flesh out a 400-year gap in our knowledge, adding new insights into the development of the medieval English motet. And for anyone looking for new early English material available for performance, the book will be an excellent resource.
Organist and Harpsichordist Aymeric Dupré la Tour has Died, Aged 49
The French-American keyboard player Aymeric Dupré la Tour, of Niantic, Connecticut, has tragically died following a car accident. Dupré la Tour was driving on the Interstate in the early hours of the morning when his car collided with a tractor-trailer in the adjacent lane.
EMA’s New Online Series Explores Music Across the Colonial Americas
To shed light on the fascinating characters who populated the early Americas’ broad musical landscapes, EMA’s Emerging Professional Leadership Council is pleased to announce the launch of a new digital-essay series, Early Music: the Americas.