The Music Academy of the West, based in Santa Barbara, California, has announced speakers and programming for its second annual Classical Evolution/Revolution Conference on June 22, 2018. The conference addresses topical concerns including the pressures created by today’s political climate, cultural activism, unconventional career paths, broadening access to the arts in underserved communities, and overhauling outdated gender dynamics. The conference is open to the public as well as to the young musicians attending the Music Academy of the West’s Summer School and Festival, faculty, and members of the classical-music industry. Guest panelists and speakers include Brad Barrish, director of customer care experience at Sonos; Shannon Connolly, senior vice president and general manager of classical station WQXR; Jorja Fleezanis, chair of violin at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music; Vijay Gupta, co-founder of the Street Symphony and a violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Ted Hearne, composer and associate professor of composition at the USC Thornton School of Music; and Chi-chi Nwanoku, OBE, founder and artistic and executive director of Chineke!, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of black and minority-ethnic musicians. Click here for more information.
Posted June 15, 2018
