(Image Courtesy of Primo Artists) Primo Artists has added composer Joel Thompson to its roster for Worldwide General Management. Thompson, the current (and first-ever) Composer-in-Residence at Houston Grand Opera and the winner of the 2023 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, has been commissioned by such organizations as New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Houston {…}
Credit: Wade Caldwell Master Chorale of South Florida has unveiled its 2023-24 schedule featuring music by Fauré, Beethoven, and Mozart. The season opens with Fauré’s Requiem, which will be preceded by Joshua Rist’s powerful “Invictus” and followed by Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” an emotional contemporary work based on the final words of Black Americans killed by {…}
“The poem with this music is complete.” The final line to composer Shawn E. Okpebholo’s “Romance” reveals, in essence, the method behind Lawrence Brownlee and pianist Kevin J. Miller’s newest release, “Rising,” on Warner Classics: Setting poetry from the Harlem Renaissance to song. With its 29 tracks, the album includes texts from writers such as Langston Hughes, Alice Dunbar Nelson, {…}
Lawrence Brownlee has announced “Rising,” a project aimed at commissioning new works by African-American composers. Per an official press statement, Brownlee has commissioned new works by such composers as Damien Sneed, Brandon Spencer, Jasmine Barnes, Joel Thompson, and Shawn E. Okpebholo. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance inspired their works, including Alice Dunbar Nelson, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and James Weldon {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced that beginning August 1, 2022, Joel Thompson will be the company’s first full-time composer-in-residence. Thompson was previously commissioned for his first opera “The Snowy Day,” which the company world premiered during the 2021 season. In his new role, Thompson will live and work in Houston full time while a member of the company’s artistic {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced that it will be streaming the opening performance of “The Snowy Day.” The opera, which will world premiere on Dec. 9, represents the company’s 71st world premiere ever. The opera was composed by Joel Thompson and features a libretto by Andrea David Pinkney. The opera will star Raven McMillon alongside Nicholas Newton, Elena Villalón, {…}
The Richmond Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purposes of this article, the focus will be solely on vocal and operatic performances. The company will team with Virginia Opera for a presentation of “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Performance Dates: April 1 & 3, 2022 The orchestra is also set to present Haydn’s “The Creation” under the music {…}