Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Ulysses Kay Rediscovered on The Lost Chord

Regrettably, the music of Ulysses Kay is under-represented in the current catalogue. His delightful “Six Dances for String Orchestra,” probably the lightest music he ever wrote, has been available sporadically on the Vox label, though always badly in need of a new recording. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear two of those dances as part of an hour devoted to Kay’s music, as we celebrate the composer’s centenary. (He was born on January 7, 1917.)

We’ll hear his work for trumpet and piano, “Tromba,” from 1985; a long out-of-print LP of his “Concerto for Orchestra,” recorded in 1953; and a suite from his film score to “The Quiet One,” from 1947. A quasi-documentary about an abused African American child and his subsequent coming of age, “The Quiet One” received an Oscar nomination for Best Story and Screenplay, and was listed by the New York Times and the National Board of Review as one of the ten best movies of 1948.

I hope you’ll join me for “Giving Kay His Say,” Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 8, 2017
Gun in Violin Case Chicago Piano Found in DC

“Chicago piano” found in violin case in Washington, D.C.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/gun-found-in-violin-case-near-canal-road-in-northwest-washington/2017/01/04/45ea4f04-d2a8-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html?postshare=5231483631104057&tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.4512622db870

January 7, 2017
Ulysses Kay American Composer Centennial Celebration

Ulysses Kay was born in Tuscon, AZ, on this date in 1917. A nephew of jazz musician King Oliver, his uncle encouraged him to study music formally. Likewise, he received encouragement from William Grant Still, then recognized as the “Dean of African-American Composers.” Kay attended the University of Arizona, before heading on to the Eastman-School, where he studied with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. Also influential were studies with Paul Hindemith at the Berkshire Music Center, and then Yale.

Kay served in the United States Navy during World War II. He then continued his studies at Columbia with Otto Luening. A recipient of multiple scholarships, grants and awards, he was able to live and study abroad, in Rome, where he attended the American Academy, for several years.

From 1953 to 1968, he worked for BMI. He was then appointed professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, where he remained until his retirement, two decades later. A longtime resident of Teaneck, NJ, he composed orchestral, chamber, choral and instrumental works, and five operas. He died in 1995 at the age of 88.

We’ll celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kay’s birth with an hour of his music, “Giving Kay His Say,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST on “The Lost Chord,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

An interview with Kay conducted by Bruce Duffie:

http://www.bruceduffie.com/kay.html

January 7, 2017
NJ Classical Concerts Your 2017 Resolution

No matter what 2017 may hold, you should make it a New Year’s resolution to catch as many concerts as you can. Check out representative enticements from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, McCarter Theatre Center, the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey, Princeton University Concerts, Downtown Concert Series, Princeton University Glee Club, Princeton University Orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica, Boheme Opera NJ, Westminster Opera Theatre, VOICES Chorale, and Westminster Community Orchestra, in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2017/01/classical_music_several_local.html

IMAGE: While we’re on the subject of musical resolutions…

January 6, 2017
Classical Birthday & Movie Music on WWFM Friday

There will be plenty of candles on the cake today. Join me at 4:00 EST in celebrating the birthday anniversaries of Max Bruch, Alexander Scriabin, and Maurice Abravanel. I’ll also have a musical remembrance of conductor Georges Prêtre, who died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

“Picture Perfect” comes your way at 6:00. Now that we’ve had a taste a snow, it’s time to take in some wintry scenes from world cinema. We’ll hear music from “The Snowstorm” (1964), by Georgy Sviridov, “The Demon of the Himalayas” (1935), by Arthur Honegger, “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948), by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and “Alexander Nevsky” (1938), by Sergei Prokofiev.

It’s Friday afternoon. Chill out with WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 6, 2017

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