This series of informative lectures will provide more insight into the music we know, love, and previously left undiscovered.
Canton Symphony Orchestra presents a new series called, Music History with M.J. The first episode will be available on Friday, November 20th at 1:00pm. It will be available for viewing on Facebook and by visiting Canton Symphony Orchestra’s website: www.cantonsymphony.org. Subsequent episodes will be released every Friday for 4 weeks. This new series of informative lectures will provide more insight into the music known, loved, and previously undiscovered for modern audiences.
Listen as M.J. Albacete dives deep into lore of the classical canon, spanning centuries of musicians and their music. Albacete has been a museum administrator, arts scholar, music reviewer, educator, writer, photographer, and presenter of public programs on a host of historical and cultural topics.
“Music transcends time, leaps across cultural and ethnic borders, reveals the most sacred rites of worship, enriches our senses to the beauty of foreign languages, provides comfort in times of sorrow, and is ever present in every joyous celebration.” – M.J. Albacete
Albacete lives in North Canton with his wife Pat, and is very active in the general arts community as a speaker on art, architecture, music, and other topics which interest him. He continues to teach a course in the history of architecture as adjunct professor in the Art Department of Kent State University Stark Campus.
Episode 1
Black Composers: A Forgotten Legacy
This episode focuses on Black composers who contributed to the classical music canon. Musicians Joshua Rifkin, Scott Joplin, Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Chevalier J. J. O. de Meude-Monpa and more are discussed.
Episode 2
Introduction to Händel’s “MESSIAH”
For many people of the Christian faith, the celebration of the Christmas season would be unthinkable without attending a performance of George Friederick Händel’s masterful oratorio, Messiah, or at least listening to portions of it on the radio, television, or CD. This episode will focus on the history of the piece and how it progressed throughout time.
Episode 3
Theme and Variations
Discover the rich diversity of musical forms explored in classical music. Symphonies, concertos, sonatas, solos, duets, trios, etc – there are quite a few to choose from. One form we will focus on today is “theme and variations”, which is a style that is built around an overarching foundation and varying from it as a piece progresses.
Episode 4
Fantastic Finales!
It is with a great sense of relief that we approach the end of 2020, a year that has been a time of conflict, crisis, and concern for all of us. Fortunately, there is every good reason to expect that the New Year will fill us with a renewed sense of hope and joy. One of the medicines that has brought us comfort and consolation has been music.
Enjoy this spirit-lifting and joyous conclusion of the old year with a collection of “Fantastic Finales!”, gathered in the hopes that the symphonic canonical conclusions we love so much will bring us closer together.
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