Get ready to dance! Although an unfamiliar style to some, klezmer is a music that has an undeniable folk sound that is combined with rhythms of dance. This musical style uses instruments to imitate the laughter and/or weeping of the human voice and is most often heard during times of merriment. Read below to learn more, and to listen to some recordings at the end.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we asked Lauren Kapalka Richerme, Assistant Professor of Music Education at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, to profile two female innovators in the field of Music Education. Read below about Francis Elliot Clark and Patricia Shehan Campbell, two women who have had profound influence on the lives of children and the promotion of music as a key to educational success.

For this week’s blog feature, we talked to Justin Wade, Executive Artistic Director of Young Actors Theatre, about their mission and approach to Self-Empowerment Theatre, and the role music plays in their productions. Young Actors Theatre will open two shows this weekend: Sleeping Beauty, and Twelve Dancing Princesses, at The Toby at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.

Summertime in Indiana is filled with outdoor concerts! Jennifer Malins, one of our contributing authors to NOTE, gives the run down on how to make healthier choices for bringing food to your favorite outdoor concert. Yum!

My Music. My Story. is one of Classical Music Indy’s initiatives to feature music, musicians, and music lovers in a fun way. This week we spoke with Zach Rupp, Assistant Brewer and Cellerman with TwoDEEP Brewing Co. Zach shares his favorite types of music, why he likes working at TwoDEEP, and what he listens to while enjoying a TwoDEEP brew.

My Music. My Story. is one of Classical Music Indy’s initiatives to feature music, musicians, and music lovers in a fun way. This week we talked with Carl Butler, the Principal Flute for the Indiana Wind Symphony and Vice President, Legal, at Angie’s List. He talks about how important music is to him, and how it has helped him in his career as a lawyer.

Rebecca Clarke is a name many violists know. She was an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and composer during post-Victorian Era England. Despite a controlling and abusive father, she was able to leave her mark on the world with her musical achievements. 

For some seniors in our community, every day is a struggle with reduced mobility, lack of transportation, and limited resources, decreasing their social interaction and recreational opportunities. To combat these forces, Classical Music Indy provides the Senior Series, which brings live music directly to residents of nursing homes and assisted living centers.

My Music. My Story. is one of Classical Music Indy’s initiatives to feature music, musicians, and music lovers in a fun way. This week we spoke with Marianne Chalmers-Talkovski, a licensed acupuncturist, about the importance of music in her life and in her work.

In recognition of Father’s Day, we spoke with members of the Indianapolis-based Urban Initiative High-5 Rally, a movement that provides positive male role models and male-run high-five rallies to encourage school success for urban students across the city.

My Music. My Story. is one of Classical Music Indy’s initiatives to feature music, musicians, and music lovers in a fun way. This week we talked with cellist Maya Nojiri Sutherland who regularly performs with Classical Music Indy. She moved to the US to continue her music education and is currently pursuing her PhD at Indiana University Bloomington. Read Maya’s thoughts on music, life, and community below.

What better way to celebrate one of Indiana’s most-beloved state parks than by having a special piece of music written? Classical Music Indy has commissioned Indianapolis composer Rob Funkhouser to write Three Peacetime Images for Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park as part of the Indiana Arts Commission’s Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites program. We hope you will join us on April 28th at 2pm at the Sycamore Shelter of Fort Harrison State Park to celebrate the distinct aspects of the park!

For our first blog post during Black History Month, we wanted to take a look at a time in American history when the simple act of attending a classical music concert was prohibited for people of color. Renowned African-American opera baritone Robert Honeysucker, who unexpectedly died in 2017, was a student at Tougaloo College in 1963 when he decided to attend a whites-only concert in Jackson, Mississippi. His actions and the many other brave protests of the Civil Rights Movement helped to shed light on the issue of racial prejudice, but how far has classical music really come today?