Missouri Classical Music News and Notes

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra played for years in the Kiel Opera House. They shared facilities and an adjoining wall with the Kiel Auditorium. Veteran musicians still recall how the screams and whistles of basketball fans bled through the common wall onto the stage; it was a surreal element that might have been in tune with the times, but not with great music-making.

The orchestra's leaders decided the orchestra needed a home of its own. They settled on the St. Louis Theatre, which was transformed into an acoustically friendly, architecturally old-fashioned fantasy in white, gold and red velvet.

Gov. Matt Blunt continues to honor his commitment to restore dedicated resources for the arts for their designated purpose, and today he announced he is recommending another funding increase for the Missouri Arts Council.

Gov. Blunt is recommending an additional $6.8 million increase for the Arts Council, which would nearly double the state's current funding level for the arts. If approved, the governor will have increased funding for the arts every year he has served as governor. Additionally, Gov. Blunt will recommend a $4.5 million increase for the other Non-Resident Athletes and Entertainers tax cultural partners, including the Humanities Council, Public Broadcasting, Historic Preservation, and State Library Networking.

"The arts play a significant and vital role in education, economic development, and the community," Gov. Blunt said. "Art enriches the lives of all Missourians, and I am recommending a nearly $7 million funding increase for the Missouri Arts Council to support this important part of our state's culture."

Gov. Blunt will recommend $14.6 million total to support the Missouri Arts Council in his Fiscal Year 09 Budget, a significant $6.8 million increase over the previous year's funding and more than 20 times the Fiscal Year 06 amount. If approved, the governor's budget will include a total increase of $11.3 million for all cultural partners in the Non-Resident Athletes and Entertainers tax.

The Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development and provides vital funding each year to nonprofit organizations through grants that encourage and stimulate the growth, development, and appreciation of the arts in Missouri . The Missouri Arts Council provides funding to make possible quality arts programming to both large and small communities.

Gov. and First Lady Melanie Blunt are strong advocates for the arts in Missouri. The governor directed that funds from the Non-Resident Athletes and Entertainers Tax be distributed to cultural partners, including the Arts Council. Blunt's support for funding of the arts in Missouri already has led to a $7.2 million increase for the arts in his previous budgets and is ensuring that funds from the Athletes and Entertainers Tax are being spent on the purpose for which it was created. The First Lady serves as the honorary chair for Missouri Citizens for the Arts and has worked to promote arts across Missouri.

Gov. Blunt created the position of Missouri Poet Laureate to help promote the arts in Missouri and to encourage Missourians to learn more about the many cultural opportunities available in the state. This week the governor appointed Walter Bargen as the state's first-ever Missouri Poet Laureate.

This press release can also be found here.

First Lady Announces Inaugural Award to Honor Missouri Women

Mrs. Blunt Seeks Nominees for First Lady Awards

First Lady Melanie Blunt has announced the inaugural First Lady Awards to recognize Missouri women who are making history. Honorees in five categories will be recognized as part of Women's History Month in March.

"Missouri is home to countless women who make historic contributions every day that enhance our state and communities," Mrs. Blunt said. "I am pleased to introduce the First Lady Awards to recognize Missouri women making a difference in our state and an impact on our history."

Five women will be honored with the First Lady Award each year. A First Lady Award will be given to an individual in each of the following categories:

·Business and Innovation
·Culture and Humanities
·Education
·Health and Wellness
·Volunteerism

The First Lady serves as the honorary chair for Missouri Citizens for the Arts and has worked to promote arts across Missouri. Missouri Citizens for the Arts and event sponsor, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are reaching out to arts organizations from around the state to encourage people to take advantage of this opportunity to nominate inspiring women in your communities.

Nominations must be submitted by January 31, 2008.

For more information and a nomination form, visit:
http://gov.missouri.gov/firstlady/

A committee appointed by the Missouri Women's Council will evaluate completed and qualified nominations. The First Lady will recognize honorees on March 4, 2008, in a ceremony to celebrate Women's History Month at the Missouri Governor's Mansion.

Thank you, in advance, for helping secure recognition for women who are making a difference in Missouri!

Missouri Citizens for the Arts

Acoustic Mirrors photo by feersumendjinn

From 1915 onwards these huge eerie concrete structures started popping up along the uk coast, all built with one purpose: to provide the military with an early warning system in relation to incoming aircraft. their construction was pretty much limited to the uk and arrived just before radar technology as we know it became widespread.

Local pianist Harold O’Neal was at a workshop in Lindrith, N.M., in 2006 when, like author Alex Haley in his book Roots, he began to examine his family tree.

O’Neal, 26, was able to trace his ancestors all the way back to his great-great-great-grandfather, who was a slave who lived somewhere in Texas. Although he was unable to learn the man’s name, O’Neal did discover many other relatives along the way.

Eventually O’Neal was asked to create music to go along with his family discovery. The result is a CD released in February 2007 called “Charlie’s Suite: Cries and Whispers From My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather.”

“Each track on the record is about a different time period and a different person on my father’s side of the family,” O’Neal explained recently.

Arranged as a suite in three parts and 13 movements, it tells the story of the composer’s family, beginning with his great-great grandfather, a man who first came to this country from Africa, against his will. The suite is interspersed with pieces that reflect social and familial changes with tempos that reflect the mood. The six and a half minutes of “Middle Passage,” for instance, manages to interpret the feel of the unforgiving sea, and on “Felix Bebop” the feel, while not overtly bop in nature, reflects the energy of the era. . . .

Sections are dedicated to his great grandfather, who was something of a vagabond, and to his father, who was a Black Panther in Kansas. The story is told in a musically impressive and fascinating voice, with both performers shining throughout.

• Liner Notes and sheet music from Charlie's Suite
  
• Charlie's Suite on Emusic.com
  
• Order the CD from O'Neal's web site

Story of the year (local): Changes at the top. Opera Theatre of St. Louis head Charles MacKay will go to Santa Fe Opera. Add to that James Robinson's coming as artistic director at the company (taking the place of the late Colin Graham) and Timothy O'Leary's advent as executive director, and we're looking at major institutional change. At the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Randy Adams stepped down as president and Fred Bronstein, now of Dallas, has been hired to take his place.

Person of the year: Symphony board chairwoman Cindy Brinkley, who quietly negotiated a two-year contract extension — with major help from musicians President Brad Buckley and others — a full year before the old one expired, to provide stability and help the orchestra find a new president at a crucial time. Brinkley's leadership has been consistently self-effacing and very effective.