The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Western Africa. Over the centuries many of the Yoruba were displaced, first by the Atlantic slave trade and later in the 20th century by mass migration to the United States and the United Kingdom. The music of Nigerian composer Fela Sowande provided a voice for these African people entering a Western world. Sowande is an internationally recognized African composer and was called the father of Nigerian art music.

Innovation and transformation are impossible without experimentation. That’s something that 20th Century Columbian composer, Jacqueline Nova, truly understood. Nova pioneered electroacoustic music and smashed limitations, including form, sound, discipline and even gender.

Austria has the Viennese waltz; Kiev has the hopak; Spain the flamenco and Argentina the tango. This rhythmic dance came from Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the late 19th century. In the hands of 20th century composer Astor Piazzolla the tango evolved into an expressive, experimental musical form.

Antonio Lauro always thought of himself as a composer first, not a performer. However, late in life he and his guitar embarked on a successful solo concert tour around the world. Just before his death in 1986, Lauro was given the Premio Nacional de Musica, the highest artistic award in Venezuela.

Just as Bela Bartok gave a voice to the folk music of Hungary in the 20th century, Alberto Ginastera did the same for the music of Argentina. Many call Ginastera one of the most important South American composers of the past century.

Originally aired - February, 6 2017 - Aaron Copland, Jean Franciax, Elliot Carter, Philipp Glass and Quincy Jones; what do all of these musicians have in common? They were all students of Nadia Boulanger. Nadia was a composer, conductor and teacher. For seven decades, out of her family’s flat in Paris, she taught some of the most influential composers of the 20th century.

Sometimes you run across the name of a composer you’ve never heard of before and when you read about their life and their work, you start to wonder, why? Why have I never heard of this person? That was certainly my experience when I started researching the life and work of Brazilian composer Cacilda Borges Barbosa.

Originally Aired - Aug. 29, 2016 In the 19th century, composition was a man’s world. The stigma of being a female composer made it difficult for a woman’s work to be read or heard. One woman helped to break through this glass ceiling and pave the way for a generation of female composers, her name was Amy Beach.

Jaime Laredo is a world-renowned violinist and conductor. I had a chance to speak with him via Zoom recently, as we are celebrating his 80th birthday and over 70 years of public performance. Jaime’s also served as the music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since the year 2000. It was announced in 2019 that he would be stepping down from that position and I asked Jaime what his feelings were about this change.

Originally aired May 16, 2016 19th century Germany was not a hospitable environment for female composers. Nevertheless, Clara Weick-Schumann left an indelible mark with her compositions, her soulful musicianship, her inspired instruction and her influence on many major composers of her generation.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Camargo Guarnieri spent most of his career under the shadow of his name and of fellow Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. Like Villa-Lobos, Guarnieri brought the music of Brazil to the concert stage through symphonies, operas, dance music and song. After all, with a name like Mozart what else could you be but a composer?

Besides being a composer/conductor, Carlos Chavez was also a journalist, historian and educator, guiding the course of Mexican orchestral music in the 20th century.

Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian guitarist, cellist, composer and conductor. He’s not just one of the most celebrated South-American composers of all time, but also one of the most prolific. Villa-Lobos composed over 2000 works, and his music is the soundtrack for a period of great upheaval and change for Brazil in the 20th century.

The Renaissance was a time of re-birth as science and the arts changed the face of culture. However, some old ideas persisted in the midst of this change; especially beliefs about the roles and intellectual capacity of the genders. Even though the Renaissance saw many female heads of state it was still held as common knowledge that women were inferior to men, physically, mentally and artistically. As a result we have very few examples of female composers during this period of music...

Maria Grever was the first Mexican, woman composer to earn international attention. You’ve probably heard her melodies and lyrics sung and performed by so many popular musicians from the United States and Latin America. We know her tunes, but very few of us know her name.

Originally aired on June 1, 2015 Hildegard of Bingen was a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, abbess, polymath and a literal visionary of the 12th Century.

Manuel Ponce was the first internationally recognized Mexican classical composer. Ponce’s music bridged the gaps between categories like popular, classical, folk and orchestral. He was called the “creator of the modern Mexican song.”

Teresa Carreño spent the majority of her life on tour, traveling around the world as an operatic soprano and virtuoso pianist. She was called the “Valkyrie of the piano” and “a queen among pianists.”

Over the past couple of months we’ve been featuring composers of color and the last few episodes have focused on the life, music and legacy of African-American women composers. So many of these names and these pieces are just not as familiar to us as others. Why is that? Why does there seem to be less diversity and inclusion in the world of classical music, especially in composers of classical music? I reached out to the creator of another podcast for her insights about inclusion and...

Undine Smith Moore was a composer, a performer, an educator and an outspoken advocate for civil rights. She’s been called the “Dean of Black Women Composers.”

Julia Perry was a uniquely talented and educated composer, pianist and conductor. Her music is a combination of many different influences from her training in the United States and Europe as well as her African-American heritage. Even though she passed away at the age of 55, Julia Perry left behind an impressive catalogue of works including three operas and 12 symphonies.

Bonds was a composer who wore her heart on her sleeve. She left behind a legacy of activism and artistry, paving the way for many African-American musicians to follow.

2009 in a broken-down, abandoned house, just outside St. Anne, Illinois, dozens of musical scores and papers by composer Florence Price were discovered. In this forgotten treasure trove there were two violin concerti and Price’s 4th Symphony, left unperformed and forgotten. It’s only been in the past decade that we’ve truly come to understand the genius and beauty of Florence Price’s music.

June 17th 1997, was “George Walker Day” in Washington DC as established by Mayor Marion Berry. It was a day to commemorate the life, music and legacy of one of the most accomplished American composers of late 20th Century, George Theophilus Walker.

William Grant Still Jr. was called the “Dean of Afro-American Composers.” His career was full of “firsts”; milestones that broke through the racial and social barriers that were so prevalent in the United States.