Music & Culture
Classical Music Posts
‘Sisters With Transistors’ Highlights Pioneers Of Electronic Music
In the 1920s, the Russian physicist Leon Theremin debuted an electronic instrument that could be played without any physical contact. Players stood in front of a box and waved their hands over antennas, summoning otherworldly sounds seemingly from thin air. The theremin might have been regarded as a passing novelty if not for the late Clara Rockmore, a virtuoso who helped to refine the instrument’s design, and wowed concert hall audiences with her performances. Continue Reading ‘Sisters With Transistors’ Highlights Pioneers Of Electronic Music
Mary Wilson, Founding Member Of The Supremes, Dies At 76
Mary Wilson, one of the co-founders of The Supremes, died Monday at the age of 76, her publicist announced. Wilson “passed away suddenly” at her Henderson, Nev., home, the singer’s longtime friend and publicist Jay Schwartz said in a statement. No cause of death was given. Continue Reading Mary Wilson, Founding Member Of The Supremes, Dies At 76
Past As Prologue: Harry Allen In The Northwest And The Slow History Of Trans Acceptance
Today we would recognize Harry Allen as trans. That term and concept did not exist in 1912, but there were many people in the past who had been assigned one sex at birth, but later in life transitioned to the sex that they more readily identified with. Continue Reading Past As Prologue: Harry Allen In The Northwest And The Slow History Of Trans Acceptance
Confronting The Blind Spot In The Great American Protest Song ‘This Land Is Your Land’
Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” has long been offered as an “alternative national anthem,” performed by musicians from Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger to Chicano Batman and Sharon Jones. Its message seems fairly simple — we are all equally entitled to the rights of this country, including the land we stand on. But Native Americans will just as soon point out that the core of the song, that “this land was made for you and me,” is a wholly colonialist message. Continue Reading Confronting The Blind Spot In The Great American Protest Song ‘This Land Is Your Land’
Dolly Parton Says She Turned Down Presidential Medal Of Freedom — Twice
Last fall, former President Barack Obama told Stephen Colbert that he was “shocked” Dolly Parton hadn’t gotten a Presidential Medal of Freedom during his time in office. “That was a screwup,” he said. “I think I assumed she had already got one.” Continue Reading Dolly Parton Says She Turned Down Presidential Medal Of Freedom — Twice
Sifting Through ‘Unsettled Ground’ Of The Whitman Massacre To Reckon With Northwest History
Cassandra Tate’s recent book on the storied white missionaries sheds light on a poorly understood chapter of our state’s settler past. Continue Reading Sifting Through ‘Unsettled Ground’ Of The Whitman Massacre To Reckon With Northwest History
