Happy Birthday to Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams!!!

www.bostonpops.org/happybirthdayjohn

About the Boston Pops

Affectionately known as “America’s Orchestra,” the Boston Pops is the most recorded and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country, beginning with the establishment of the modern-era Pops by Arthur Fiedler and continuing through the innovations introduced by John Williams and the new-millennium Pops spearheaded by Keith Lockhart. With the 125th anniversary season in 2010, the Boston Pops reached a landmark moment in a remarkable history that began with its founding in 1885. Four years earlier, in 1881, Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, calling its establishment “the dream of my life.” From the start he intended to present, in the warmer months, concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day. From a practical perspective, Higginson realized that these “lighter” performances would provide year-round employment for his musicians. The “Promenade Concerts,” as they were originally called, were soon informally known as “Popular Concerts,” which eventually became shortened to “Pops,” the name officially adopted in 1900. The following year the orchestra performed for the first time in its new home, Symphony Hall. Not only is this performance space acoustically outstanding, it was also designed, at Higginson’s insistence, so that the rows of seats for Boston Symphony concerts could be replaced by tables and chairs for Pops concerts. 

Some people may not realize that there were seventeen Pops conductors, beginning with the German Adolf Neuendorff, who preceded Arthur Fiedler (1930-1979), the first American-born musician to lead the orchestra. When John Williams (1980-1993) succeeded Arthur Fiedler, he was the most highly acclaimed composer in Hollywood, and today, with 47 Academy Award nominations, he is the most-nominated living person in Academy history. In response to the ever-diversifying trends in music, Keith Lockhart (1995-present) has taken the Pops in new directions, creating programs that reach out to a broader and younger audience by presenting artists—both established performers and rising stars—from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, all the while maintaining the Pops’ appeal to its core audience.

HANS BRIDGER HERUTH (b. 1997) is an award-winning composer whose music has been praised as “lovely and delicate” and “impressively stylish” (The American Prize), and for having an “invigorating richness” (KC Metropolis). In addition, he is a conductor, pianist, singer, and violinist of distinction. A lifelong musician, Heruth was born in Kansas City, Missouri and began studying piano at the age of three and voice at the age of five, training as a boy soprano. He began studying violin at the age of nine, and started composing shortly after.
 
As a composer, his works have been performed by many different ensembles, most notably the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, Wilmington Concert Opera, Nightingale Opera Theatre Company, (art) Song Lab, KC Vitas Chamber Choir, the Boulder Chorale, Vox Nova, the University Philharmonic and the University Singers of the University of Missouri, the Festival Singers of Florida, the Midwest Chamber Ensemble, Canticum Novum Mizzou, the Show-Me Opera Program, the Heartland Men’s Chorus, the Volker Brass Quintet, Deviant Septet, and many All-State Choir Ensembles. Heruth is also the inaugural composer-in-residence for the American-Prize-winning choral ensemble Vox Nova, and will serve as a composition fellow for the 2022 Cortona Sessions for New Music. In addition to these ensembles, his works have been performed by renowned solo and chamber musicians, including tenor Steven Tharp, baritone Darrell J. Jordan, baritone Patrick Graham, pianist Paola Savvidou, pianist Peter Henderson, violinist Eva Szekely, and chamber musicians from the St. Louis Symphony, including Jessica Cheng, Kyle Andre Lombard, and Bjorn Ranheim. 
 
Influenced by his wide range of performance experiences, Heruth’s oeuvre ranges from opera and orchestral works to intimate chamber music and art songs. His award-winning chamber opera, A Certain Madness, was premiered with great acclaim and to sold out houses – based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, critics raved “Sherlock Holmes has never sounded so good” (KBIA). It will receive its fifth production in July of 2022 with the Nightingale Opera Theatre.  His most recent projects include song cycles for some of his most frequent collaborators: Piano Lessons, with poetry by Billy Collins, for baritone Patrick Graham, and Verses Written in Her Book of Hours, commissioned by Catherine Sandstedt, soprano, as well as Wytchkraft for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Stephanie Childress. Heruth’s works have been performed all across the country in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Powell Hall, Abravanel Hall, the Folly Theatre, the Kauffman Center, the Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries, and even in performance venues across Canada, Europe, and China. Heruth has received many accolades for his compositions, most notably as a winner of the 2019-2020 American Prize in Composition in both the opera and the vocal chamber music categories, and a finalist for the 2019-2020 American Prize in Composition in both the instrumental chamber and choral music categories, the 2017-2018 American Prize in Composition in both the choral music and the vocal chamber music categories, the 2015, 2016, and 2019 Sinquefield Prizes in Composition, and the 2016 and 2022 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award. Heruth is a member of ASCAP and is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing, MusicSpoke, and Heruth Publications. Heruth has studied composition with Stefan Freund, Ian David Coleman, Paul Seitz, and W. Thomas McKenney, and has also worked with Jake Heggie, Chen Yi, James Mobberley, Ke Chia Chen, William Averitt, Yevgeniy Sharlat, David Liptak, and Don Freund.

Heruth is also in demand as a vocal coach and collaborative pianist. His repertoire as a collaborative pianist includes over 500 works for the voice, spanning all manner of genres from opera arias and art song to musical theatre works and cabaret songs. He has accompanied vocalists in many competitions, including at the national level, and regularly plays for singers in recitals, concerts, and masterclasses. Heruth has also been a collaborative pianist for the flagship choral ensemble at the University of Missouri, the University Singers, and also the Kansas City Chorale, the Show-Me Opera Program, Nightingale Opera Theatre Company, Ars Nova, the Bach Collegium Choir, and the Columbia Youth Choirs. Adept on a wide variety of keyboard instruments, he has additional collaborative experience playing the fortepiano, the harpsichord, and the organ. He was recently named a winner of the 2021-2022 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music for his interpretations of the songs of John Duke, as well as some of Heruth’s own art songs. He has played for many renowned artists in recitals and performances, including Steven Tharp, tenor, Eva Szekely, violinist, Darrell J. Jordan, baritone, Lindsay Lang, soprano, and Eli Lara, cellist, as well as upcoming performances with Christina Adams, mezzo-soprano, and Patrick Graham, baritone.

As an extension of his orchestral experiences, Heruth is also a budding young conductor, and has made a number of appearances with various ensembles. He conducted Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Show-Me Opera Program. His engagements to conduct Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance as well as another production of his chamber opera A Certain Madness were cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Heruth has also made appearances at the Mizzou International Composers Festival conducting the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, has conducted Vox Nova as part of the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, and is the former music director and conductor for the Exit-128 Chamber Orchestra. 

As a lyric baritone, Heruth is both a frequent chorister and recitalist. He has performed with the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers, the Kantorei Choral Scholars, the Bach Collegium Choir, Ars Nova, and the University Singers of the University of Missouri. Heruth made his symphonic debut in 2013 as the winner of the Liberty Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists Competition. As an opera singer, Heruth has performed various roles such as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Basilio in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, and Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in scenes, and Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Simon Stimson in Ned Rorem’s Our Town in full productions, all with the Show-Me Opera Program. He is also a strong advocate for new music, and has performed a great deal of works by living composers John Adams, Jake Heggie, and Tom Cipullo, notably creating the first recording of Cipullo’s song cycle “Excelsior” in the Fall of 2020. Heruth is a former student of Steven Tharp, and has participated in masterclasses and coachings with Grammy award-winning baritone Daniel Belcher and Russell Miller.

As a violinist, Heruth is a frequent performer as both a chamber and symphonic musician. He has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, the Odyssey Chamber Orchestra, the Bach Collegium Orchestra, the Southside Philharmonic Orchestra, and the University Philharmonic at the University of Missouri. Heruth has also performed with the acclaimed American musical group The Piano Guys. He has worked with conductors such as Aram Demirjian, Kirk Trevor, Andre Thomas, Steven Amundson, Steven Davis, and Barry Ford. Heruth has studied violin with Eva Szekely, Tony Brandolino, Francesca Anderegg, and Charles Gray.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 

Canada's foremost symphonic ensemble. 





this just in: sad indie boy makes soundcloud account

Welcome to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity's public digital audio archives on SoundCloud.

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is the world's oldest and largest fraternal society in music. The Fraternity has a had a long, rich history of prominent membership and has been present in nearly every aspect of the evolution of music in America. 

Here on SoundCloud, you will find historical recordings of speeches, presentations, and interviews that help paint a picture of how Brothers in Phi Mu Alpha have been an integral part of the American story.

Logan Severson Willson is a bass-baritone, composer, and conductor from Tucson, Arizona, who is particularly passionate about collaborative musicianship, especially in small ensemble settings. He has been fortunate to share this passion on stage as a soloist, conductor, and ensemble member in collaborations with award-winning ensembles such as the Swingle Singers, The Real Group, and Chanticleer. Additionally, Logan has been privileged to appear regularly with the Sedona Academy of Chamber Singers, High Altitude Vocal Jazz, and Shrine of the Ages, where he served as section leader.

As a composer, Logan's work explores themes of unity in our shared humanity. Logan publishes his work on his website and is always eager to take on new commissions and projects. His music has been honored with global performances by professional, school, church, and community ensembles.

Currently, Logan enjoys singing with the Voces8 US Scholars, serving as a choral intern at the Church of the Red Rocks, and participating in the musical opportunities offered to him all across the world.

Outside of music, you can find him racing bicycles.

HornCello is following