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Spring Studio Recitals: May 2024 Little Mission Studio is pleased to announce our next Studio Recitals!

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Composer of the Week: Ruth Crawford Seeger Ameri

Composer of the Week:

Ruth Crawford Seeger

American composer Ruth Crawford Seeger was born July 3, 1901 in East Liverpool, Ohio. She began studying piano at the age of six, and throughout her youth studied with a number of prominent teachers. In 1921 Crawford moved to Chicago where she enrolled at the American Conservatory of Music. While she initially enrolled to study piano and earn a teaching certificate she quickly shifted to composition, eventually earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1924 and subsequently enrolled in the Master’s of Music program. Throughout this time she continued to study piano with Djane Lavoie-Herz, who ended up having a profound effect on Crawford’s intellectual and musical life. The next few years saw Crawford rubbing elbows with many other great composers of the time such as Alban Berg, and Béla Bartok as well as meeting her future husband Charles Seeger. Their marriage saw Crawford Seeger move to Washington D.C. with her family and write a series of pieces based on arrangements of American folk songs, such as “American Folk Songs for Children”, “Animal Folk Songs for Children”, and “Our Singing Country”. In addition to the large assortment of folk music she arranged she was also regarded as an “ultramodernist” composer. Her “String Quartet”, composed in 1931, has been regarded as her most important piece of music. Other notable pieces she wrote include “Five Preludes for Piano”, “Sonata for Violin and Piano”, and “Five Songs on Sandburg Poems”. Crawford Seeger died on November 18, 1953 after a battle with intestinal cancer.

What else can you learn about Ruth Crawford Seeger this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #RuthCrawfordSeeger

Tonight! Our Little Mission Chorus performs their

Tonight! Our Little Mission Chorus performs their Spring Concert at 8:15 PM. Come enjoy some beautiful choral music at this free concert!

#makemoremusic #chorus #concert #choralmusic

Composer of the Week: Leonard Cohen Canadian sin

Composer of the Week:

Leonard Cohen

Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Quebec, Canada. The early part of Cohen’s life consisted of him being largely involved with writing, specifically poetry. However while he was still in high school he taught himself how to play the guitar and formed a musical group with friends, called the Bushkin Boys. His earlier adult years saw him largely ignore music and he made a career for himself as a writer, publishing a number of books of poetry and fiction. After finding limited success with his writing he switched to song-writing in 1967 and moved to the US, becoming a member of Andy Warhol’s “factory” crowd. Some of his earliest hits from this time are “Suzanne” and “Bird on the Wire”. His most famous song “Hallelujah” wouldn’t be written and released until 1984, appearing on his seventh studio album. The song was not initially successful, unitl after covers by artists such as John Cale and Jeff Buckley it gained more recognition. “Hallelujah” has gone on to be one of the most successful and recognizable songs of all time, having been covered by over 200 artists. Throughout Cohen’s long career he often was outspoken about the conflicts of the world happening around him. He was the subject of a lawsuit in 2005 when it was discovered his manager had misappropriated the majority of Cohen’s earnings, leaving the singer almost bankrupt. This led the now 71 singer to return to public performance and launch a series of world tours in the hopes of regaining some of the financial stability he had experienced prior to the lawsuit. The series of tours that followed were immensely successful and cemented Cohen in the new world of music. He released four more studio albums, the last coming posthumously. Cohen passed away on November 7, 2016 following a brief battle with leukemia.

What else can you learn about Leonard Cohen this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #LeonardCohen

Bravi tutti to our Chamber Ensembles performers on

Bravi tutti to our Chamber Ensembles performers on a fantastic & fun Chamber Music Party last night! 👏 And thanks to all who came out to enjoy the music! 🎶

The next session starts soon & enrollment closes Weds, 4/17/24. Come #MakeMoreMusic with us!

Students in our Chamber Ensembles class are ready

Students in our Chamber Ensembles class are ready to show off their hard work! Come to our Chamber Music Party tonight at 8 PM for a fun concert featuring works by Shostakovich, Gaubert, Saint-Saëns, & more. Food, drinks, music - what more could you want?

Composer of the Week: Peter Maxwell Davies Sir P

Composer of the Week:

Peter Maxwell Davies

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was born September 8, 1934 in Salford, Lancashire, England. After being exposed to music at the age of 4, the young Davies told his parents that he would grow up to be a composer. Shortly afterwards he started receiving piano lessons, and by the age of 14 he submitted a composition of his own to a radio program which gained the notice of BBC producer Trevor Hill. Hill went on to become a mentor of Davies and made him the radio programme’s resident composer, introducing him to numerous people within the music community. Davies liked to create stage works that would shock his audience, notably his work “Eight Songs for a Mad King” which parodied the music of Handel’s “Messiah” to tell the story of the periods of madness experienced by King George III. By 1966 he had moved to the Orkney Islands in Northern Scotland and lived there for the remainder of his life. While living there in 1977 he started the St Magnus Festival which is a week long music festival. It was at this festival he premiered one of his most political works, “The Yellow Cake Revue” which was in protest to the planned uranium mine that was to be built on the island. From this suite of cabaret style pieces for voice and piano comes one of Davies most popular solo piano works “Farewell to Stromness”. Throughout most of his life Davies was very politically outspoken and often a bit controversial in his practices. He was a life-long supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, as well as an avid environmentalist. While he was a modern composer he often referenced renaissance styles within his writing, and would incorporate themes from that period into his own writing. His musical writing spanned many of the major genres of classical music composing operas, orchestral works, solo instrumental works, and more. Davies passed away on March 14, 2016 following a battle with leukemia.

What else can you learn about Peter Maxwell Davies this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #PeterMaxwellDavies

How many of our Composer of the Week Trading Cards

How many of our Composer of the Week Trading Cards have you collected??

#makemoremusic #composer #composeroftheweek #music #musicschool #musiceducation #musiced #gottacatchemall #sf #mission

Composer of the Week: Bedřich Smetana Czech nat

Composer of the Week:

Bedřich Smetana

Czech national composer Bedřich Smetana was born March 2, 1824 in Litomyši, now a part of modern day Czech Republic. He wrote for a great variety of musical styles, beginning first with solo piano music before expanding into orchestral music and opera. His comedic opera “The Bartered Bride” was immensely popular, with over 100 showings during his lifetime. Other significant works in his repertoire include “Má vlast” which is a symphonic poem based around the legends and landscapes of Bohemia (where he grew up). He came from a musical family, with his father being quite accomplished at the violin. While growing up his primary instrument was piano, and he held his first public performance at the age of 6. Throughout his life he was close personal friends with Franz Liszt, often seeking counsel and help from the great composer. He started his professional career living in Prague and made a living teaching piano to a small collection of students. However he found that he was never able to achieve the career and status he felt he deserved and eventually left for Gothenburg, Sweden. It was while living in Sweden that he achieved significant recognition, with a large number of students striving to study with him. It was only on his return to Prague following his time in Sweden that he wrote his first opera which opened to considerable success, and was followed with “The Bartered Bride” which as mentioned above was immensely successful. Towards the end of his life he suffered from numerous ailments including deafness, and eventually dementia. He passed away on May 12, 1884 after a short stay in a psychiatric institution. Smetana consistently faced harsh criticism during his career and struggled to gain the recognition and admiration he felt he deserved, although since his passing he has since become regarded as the greatest nationalistic Czech composer.

What else can you learn about Bedřich Smetana this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #BedřichSmetana

Save the date for our Spring Chamber Music Party o

Save the date for our Spring Chamber Music Party on Thursday, April 11th, at 8 PM! Students in our Chamber Ensembles class will present works by: Shostakovich, Früling, Muczynski, Bonis, Saint-Saëns, Gaubert, & more!

In the style of how chamber music was originally performed, in folk’s homes as a social gathering, all chamber music aficionados are invited to join us for a fun evening of music, food, & drink (BYO to share). And if you are interested in taking our adult Chamber Ensembles class, this concert is the perfect opportunity to meet fellow students & our teachers. See you there!

#chambermusic #MakeMoreMusic #music #concert #musiceducation #musiced #musicschool #sf #mission

Composer of the Week: Johanna Beyer German compo

Composer of the Week:

Johanna Beyer

German composer Johanna Beyer was born July 11, 1888 in Leipzig, Germany. While little is known about the early years of her life it is known that she traveled to the United States from 1911-14. She returned permanently to the US in 1923 where she took up studies at the Mannes College of Music in New York City, where she received two degrees in music. Throughout her time in New York she supported herself teaching piano and composing. She was known to run in the same circle as prominent American composers, and even studied with Ruth Crawford, Charles Seeger, and Dane Rudhyar. By 1934 she had taken a percussion class with Henry Cowell, who went on to be one of her closest friendships throughout her life. For most of her life her compositions were generally ignored and she was regarded more for her skills as a pianist. She was considered an “ultra-modernist” in her compositions and was very forward thinking with her musical idioms. She was among the first to use pitch clusters in her music, as well as anticipating the minimalist style of writing that didn’t become prominent until the 1960’s. While she wrote for many of the popular music styles she is highly regarded for the wealth of percussion music she wrote. Her piece “The Percussion Suite”, from 1933, is considered among the first for the instrumentation. Much of her percussion writing was unique from her contemporaries in that it had a sense of humor, and emphasized process over a more purely rhythmic approach and exploration of the instrument genre. Other notable pieces she wrote during her career was “Music of the Spheres” which is the first known work by a woman scored for electronic instruments, and “Clusters” which as the title might suggest uses tone clusters. Towards the end of her life Beyer suffered from ALS, and died on January 9, 1944 while living in New York City.

What else can you learn about Johanna Beyer this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #JohannaBeyer

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Little Mission Studio

445 Hampshire Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415.857.3408

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Composer of the Week: Ruth Crawford Seeger Ameri

Composer of the Week:

Ruth Crawford Seeger

American composer Ruth Crawford Seeger was born July 3, 1901 in East Liverpool, Ohio. She began studying piano at the age of six, and throughout her youth studied with a number of prominent teachers. In 1921 Crawford moved to Chicago where she enrolled at the American Conservatory of Music. While she initially enrolled to study piano and earn a teaching certificate she quickly shifted to composition, eventually earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1924 and subsequently enrolled in the Master’s of Music program. Throughout this time she continued to study piano with Djane Lavoie-Herz, who ended up having a profound effect on Crawford’s intellectual and musical life. The next few years saw Crawford rubbing elbows with many other great composers of the time such as Alban Berg, and Béla Bartok as well as meeting her future husband Charles Seeger. Their marriage saw Crawford Seeger move to Washington D.C. with her family and write a series of pieces based on arrangements of American folk songs, such as “American Folk Songs for Children”, “Animal Folk Songs for Children”, and “Our Singing Country”. In addition to the large assortment of folk music she arranged she was also regarded as an “ultramodernist” composer. Her “String Quartet”, composed in 1931, has been regarded as her most important piece of music. Other notable pieces she wrote include “Five Preludes for Piano”, “Sonata for Violin and Piano”, and “Five Songs on Sandburg Poems”. Crawford Seeger died on November 18, 1953 after a battle with intestinal cancer.

What else can you learn about Ruth Crawford Seeger this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #RuthCrawfordSeeger

Tonight! Our Little Mission Chorus performs their

Tonight! Our Little Mission Chorus performs their Spring Concert at 8:15 PM. Come enjoy some beautiful choral music at this free concert!

#makemoremusic #chorus #concert #choralmusic

Composer of the Week: Leonard Cohen Canadian sin

Composer of the Week:

Leonard Cohen

Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Quebec, Canada. The early part of Cohen’s life consisted of him being largely involved with writing, specifically poetry. However while he was still in high school he taught himself how to play the guitar and formed a musical group with friends, called the Bushkin Boys. His earlier adult years saw him largely ignore music and he made a career for himself as a writer, publishing a number of books of poetry and fiction. After finding limited success with his writing he switched to song-writing in 1967 and moved to the US, becoming a member of Andy Warhol’s “factory” crowd. Some of his earliest hits from this time are “Suzanne” and “Bird on the Wire”. His most famous song “Hallelujah” wouldn’t be written and released until 1984, appearing on his seventh studio album. The song was not initially successful, unitl after covers by artists such as John Cale and Jeff Buckley it gained more recognition. “Hallelujah” has gone on to be one of the most successful and recognizable songs of all time, having been covered by over 200 artists. Throughout Cohen’s long career he often was outspoken about the conflicts of the world happening around him. He was the subject of a lawsuit in 2005 when it was discovered his manager had misappropriated the majority of Cohen’s earnings, leaving the singer almost bankrupt. This led the now 71 singer to return to public performance and launch a series of world tours in the hopes of regaining some of the financial stability he had experienced prior to the lawsuit. The series of tours that followed were immensely successful and cemented Cohen in the new world of music. He released four more studio albums, the last coming posthumously. Cohen passed away on November 7, 2016 following a brief battle with leukemia.

What else can you learn about Leonard Cohen this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #LeonardCohen

Bravi tutti to our Chamber Ensembles performers on

Bravi tutti to our Chamber Ensembles performers on a fantastic & fun Chamber Music Party last night! 👏 And thanks to all who came out to enjoy the music! 🎶

The next session starts soon & enrollment closes Weds, 4/17/24. Come #MakeMoreMusic with us!

Students in our Chamber Ensembles class are ready

Students in our Chamber Ensembles class are ready to show off their hard work! Come to our Chamber Music Party tonight at 8 PM for a fun concert featuring works by Shostakovich, Gaubert, Saint-Saëns, & more. Food, drinks, music - what more could you want?

Composer of the Week: Peter Maxwell Davies Sir P

Composer of the Week:

Peter Maxwell Davies

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was born September 8, 1934 in Salford, Lancashire, England. After being exposed to music at the age of 4, the young Davies told his parents that he would grow up to be a composer. Shortly afterwards he started receiving piano lessons, and by the age of 14 he submitted a composition of his own to a radio program which gained the notice of BBC producer Trevor Hill. Hill went on to become a mentor of Davies and made him the radio programme’s resident composer, introducing him to numerous people within the music community. Davies liked to create stage works that would shock his audience, notably his work “Eight Songs for a Mad King” which parodied the music of Handel’s “Messiah” to tell the story of the periods of madness experienced by King George III. By 1966 he had moved to the Orkney Islands in Northern Scotland and lived there for the remainder of his life. While living there in 1977 he started the St Magnus Festival which is a week long music festival. It was at this festival he premiered one of his most political works, “The Yellow Cake Revue” which was in protest to the planned uranium mine that was to be built on the island. From this suite of cabaret style pieces for voice and piano comes one of Davies most popular solo piano works “Farewell to Stromness”. Throughout most of his life Davies was very politically outspoken and often a bit controversial in his practices. He was a life-long supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, as well as an avid environmentalist. While he was a modern composer he often referenced renaissance styles within his writing, and would incorporate themes from that period into his own writing. His musical writing spanned many of the major genres of classical music composing operas, orchestral works, solo instrumental works, and more. Davies passed away on March 14, 2016 following a battle with leukemia.

What else can you learn about Peter Maxwell Davies this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #PeterMaxwellDavies

How many of our Composer of the Week Trading Cards

How many of our Composer of the Week Trading Cards have you collected??

#makemoremusic #composer #composeroftheweek #music #musicschool #musiceducation #musiced #gottacatchemall #sf #mission

Composer of the Week: Bedřich Smetana Czech nat

Composer of the Week:

Bedřich Smetana

Czech national composer Bedřich Smetana was born March 2, 1824 in Litomyši, now a part of modern day Czech Republic. He wrote for a great variety of musical styles, beginning first with solo piano music before expanding into orchestral music and opera. His comedic opera “The Bartered Bride” was immensely popular, with over 100 showings during his lifetime. Other significant works in his repertoire include “Má vlast” which is a symphonic poem based around the legends and landscapes of Bohemia (where he grew up). He came from a musical family, with his father being quite accomplished at the violin. While growing up his primary instrument was piano, and he held his first public performance at the age of 6. Throughout his life he was close personal friends with Franz Liszt, often seeking counsel and help from the great composer. He started his professional career living in Prague and made a living teaching piano to a small collection of students. However he found that he was never able to achieve the career and status he felt he deserved and eventually left for Gothenburg, Sweden. It was while living in Sweden that he achieved significant recognition, with a large number of students striving to study with him. It was only on his return to Prague following his time in Sweden that he wrote his first opera which opened to considerable success, and was followed with “The Bartered Bride” which as mentioned above was immensely successful. Towards the end of his life he suffered from numerous ailments including deafness, and eventually dementia. He passed away on May 12, 1884 after a short stay in a psychiatric institution. Smetana consistently faced harsh criticism during his career and struggled to gain the recognition and admiration he felt he deserved, although since his passing he has since become regarded as the greatest nationalistic Czech composer.

What else can you learn about Bedřich Smetana this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #BedřichSmetana

Save the date for our Spring Chamber Music Party o

Save the date for our Spring Chamber Music Party on Thursday, April 11th, at 8 PM! Students in our Chamber Ensembles class will present works by: Shostakovich, Früling, Muczynski, Bonis, Saint-Saëns, Gaubert, & more!

In the style of how chamber music was originally performed, in folk’s homes as a social gathering, all chamber music aficionados are invited to join us for a fun evening of music, food, & drink (BYO to share). And if you are interested in taking our adult Chamber Ensembles class, this concert is the perfect opportunity to meet fellow students & our teachers. See you there!

#chambermusic #MakeMoreMusic #music #concert #musiceducation #musiced #musicschool #sf #mission

Composer of the Week: Johanna Beyer German compo

Composer of the Week:

Johanna Beyer

German composer Johanna Beyer was born July 11, 1888 in Leipzig, Germany. While little is known about the early years of her life it is known that she traveled to the United States from 1911-14. She returned permanently to the US in 1923 where she took up studies at the Mannes College of Music in New York City, where she received two degrees in music. Throughout her time in New York she supported herself teaching piano and composing. She was known to run in the same circle as prominent American composers, and even studied with Ruth Crawford, Charles Seeger, and Dane Rudhyar. By 1934 she had taken a percussion class with Henry Cowell, who went on to be one of her closest friendships throughout her life. For most of her life her compositions were generally ignored and she was regarded more for her skills as a pianist. She was considered an “ultra-modernist” in her compositions and was very forward thinking with her musical idioms. She was among the first to use pitch clusters in her music, as well as anticipating the minimalist style of writing that didn’t become prominent until the 1960’s. While she wrote for many of the popular music styles she is highly regarded for the wealth of percussion music she wrote. Her piece “The Percussion Suite”, from 1933, is considered among the first for the instrumentation. Much of her percussion writing was unique from her contemporaries in that it had a sense of humor, and emphasized process over a more purely rhythmic approach and exploration of the instrument genre. Other notable pieces she wrote during her career was “Music of the Spheres” which is the first known work by a woman scored for electronic instruments, and “Clusters” which as the title might suggest uses tone clusters. Towards the end of her life Beyer suffered from ALS, and died on January 9, 1944 while living in New York City.

What else can you learn about Johanna Beyer this week?

#Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #JohannaBeyer

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