It's concert season at Peabody!

Friday, December 2, 2022 by Alix Evans | performance

'Tis the season for me to be busy with end-of-semester performances, and you can watch most of them from anywhere in the world!  For people local to Baltimore, these concerts are all free and open to the public.  For those more far-flung, they will also be livestreamed!  See below for details and livestream links.

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The Peabody Renaissance Ensemble
Under the direction of Mark Cudek, with the Baltimore Baroque Band, presenting works by Michael Praetorius

Dec 3, 7:30pm in Leith Symington Griswold Hall
more info
livestream

Dec 4, 2:30pm at Church of the Redeemer
more info
This performance will not be livestreamed.

NEXT Ensemble, Peabody Camerata & Peabody Hopkins Conservatory Choir
Under the direction of Beth Willer, presenting works by Carlo Gesualdo, Dieterich Buxtehude, Caroline Shaw, Matthew Aucoin, David Lang, and Derrick Sky

Dec 7, 7:30pm in Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall
more info
livestream

Interval recognition hacks!

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 by Alix Evans | theory

Some of my students are working with me on interval recognition - being able to recognize and sing specific intervals like octaves, perfect 5ths and 4ths, major and minor 2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths.  This is a great tool to have when learning to sight-sing!

One of the most common ways to remember what a specific interval sounds like is to associate the interval with a familiar song.  For instance, a lot of people associate the perfect 5th with the opening to the "Star Wars" theme (whereas my geeky self associates it with the opening to almost every song ever written by Hildegard of Bingen!  🤣)

Check out this Wikipedia page for an amazing list of songs that correspond to musical intervals!  It's almost certain that you'll find a song you know well for every interval.

(Also a note for the uber geeks:  the first entry for "ascending minor third" is "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," the opening song to the classic anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion."  Just in case you were wondering if there could be anything geekier than my Hildegard association - yes.  Yes there is.  Of course, NGE is one of my all-time favorite animes, and I do still have the lyrics to the opening song memorized in Japanese, so I'm not throwing any stones here!)