Friday Morning Music Club

Last updated

The Friday Morning Music Club originated in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1880s as an informal club for the study of music. [1] Members of the club were required to audition to become a part of the club, and had to take part in musical performances. Early activities included reading from musical periodicals, the creation of a musical library, the creation of a lecture series, and the hosting of other musical groups for their DC performances.

Over the years, the club grew in size, and requirements for membership became more rigorous. In 1894, the club was incorporated in the District of Columbia, [2] and the headquarters moved from the various members’ homes to the music room of the Washington Club, located at 1710 I Street. As the club has grown over the years, it has been located in various places, including the Assembly room of the Cosmos Club and the Raleigh Hotel. Today, its headquarters and archives are located at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., 801 K St., N.W., Washington, D.C., and its meetings and programs are held at Charles Sumner School, 1201 17th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

The period from 1943-1949 was extremely active, and included the formation of groups of different categories, including pianists, singers, organists, composers and others who met on a regular basis to study and to listen to their own performances. Additionally, during this period, Miss Gretchen Hood, the opera singer, bequeathed money in her will to assist promising young musicians in their concert careers. This was the beginning of The Friday Morning Music Club Foundation, which was incorporated March 22, 1948, to help aspiring musical students.

In 1970, Foundation Director Willa Mae Koehn moved to change the name of the National Auditions to the Washington International Competition (WIC), and the first competition under this name was held for singers on April 23 and 24, 1971. [3] Over the years, notable winners have included: Jessye Norman, Gwendolyn Bradley, Jane Coop, [4] (who is also a judge of the competition), Sofya Gulyak, and Jie Chen. [5]

The Foundation continues to hold annual auditions alternating between pianists, singers, string players and composers, and grants awards. [6] It draws its applicants from all over the world. The most recent Washington International Competition was held in May 2022 at the Kennedy Center [7] for strings [8] [9] and composition; voice will be held in 2023, and piano in 2024. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lang Lang</span> Chinese pianist

Lang Lang is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and some top American orchestras. A Chicago Tribune music critic called him "the biggest, most exciting young keyboard talent I have encountered in many a year of attending piano recitals". Lang is considered by many as one of the most accomplished classical musicians of modern times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlos Nobre</span> Brazilian composer

Marlos Nobre is a Brazilian composer. He has received commissions from numerous institutions, including the Ministry of Culture in Spain, the Free University of Music of São Paulo, the Neuchâtel Chamber Orchestra in Switzerland, The Apollon Foundation in Bremen, Germany and the Maracaibo Music Festival in Venezuela. He has also sat on the juries of numerous international music competitions, including the Cità di Alessandria Prize, the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Cayabyab</span> Filipino musician and composer

Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab, known professionally as Ryan Cayabyab, is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor. Regarded as one of the pillars and icons of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named National Artist of the Philippines for Music in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Cheung</span>

Rachel Wai-Ching Cheung is a classical pianist from Hong Kong. She has won numerous prizes and awards in Hong Kong and overseas, and performs regularly in Asia, Europe, and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Lewis (pianist)</span> Musical artist

Eric Robert Lewis, popularly known as ELEW, is an American jazz pianist who has found cross-over success playing rock and pop music. He is known for his unconventional and physical playing style, which eschews a piano bench and includes reaching inside the piano lid to pull at the strings directly, as well as the creation that he calls "Rockjazz", a genre that "takes the improvisational aspect of jazz and 'threads it through the eye of the needle of rock.'"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balık Sisters</span> Turkish twin opera singers

The Balık Sisters are an opera act composed of Turkish identical twin sisters Didem Balık and Sinem Balık. Didem is a mezzo-soprano while Sinem is a soprano. The sisters, who claim to be the only identical twin opera singers performing professionally, are also known by the nickname "the Opera twins." Since 2000, Didem and Sinem have been living and performing in Vienna, Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sofya Gulyak</span> Musical artist

Sofya Gulyak is a Russian classical pianist. She was the first woman to win the Leeds Piano Competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoonjung Han</span>

Yoonjung "Yoonie" Han is a South Korean-born American classical pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levine School of Music</span> Private music school in Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.

Levine Music is a non-profit community music center serving the Greater Washington DC metropolitan area. Levine currently operates four campuses, in Northwest DC, Southeast DC, Strathmore MD, and Arlington VA. Levine welcomes students of all ages and abilities, from all economic backgrounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Albright</span> American pianist, composer, and improviser

Charlie Albright is an American pianist, composer, and improviser. He is an official Steinway Artist, 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant Recipient, 2010 Gilmore Young Artist (2010) and former Young Concert Artist. He graduated from Harvard College (AB) and the New England Conservatory (MM) as the first classical pianist in the schools' five-year AB/MM Joint Program, was named the Leverett House Artist in Residence for 2011–2012, and was one of the 15 Most Interesting Seniors of the Harvard College Class of 2011. He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music with his post-graduate Artist Diploma (AD) in 2014.

Nancy Zhou is a Chinese-American classical violinist. She has performed as a soloist in recital and with orchestras throughout the world. Zhou has been a prizewinner in several major competitions, including first prizes in the 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition and the 2018 International Music Competition Harbin.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph is an American actress and singer. She first gained recognition as Oda Mae Brown in the Broadway production of Ghost: The Musical (2012); she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her acting in this role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Coop</span> Canadian pianist and music pedagogue

Jane Austin Coop is a Canadian pianist and music pedagogue. An internationally recognized concert pianist, she has appeared as a recitalist and as a soloist with major symphony orchestras throughout the world. She has performed at such venues as the Bolshoi Hall in St. Petersburg, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Beijing Concert Hall, and the Salle Gaveau in Paris. From 1980-2012 she taught on the faculty of the University of British Columbia’s School of Music in Vancouver. In December 2012, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In May, 2019 she was appointed to the Order of British Columbia (O.B.C.)

Jean-Frédéric Neuburger is a French pianist, organist, and composer. His repertoire extends from Bach to Barraqué and the works of his own contemporaries.

Gregory Spears is an American composer of instrumental and operatic works that blend aspects of romanticism, minimalism, and early music. Among his best known works are the operas Fellow Travelers and Paul's Case, as well as his Requiem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mak Grgić</span> Musical artist

Mak Grgić is a Slovenian classical guitarist and entrepreneur.

Emi Ferguson is an English-American flutist, performer, singer, composer, and professor at the Juilliard School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerzy Sapieyevski</span> Polish musician und composer

Jerzy Sapieyevski, is a Polish-born pianist, composer, educator and conductor who settled in the United States in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Adele Freebey</span> American musician

Grace Adele Freebey was an American pianist, music teacher, and composer, based in Los Angeles.

References

  1. ↑ Koehn, Willa Mae (1968) [1966]. "The Friday Morning Music Club of Washington". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Historical Society of Washington, D.C. 66/68: 191–204. JSTOR   40067255.
  2. ↑ "The Friday Morning Music Club Incorporated and The Friday Morning Music Club Foundation, Incorporated of Washington, DC Certificates of Incorporation and Bylaws – 1974." DC Archives
  3. ↑ "Sopranos Win Laurels" The Washington Post and Times-Herald (1959-1973); Apr 26, 1971; B3.
  4. ↑ Bryan N.S. Gooch; Florence Hayes; Nancy McGregor; Betty Nygaard King. "Coop, Jane". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Archived from the original on September 10, 2004. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Jie Chen, piano recital (July 25, 2007)". Chicago Classical Music. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Friday Morning Music Club: Fifty-Eighth Annual Washington International Competition for Piano". Culture Capital. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  7. ↑ "FMMC: Washington International Competition for Strings". Kennedy Center. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  8. ↑ "Cellist Sydney Lee wins Washington International Competition". Northwestern Bienen School of Music. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  9. ↑ "Prizewinners Announced at the Washington International Competition for Strings". The Violin Channel. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  10. ↑ "FMMC Foundation International Music Competitions". Friday Morning Music Club Foundation Competitions. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.