Ms., Opera, Music, Mr‪.‬ Midnight Oil Collective

Sola Fadiran and Frances Pollock blind react to Allison Chu's research about the field of music criticism. What is the demographic makeup of the field of classical music criticism? What do critics consider central to the profession of music criticism? And how does Sola feel about the Tonys?   Written and Recorded by Frances Pollock and Allison Chu 

Produced by Connor O'Toole and Frances Pollock  

Dive Deeper:  http://www.mcana.org/archive/criticssurvey.html 

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Theme Music written by Frances Pollock   

Episode Five--Sola, Sondheim, Statistics, Surveys was filmed over zoom and in New Haven, CT where we followed all COVID guidelines throughout the filming process

Episode 5: Sola, Sondheim, Statistics, Surveys  

Sola Fadiran and Frances Pollock blind react to Allison Chu's research about the field of music criticism. What is the demographic makeup of the field of classical music criticism? What do critics consider central to the profession of music criticism? And how does Sola feel about the Tonys?   

Written and Recorded by Frances Pollock and Allison Chu 

Produced by Connor O'Toole and Frances Pollock  

Dive Deeper:  “The Classical Music Critic: a Survey of Music Critics at General Interest and Specialized News Publications in America”

Want to learn more about Ms., Opera, Music, Mr.? 

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Midnight Oil Collective  

This channel is MOC’s homebase. Liberated artists liberate art so follow us and share the movement. To see behind-the-scenes & more, follow us on Facebook: @midnightoilcollective Instagram @midnight_oil_collective and Twitter @IgnightMOC   

Theme Music written by Frances Pollock   

Episode Five--Sola, Sondheim, Statistics, Surveys was filmed over zoom and in New Haven, CT where we followed all COVID guidelines throughout the filming process

What does gender have to do with opera? Does opera need to be gay? Composer Alexis Lamb and scholar Hallie Voulgaris join us to talk about the opera's weird relationship with gender and sexuality.

Cast and Crew: Allison Chu, Alexis Lamb, Frances Pollock, Hallie Voulgaris

Produced by Connor O'Toole and Frances Pollock

Dive deeper:


Pants Roles
Castrato
Ethel Smyth
Singspiel
David Smooke
Elizabeth Wood, "Sapphonics" in Queering the Pitch, ed. by Philip Brett, Elizabeth Wood, and Gary C. Thomas (London: Routledge, 2011), 27-66.
As One, by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed
Aiden Feltkamp
Griffin Candey
Heartbeat Opera
Drag Queen Story Hour at the Brooklyn Public Library
Slave Play, Jeremy O. Harris
Fire in my mouth, Julia Wolfe
Denis and Katya, by Philip Venables and Ted Huffman
Eli Greenhoe

Want to learn more about Ms., Opera, Music, Mr.? Visit us here: https://www.midnightoilco.com/projects/msoperamusicmr

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Midnight Oil Collective

This channel is MOC’s homebase. Liberated artists liberate art so follow us and share the movement. To see behind-the-scenes & more, follow us on Instagram @midnight_oil_collective and Twitter @IgnightMOC

Theme Music written by Frances Pollock

Episode Four -- Alexis, Hallie, Gender, Harry Potter was filmed over zoom and in New Haven, CT where we followed all COVID guidelines throughout the filming process

Ms., Opera, Music, Mr.

Episode 3--Rhetoric, Analysis, Opera, Owls?

Owls… and opera research? Join Allison Chu and Frances Pollock for Episode 3 of Ms., Opera, Music, Mr. to find out how this whole project began, and why owls are so important to this project. Nearly a year later, Allison and Frances are diving deep into reviews to think about the power of language and unconscious biases in the world of opera

Cast and Crew

Allison Chu

Frances Pollock

Check out some of the material discussed in this week's episode:

Voyant Tools

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Midnight Oil Collective

This channel is MOC’s homebase. Liberated artists liberate art so follow us and share the movement. To see behind-the-scenes & more, follow us on Instagram @midnight_oil_collective and Twitter @IgnightMOC

Theme Music written by Frances Pollock

Episode Three--Rhetoric, Analysis, Opera, Owls? was filmed over zoom and in New Haven, CT where we followed all COVID guidelines throughout the filming process

Ms., Opera, Music, Mr. 

Episode Two--Edwin, Joel, Reviews, Hot-Takes 

Allison Chu interviews artists, Edwin Joseph, Joel Thompson, and Frances Pollock about their experience being reviewed.   

Thought Experiment: Compare and contrast Joel and Nico's artist features in the New York Times. What are the similarities and what are the differences? After reading them, what sticks with you about each artist?   

Joel Thompson’s feature in the New York Times 

Nico Muhly’s feature in the New York Times 

Want to hear music from this week's episode? Listen to our MOMM Spotify playlist 

Check out some of the material discussed in this week's episode:   

Nico Muhly

Joel Thompson  

Tim Smith 

Bret McCabe  

Howard Reich’s review of Joel Thompson in Chicago Tribune 

Anne Midgette’s review of Frances Pollock’s opera in the Washington Post  

Edwin in Coco  

Wesley Morris

A.O. Scott 

Guy Fieri’s Review in the New York Times

Wagner’s Die Feen at the Glimmerglass Festival 2020 (postponed)  

Ellen Reid and Roxie Perkins’s prism:  Listen here; Read here.

Aaron Copland

Cast and Crew  

Allison Chu, Edwin Joseph, Joel Thompson, Frances Pollock 

Want to learn more about Ms., Opera, Music, Mr.? Visit us here

Love Midnight Oil Collective? Visit us here   

Midnight Oil Collective: Liberated artists liberate art so follow us and share the movement.  To see behind-the-scenes & more, follow us on Instagram @midnight_oil_collective and Twitter @IgnightMOC  

MUSIC Theme Music written by Frances Pollock   

Episode Two--Edwin, Joel, Reviews, Hot-Takes was filmed over zoom and in New Haven, CT where we followed all COVID guidelines throughout the filming process.

Episode 1—Frances, Allison, bios, obsessions

Written and Recorded by Frances Pollock and Allison Chu

Produced by Connor O'Toole and Frances Pollock

Dive Deeper:


Y | Opera | Studies | Today Conference
Blue Monday: John Andrew Johnson, "Gershwin's Blue Monday (1922) and the Promise of Success," in The Gershwin Style, ed. Wayne Schneider. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999)
Porgy and Bess 
Shen Musical Theater Curriculum
Dead Man Walking 
L'amour de Loin
Missy Mazzoli
Jeanine Tesori
Revisionist History: The Lady Vanishes
Beth Morrison Projects
Philip Ewell's "Beethoven is an above average composer and let's leave it at that"
New York City Opera

Want to learn more about Ms., Opera, Music, Mr. or its parent project? Visit us here: https://www.midnightoilco.com/projects/msoperamusicmr

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