The Second Street Dreams Audio Network

Many of you were not alive or were babies on the horrible day, September 11, 2001. Those of us who were will NEVER FORGET it. That includes the thousands of reporters who covered the events of that day and in the days...

Morgiane, the opera by Louisiana native Edmond Dédé got national and international attention when it was performed and recorded earlier this year. This 1887 opera was finally included in the opera canon after 138 years...

Since 2021, the Catalyst Quartet has released albums of the music of Black composers. The series called Uncovered featured the works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence B. Price, Coleridge-Taylor, Perkinson, William...

Since the 21st century started in earnest, there’s been some discussion about opera. New operas versus the standard repertoire and how it’s measured against the prevailing views about race and attitudes. Now comes One...

A soothing album as a balm for the ICE infested people of Minneapolis. Mozart’s newly discovered jam, Elaine Andrews found an undiscovered Ralph Vaughn Williams piece and there's a pianist who likes to perform his...

Some ideas nag at you over time. That is until something happens and you have to act. This is what happened to Ruby Ortiz who finally decided to start Houston’s first LGBTQ+ symphony orchestra. It’s called the Houston...

We are just days away from the actual 250th birthday of America. The music developed for this event just keeps coming. Perhaps none as expansive as the Declaration Project from pianist Lara Downes. She created it to get...

Many classical music groups have released new music or albums about the 250th birthday of America. Some are straightforward, others take a diverse view, like the Apollo Chamber Players. Founder and Director Matthew...

We have been inundated with new music and performances of old patriotic music because of the 250th birthday of the United States. On this June 8th podcast, I’m starting a series on music composed and performed...

There aren’t many musicians, classical or otherwise who aren’t presenting their own versions of a birthday song for America’s 250th. On this episode, we hear from Min Kwon, a pianist with a little activist nature on the...

Hundreds of people are expected to voluntarily step outside of their musical genre mode this weekend and hear something new, and different and maybe even odd. It’s time for the annual HERE BE MONSTERS, Austin’s...

Many orchestras and chamber groups are celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding this year. While most of the music is a positive portrayal of the United States there is at least one musical work telling...

Even though operas from long ago are still being performed, there’s a movement afoot to freshen them up or to do new 21st century operas. In the case of the 1958 opera Vanessa, a production by Heartbeat Opera is doing a...

Sometimes when someone makes a suggestion to you, it kind of sticks with you. That’s what happened to jazz artist Darrel Grant. He decided to act on this suggestion from a friend by composing Step by Step, the Ruby...

In honor of April, Earth Month, more than a few composers have released albums about their love of our home planet, and their anxiety about climate change. This week’s episode features three of those albums.