Combining Classical and Folklore

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I was reading the daily news and came across this article in the San Jose Mercury News. Composer Gabriela Lena Frank will have her music performed in August at the Music@Menlo Festival.

Ms Frank has a diverse cultural backgrounds, Chinese-Peruvian-Jewish-Lituanian growing up in Berkeley California. She loves latin rhythms and incorporates folk influences into her music. She has been hailed as representing "the next generation of American composers."

Another article in the Independent speaking on how "Classical performers need to stop being stuffy and get in the groove." Kristjan Järvi's article is all about how Classical performances should be entertaining (yea!)

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