Amplifying Black Voices from Past to Present

Iman J. Williams

Hi, I’m Iman, the new Classics for Kids Intern! I am a flutist, activist, and plant enthusiast. I’ve been playing the flute since I was 10 years old! I am excited to share my passion for music and history with the Classics for Kids community!

After World War I, African Americans began traveling North to seek a better life full of economic and social equality at the end of Slavery. Also known as The Great Migration, over 250,000 African Americans had migrated North. Harlem in New York City had become a popular destination for folks to settle down, be free, and be “unapologetically Black”, after years of being silenced.

Georg Philipp Telemann 3: Self-Taught Composers

Georg Philipp Telemann never studied composition – he taught himself how to write music. There are quite a few composers who taught themselves, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Edward Elgar, Francis Poulenc, […]

Georg Philipp Telemann 2: Go for Baroque

Georg Philipp Telemann composed during the Baroque period, which ran from about 1600 to 1750. Suzanne Bona, host of the National Public Radio program Sunday Baroque, talks with Naomi Lewin […]

Johann Strauss, Jr. 4: Musical Conversation

Tritsch-Tratsch — the title of a polka by Johann Strauss, Jr. — is Austrian slang for “chit-chat.” A lot of composers used music to portray people making sounds: talking, laughing, […]

Johann Strauss, Jr. 3: The Waltz

The waltz is a dance in 3/4 time that was very popular in Vienna, Austria in the 19th century. But the roots of the waltz go back to the German […]

Johann Strauss, Jr. 1: About Johann Strauss, Jr.

Johann Strauss, Jr. was the son of a very successful violinist and orchestra leader. Eventually, Johann, Jr. was in competition with his father, conducting an orchestra of his own. When […]

Aaron Copland 5: Classical Music in Pop

What do Frank Sinatra, Blood Sweat and Tears and John Denver have in common? They all used classical music in some of their pieces. After Aaron Copland composed his Fanfare […]

Aaron Copland 4: What’s in a Name

In 1942, Eugene Goossens, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony, invited two dozen or so composers to write fanfares honoring those serving in World War II. Hear some more of […]