The Library of Congress Chorale, which draws staff members from all over the library, recently celebrated the birthdays of sundry composers with a lunchtime concert in the Coolidge Auditorium. This was the last concert for their conductor John Saint Amour, who has admirably served his two-year term and awaits a capable successor to arise from the fold. Hope O’Keeffe, from the Office of the General Counsel, told me it was “quite awesome and a little humbling to sing on the same Coolidge stage as so many incredible artists over the years … but that hall can make anyone sound good.” The program featured the music of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (born January 4, 1710), Samuel Barber (born March 8, 1910), Robert Schumann (pictured; born June 8, 1810), Hugo Wolf (born March 13, 1860), Luigi Cherubini (born September 1760), and Samuel Sebastian Wesley (born August 14, 1810).
Today is the birthday of another storied composer: Sir Paul McCartney. McCartney was honored in the Coolidge just a few weeks ago as the recipient of the third Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and the Music Division is finally starting to come down from the excitement. BBC News