32 min listen
This Composer is Sick: Let's Talk About Syphilis
This Composer is Sick: Let's Talk About Syphilis
ratings:
Length:
16 minutes
Released:
Aug 18, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
This episode contains discussions of syphilis, its symptoms, and its transmission. If you are concerned you have syphilis or another sexually transmitted infection, you can find information about sexual health clinics in New York City here.
While an undergraduate at Juilliard, flute-player Emi Ferguson almost quit music to pursue epidemiology full-time instead. Even though she stuck with music, she is still fascinated by how disease can impact society, and especially how it can impact artists. Starting today, and for the next three episodes, join Emi as she dives into the health histories of several composers and their experiences with syphilis. She is joined by Dr. Sheila Lukehart, an emeritus professor at the University of Washington, who has worked on syphilis for over forty years. In this episode, Emi connects the dots between an Italian shepherd who upset Apollo, an angry Arnold Schoenberg in a Los Angeles grocery store (spoiler alert: he didn't have syphilis), and 1940s public health campaigns.
“We Are Not Ashamed,” featuring Sister Rosetta Tharpe, from the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Used courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity.
Excerpts from "An emigré life" oral history by Marta Feuchtwanger provided by the Center for Oral History Research, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA (Tape XX, Side Two, August 15, 1975)
Additional thanks to the NYC Municipal Archives, the National Archives, and the New York Public Radio Archives for archival audio.
While an undergraduate at Juilliard, flute-player Emi Ferguson almost quit music to pursue epidemiology full-time instead. Even though she stuck with music, she is still fascinated by how disease can impact society, and especially how it can impact artists. Starting today, and for the next three episodes, join Emi as she dives into the health histories of several composers and their experiences with syphilis. She is joined by Dr. Sheila Lukehart, an emeritus professor at the University of Washington, who has worked on syphilis for over forty years. In this episode, Emi connects the dots between an Italian shepherd who upset Apollo, an angry Arnold Schoenberg in a Los Angeles grocery store (spoiler alert: he didn't have syphilis), and 1940s public health campaigns.
“We Are Not Ashamed,” featuring Sister Rosetta Tharpe, from the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Used courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity.
Excerpts from "An emigré life" oral history by Marta Feuchtwanger provided by the Center for Oral History Research, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA (Tape XX, Side Two, August 15, 1975)
Additional thanks to the NYC Municipal Archives, the National Archives, and the New York Public Radio Archives for archival audio.
Released:
Aug 18, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (16)
Layale Chaker in Conversation with Fabian Almazan and David Lentz: WQXR's Artist Propulsion Lab is the station's program to support emerging and mid-career artists by providing them with opportunities to perform and commission work, and to take advantage of the station's platforms, like this podcast. Starting today, and continuing every other Thursday, join this year's class of artists as they explore a topic important to them. In this episode, violinist and composer Layale Chaker is joined by composer and pianist Fabian Alamazan, and paleobotanist David Lentz, of the University of Cincinnati, for a conversation about music and environmental stewardship, moderated by New Sounds' John Schaefer. Featured Recordings: "The Songs of the Forgotten" composed and performed by Fabian Almazan. Available at Bandcamp "Le Courlis cendré," from Catalogue d’oiseaux by Olivier Messaien, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Available at Pentatone "Tingo Maria," from Milagros by Gabriela Lena Frank, per by Artist Propulsion Lab