For the Cape Symphony’s performance of Mozart’s Requiem, we have to bring in outstanding solo singers. The masterpiece requires four solo voices – soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and bass – who must be able to handle the demands Mozart placed on them.

Remember the ‘70s? When you insisted on a Dorothy Hamill haircut, tried to walk in platform shoes, and cried when your mood ring wouldn’t change color anymore?

In the same way that nightclubs evolved from places where live bands provided the music to places where disc jockeys played records, disco changed the tradition of partner dancing.

Believe it or not, Nazis had a hand in the development of the nightclubs where disco music originated! During World War II, dance halls in Paris featured jazz music; however, regulations in Nazi-occupied France banned live music, so records were played instead.

One of the composers we’re featuring in Passport to America: The Immigrant Story is not just alive, he’s actively working and demonstrating the unique cultural richness that immigrants bring to our country.

Franz Waxman was a Jewish composer who started out writing scores in the thriving and much-admired German film industry. His first original Hollywood score was James Whale’s memorable Bride of Frankenstein in 1935.