Welcome!
Program notes are essays about classical composers and their works,
how those works came to be the way they are, and how one can most
readily enjoy and understand the music. I have been writing program
notes for about twenty years, drawing upon two decades of experience
as a classical radio announcer, pre-concert/pre-opera speaker, author
of eight books on classical music, and a university professor of music.
My current clients for written notes and performance talks include Encyclopædia Britannica, Opera Colorado, the Colorado Symphony,
the Maui Chamber Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Festival.
At this writing, my program note files contain over 3400 compositions,
ranging from the Renaissance to newly commissioned works. I regularly
write new notes and have a large research library, so if you don't see
the one you need listed, please ask anyway. I may have written it lately.
Here you will find samples of my work and a complete list of everything currently in my files, as well as information regarding my eight published books. There is also an overall index to the full series of books. Even those not in the market to purchase program notes will likely find the list useful for confirming keys, opus numbers, and other data.
Current and recent students of the Aspen Music School can inquire about special discounted rates for use of my notes
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Betsy Schwarm
betsy.schwarm@gmail.com or betsy.schwarm@earthlink.net
Please see also my alternate website: www.betsyschwarm.com.
