November 30, 2020

Aaron Beck Featured in HearTOGETHER Podcast

Credit: Nina Johnson

James W. Rogers Professor of Music Aaron Beck recently completed a HearTOGETHER podcast for the Philadelphia Orchestra on the topic of social justice. Beck’s podcast episode will air on March 17, 2021.

Beck writes program notes for the Philadelphia Orchestra. The HearTOGETHER podcast is a monthly series of dialogue and music with industry thought leaders and guest artists who explore racial and social justice, and creative equity and inclusion, through the lens of the world of orchestral music. Recent contributors include American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis and composer Jennifer Higdon. HearTOGETHER is hosted by Tori Marchiony.

As a member of the LBGTQ community and an Italian citizen, Beck has defined, and defended, his identity throughout his lifetime. Beck was featured in The Oregonian during a four-year court battle to rewrite same-sex adoption rights in Italy. 

“I grew up with a lot of incredible sexism and homophobia as a child,” Beck told the Oregonian. “It was very, very painful. I was frightened that I would be found out. But I felt as a young person that that was just the way it was. There was nothing I could do except be very, very careful.”

In 2018, Beck celebrated a great victory for her family and for civil rights everywhere.

Beck is teaching Music and Social Justice this semester–-an elective course available to all students that explores the intersection of music and social justice. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples of performers engaged in struggles for social change, the class examines how and why creative actors participate in political life.