African American Soprano Martina Arroyo on Radio from Berlin

Once a month, streaming audio on the Internet brings a Berlin radio broadcast of the organization Classic in Black to the computer users of the world.

On Monday, Oct. 1, 2007 at 8:00 P.M. Berlin Time (2:00 P.M. EDT in the U.S.), Classic in Black presents a portrait of the African-American Soprano Martina Arroyo, accompanied by a selection of her recordings. Harry Louiserre is Producer and Moderator; Rolf Gänsrich is Technician. The program originates in Germany but is broadcast in English. Harry Louiserre is Managing Director of the company Classic in Black, Paris/Berlin/New York. He is a singer and music producer who has long been located in Berlin, according to his group's website, Classicinblack.de/ Mr. Louiserre is associated with Berlin Fountainhead Dance Theatre, as well as many other organizations, including the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago, Black International Cinema Berlin and Afrikahaus Berlin.

The radio program can be heard live once each month; audio streaming is available at the website of Offener Kanal Berlin: OKB.de/ Look for the heading “Radio - live stream” in the upper right corner of the page, and select "RealOne" or "WinAmp". Classic in Black is also included periodically on “The Collegium Television Program”.

Classic In Black presents extensive photo and text resources on Black Classical Music at another website. The page is entitled “A Dialogue of Civilizations: African Culture and Classical Music”. The artists featured are Composers, Conductors, Musicians, Singers and Ballet Dancers, but the overwhelming majority are vocalists.

The contralto Marian Anderson is profiled first in a lengthy biographical essay by Randye L. Jones. Next is Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933), of whom Classic in Black says:

“She sang for kings, died in poverty
Sissieretta Jones was a pioneer of black operatic singing, and she paved the way for a long list of black opera singers to follow, including Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, Leontyne Price, and Grace Bumbry, among others.”

The Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is next, followed by Grace Bumbry, the distinguished African American conductor James DePreist, the African American composer and pianist Margaret Allison Bonds, the pioneering African American conductor Dean Dixon and a great many others.

Martina Arroyo
Offener Kanal
Harry Louiserre
African American
Black Soprano
classical music

Chris Foley's Pagecast Features Joshua Nemith on Sodi Braide

(Sodi Braide Recorded live at the Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition May 20 - June 5, 2005, Fort Worth, Texas)

AfriClassical, the blog companion to AfriClassical.com, is gratified that Toronto pianist Chris Foley's Pagecast of Classical Music Blogs presents the lead story from Joshua Nemith's Cincinnati Pianist Blog today, “Franck Explored by Nigerian Sodi Braide”. Here is the opening paragraph:

William Zick (AfriClassical) informed me of Nigerian pianist Sodi Braide’s recent recording of Franck solo piano works (released on the Lyrinx label). Mr. Braide won a jury discretionary award at the Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He placed sixth in the Leeds International Competition in 2003. I look forward to listening to this artist’s rendering of these often overlooked Romantic works sometime soon. I am sure that it will be a source of pride for the Nigerian musical community. Mr. Braide’s accomplishments at the two highly significant international piano competitions reveal that he will be an important pianist in years to come. You can read more about Sodi Braide in Mr. Zick’s informative post about the Franck release.

+Braide" rel="tag">Sodi Braide

+Pianist" rel="tag">Nigerian Pianist

+music" rel="tag">classical music

César Franck

Foley" rel="tag">Chris Foley

+Nemith" rel="tag">Joshua Nemith




Field Negro Blog Promotes Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide

The very popular Field Negro blog has been carrying this story on the Sept. 24, 2007 post in AfriClassical, Piano Works of Franck On CD By Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide in its right column for the past few days:

“Check Out This Brother
A Nigerian Classical Pianist With The Goods
Thanks Bill Zick For This Link”

Sodi Braide has responded to the interest in his recording:

“Thank you so much for spreading info about my cd! I loved both your blog post and the African Loft story.“

Four days after the post was published on AfriClassical, and two days after it was republished on African Loft, interest in Sodi Braide's CD of piano works of César Franck, Lyrinx 249, is unabated. It is clear that the Field Negro blog has brought well-deserved attention to this Nigerian classical pianist with its continuing post. When the CD was released in March it drew appreciative reviews in France, yet until this week it remained unknown to many American fans of classical music.



+Braide" rel="tag"> Sodi Braide

+Pianist" rel="tag"> Nigerian Pianist

+Negro" rel="tag"> Field Negro

César Franck

Pianist" rel="tag"> Black Pianist

+music" rel="tag"> classical music

ChoralBlog Celebrates Sept. 26 Birthday of William Levi Dawson, African American Composer

[Negro Folk Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Järvi, conductor; Chandos 9226 (1993)]

ChoralNet's ChoralBlog provides “Resources and communications for the global choral community”. It has linked to the AfriClassical birthday tribute to William Levi Dawson (1899-1990), the African American composer who was also a renowned choral director at Tuskegee Institute:

“Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wonderful Post about William Dawson
From AfriClassical, a celebration of William Dawson's birthday on September 26

From the blog post:

September 26 is the anniversary of the birth of a towering figure in African American choral music, William Levi Dawson, a composer, professor and choir director. He was born on September 26, 1899 in Anniston, Alabama. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin has been writing about Black classical music for four decades. He has made his research entry on William Levi Dawson available to this Website:

He was born in Anniston Alabama and ran away from home at age 13 to enter Tuskegee Institute (at this time youngsters wishing a full pre-college education could only secure this on a college campus). While there he studied with Frank L. Drye and Alice Carter Simmons, played in the schools' instrumental ensembles, serve as music librarian, and toured for five years with the Institute Singers. His initial activity as composer began when he was 16.”

William Dawson
Choral Net
Black Composer
classical music
African American
African Descent

African Loft Features Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide

The website African Loft, "Where the People and Friends of Africa Mingle", has republished our post Piano Works of Franck on CD by Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide in an article dated Sept. 26, 2007. We accepted an invitation to submit it, as a "Guest Author". Comments from the site's visitors include these two:

ME: Congratulations to him!!! It makes me happy to see Nigerians in the positive light in main stream media……

Dan: I don't know much about classical music, but it surely feels good seeing Sodi here…a pleasant reminder that Nigeria is not only a nation of greedy legislators…Thanks William!


African Loft


Sodi Braide"

African Pianist

classical music

Black Pianist

Franck CD

William Levi Dawson, African American Composer Born Sept. 26, 1899

[The Spirituals of William L. Dawson; The St. Olaf Choir; Anton Armstron, conductor; Marvis Martin, soprano; St. Olaf Records 2159 (1997)]


September 26 is the anniversary of the birth of a towering figure in African American choral music, William Levi Dawson, a composer, professor and choir director. He was born on September 26, 1899 in Anniston, Alabama. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin has been writing about Black classical music for four decades. He has made his research entry on William Levi Dawson available to this Website:

He was born in Anniston Alabama and ran away from home at age 13 to enter Tuskegee Institute (at this time youngsters wishing a full pre-college education could only secure this on a college campus). While there he studied with Frank L. Drye and Alice Carter Simmons, played in the schools’ instrumental ensembles, serve as music librarian, and toured for five years with the Institute Singers. His initial activity as composer began when he was 16.

Dawson pursued additional music studies upon graduation from Tuskegee Institute, and held various positions in music as well, Prof. De Lerma tells us:

In 1921, when graduated from Tuskegee, he spent a year at Washburn College in Topeka Kansas and directed the music program at the Topeka Vocational College. He was engaged that summer as tenor and trombonist with the Redpath Chautauqua. Following this he enrolled at the Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City Missouri, where, in 1925, he won his B.M. degree, but was not allowed on stage to receive his diploma.

The research entry details Dawson's Master's Degree in Music, his postgraduate study and subsequent private study:

From 1922 to 1926 he taught at Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Kansas. From here he went to the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago (M.M., 1927), performing as first trombonist with the Civic Orchestra (1926-1930). After graduating, he studied with Carl Busch and Regina G. Hall. Additional work was undertaken at the Eastman School of Music. He was also a private student of Adolf Weidig, Horvard Otterstrom, and Felix Borowski.

William Levi Dawson returned to Tuskegee Institute to teach in 1931, and ran the Music Department for 25 years. Prof. De Lerma writes:

He was virtually the entire music faculty at Tuskegee from 1931 to 1956.

Wikipedia Encyclopedia notes Dawson brought renown to the Tuskegee Institute Choir:

He also developed the choir into an internationally known ensemble. Dawson directed the Tuskegee Institute Choir which was invited to sing at New York City's Radio Music Hall in 1932 for a week of six daily performances.

We learn from Dominique-René de Lerma that Dawson seemed to be frustrated on occasion, and submitted his resignation repeatedly before it was accepted:

Dawson appeared at times to be disgruntled and, following his annual resignations from Tuskegee, was allowed his freedom in that last year. His tours as choral conductor started in 1956, when the State Department sent him to Spain.

Three honorary doctorates and two Wanamaker awards were among the many honors received by William Levi Dawson, according to the research entry.

Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony (28:26) was recorded by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Neeme Järvi, Conductor, on Chandos 9226 (1993). Michael Fleming's liner notes follow the work from its origins in Chicago to its premiere in Philadelphia and to the comments of a music critic for a New York newspaper:

Dawson began work on the Negro Folk Symphony while in Chicago. On tour with the Tuskegee choir in New York he showed the manuscript to the conductor Leopold Stokowski, who made suggestions for its expansion. In this form, comprising three movements, it was first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934. The critic for the New York World Telegram was at the premiere and he praised the symphony's 'imagination, warmth, drama---[and] sumptuous orchestration'. In its overall shape, and especially in its orchestration, the symphony falls into the late-Romantic tradition.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra's recording of the Negro Folk Symphony has been reissued on Chandos 9909 (2001). The disc also includes three works by Duke Ellington. The three movements of the symphony are entitled: The Bond of Africa, Hope in the Night and O, le' me shine, shine like a Morning Star! Michael Fleming explains that Dawson revised the work after visiting Africa. He also provides some of the composer's remarks:

After a trip to West Africa in 1952, however, the composer revised it to embody authentic African rhythmic patterns, and it was in this form that Stokowski recorded it, and it is most frequently played today.

The symphony can be appreciated purely as a musical work, without any knowledge of the melodies or feelings that form its background. There are strong programmatic elements in the piece, however, as the composer's own remarks, written for the world premiere, make clear:

'This Symphony is based entirely on Negro folk-music. The themes are taken from what are popularly known as Negro spirituals, and the practised ear will recognize the recurrence of characteristic themes throughout the composition.'

Leopold Stokowski conducted the first performance of Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony in 1934. He also recorded the work for Decca Records in 1961. The historic LP recording has since been reissued on CD by Deutsche Grammophon as DG 477 6502 (2007). Alan Newcombe says in the liner notes that the work was important to the evolution of the American symphony:

His Negro Folk Symphony was first performed by Leopold Stokowski with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934. After making a study of indigenous African music, in 1952 Dawson revised his work to give it a more "African" rhythmic underpinning. While recalling the idiom of Dvorak's "New World" Symphony and the cyclic principles of the César Franck school, not to mention Bruckner's Fourth at the opening of the last movement, the work's individuality of texture and rhythmic energy make it a significant, albeit largely unacknowledged, contribution to the development of the American symphony.

Dawson's spirituals have been widely sung by choral groups for several generations. The extensive Works list below includes recordings on 78 rpm record, LP record and CD. Among the CDs is Ain' a that good news! It is performed by Kathleen Battle, soprano, and Christopher Parkening, guitar, on EMI Classics 47196 (1990). William Levi Dawson died in Montgomery, Alabama on May 5, 1990. Prof. De Lerma notes:

His papers are on deposit in the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University.

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma has compiled a Works List and a Bibliography containing hundreds of carefully documented entries on compositions, recordings and publications.

William+Dawson" rel="tag">William Dawson
Folk+Symphony" rel="tag">Folk Symphony
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Negro+Folk" rel="tag">Negro Folk

Black Classical Musicians and Concerts 2007-2008 in Metro Philadelphia

(Pianist Stewart Goodyear is Featured on the Philadelphia Concert Calendar of Black Musicians & Composers)

A recent post featured the ambitious reference work of Richard Greene, “Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers”, which has long been linked to the Composers of African Descent section of AfriClassical.com Richard has brought another project to our attention, an online calendar called “Black Classical Musicians and Concerts 2007-2008”, for Philadelphia and the surrounding metropolitan area. The motto of the concert calendar is: “All are deserving! ...and because of musical genius and creativity, they each deserve to be known and heard.”

A photo gallery is followed by an entry for each concert. For example, here is an entry for Sept. 28 and 29 at 8:00 at the Grand Opera House, Wilmington, Delaware:

Stewart Goodyear, piano, with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra
This is an accomplished young artist whose career is clearly on the rise. Last year he successfully stepped in for an ill Andre Watts to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Performances on both Friday and Saturday evenings
Tickets and information: Contact the Delaware Symphony - 800 374-7263 or www.desymphony.org

"Black Classical Musicians and Concerts 2007-2008" presents a huge number of concerts throughout the metropolitan Philadelphia area. It also serves as a ready-made blueprint for similar calendars for other cities and towns across the country. The concert calendar will help patrons find concerts in the local area, which in turn will aid performers in drawing audiences.

One of the purposes of the calendar is to make it clear that Black and African American classical performers not only exist, but perform actively in the Philadelphia area during every concert season. We congratulate Richard on another labor of love, one which will be of great benefit to people who live in or visit the Philadelphia metro area.

Black+Musicians" rel="tag">Black Musicians
Philadelphia+Concerts" rel="tag">Philadelphia Concerts
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Stewart+Goodyear" rel="tag">Stewart Goodyear
Black+Composers" rel="tag">Black Composers
African+American" rel="tag">African American



Piano Works of Franck on CD by Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide

(With apologies to subscribers, this post is being republished because Technorati tags have not appeared as intended.)

Sodi Braide is a 32-year-old Nigerian pianist who brought himself to our attention last year. We recently learned of his Lyrinx CD of solo piano works of César Franck, released this year, and read an online interview he gave to Agnès Jourdain of the French website PianoBleu.com When we contacted him, Sodi told us of some French reviews of the CD, and recommended the PianoBleu.com interview to us as well. One of the most compelling passages is Sodi's description of his first piano competition, in Pretoria, South Africa in 1996. He recalls that local people were amazed to see a Black pianist who played classical music. The genre had been identified as belonging to White people. Sodi has vivid memories of the impact of his presence in the finals of the competition: “It was just after the end of apartheid, and some were really thunderstruck to discover that in fact there was not a cultural barrier due to skin color!”

This post presents our English translation of several excerpts from the interview:

“Sodi Braide was born June 14, 1975 to Nigerian parents at Newcastle, U.K. His parents were academics; both were scientists but music lovers as well. 'My father is an amateur pianist (as was his father before him). Moreover, one of my two brothers plays the guitar. Each Christmas my parents organize a concert, with children's chorale, in which I participate, on the piano or in the chorale. My mother had enough musical knowledge to make the chorale work, even though she has never pursued formal music studies.'

The piano of the house naturally made a part of Sodi's world from his childhood. 'I put myself on my father's knees to amuse myself with touching it' and Sodi Braide took courses from the age of 3 years in Dublin, Ireland. The family had moved to follow his father, who was completing his studies as an agronomist. 'My parents saw that I was interested in the instrument, but my father did not want to give me lessons himself, because he was fearful of passing on his faults. He preferred that the lessons be given by a professional. So one beautiful day, they led me to the home of a woman, a tutor. I was only three years old. She didn't want to give me lessons, finding me too young. She said she could not teach the reading of the notes unless children already knew how to read words. My parents told her 'But he already knows how to read!' She would not believe it, so she gave me a book, which I read. I was a little advanced. She found that I had begun to read at the age of two and a half years. She then agreed to take me as a student.'

In December 1979, Sodi had to leave again for Nigeria. 'My father had finished his doctorate. My parents therefore returned to their work at the Ahmadu Bello University, at Zaria, in the North of Nigeria. It was very difficult to find good teachers. At the time, there was no conservatory of music in Nigeria. So these years of piano studies were a little chaotic for me. We sometimes drove up to 100 kilometers, once a week, so I could have my piano lesson. When I think back on it, I tell myself it is a miracle that I became a pianist.'

In 1987, his parents learned, by chance, of a piano competition for pianists under 25 years of age. It was organized by the Musical Society of Nigeria, with the support of the French Cultural Center, in Lagos. His parents decided to have Sodi participate. 'The first prize of the competition was a scholarship for two months of studies in France. The pianist Éric Heidsieck was on the jury, as was his wife, Tania. They were filled with enthusiasm by my playing, and supported giving me the first prize. The other members of the jury were not in agreement, and the prize was finally awarded to someone else. But Heidsieck was so furious that, upon returning to France, he did everything he was able to do so that I would be able to come to France. Finally, thanks to his recommendations, I obtained a scholarship not of two months, but of two years, renewable!'

Sodi Braide was able to perfect his musical studies: 'In arriving in France, I was 13 years old. Éric Heidsieck entrusted me to Françoise Thinat, with whom I had studied at the Conservatory of Orleans. It was the first time I followed a regular course of musical studies. Some years later, I did a great deal of work to prepare for the entrance competition at the CNSM of Paris, where I was admitted at the age of 16 years, in the class of Jacques Rouvier. But at that time, I was not yet sure of wanting to become a professional musician. I also liked the sciences and I was in my final year of science studies that year. I really decided to become a musician two months before the end of the school year, when I requested a temporary leave from classes of the CNSM to be able to pass the baccalaureate. I practically stopped playing the piano for two months, and I missed it very much. At that time I knew that my wish was music.' It was a wish he followed with success since Sodi won the First Prize of piano and of chamber music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) of Paris in the classes of Jacques Rouvier and Jean Mouillère. He was unanimously awarded the Superior Performance Diploma of the École Normale de Paris, in the class of Françoise Thinat.

Desiring to continue to perfect himself, he entered in the 3^rd cycle at the CNSM of Paris in the class of Gérard Frémy, before being admitted in the class of Dimitri Bashkirov at the Reine Sofia School of Madrid.

Sodi Braide won numerous prizes and distinctions – first of all Pretoria, South Africa (1996). 'It was my first competition. I was only 20 years old, and one of my motivations for entering it was simply the fact that my parents did not live very far away at the time. They were working at the University of Lesotho. However, I believe that I was not really conscious of the investment, of the level of preparation, which was required for such a difficult competition! I had already played one or two times in South Africa, and I remembered that most of the South Africans, at the time, had never seen seen a Black pianist of classical music, “music of the Whites”, what's more in the finals of such a competition. It was just after the end of apartheid, and some were really thunderstruck to discover that in fact there was not a cultural barrier due to skin color!'

Sodi was also the winner of the Natexis Banques Populaires from 2001 to 2004. He was the winner of the 6^th prize in the Leeds competition (2003), and he won the Jury Discretionary Prize in the Van Cliburn competition (2005). 'I didn't like the competitions! I found the notion of “competition” impossible to reconcile with that of “art”. However, it was good the competitions existed, and rare are the young musicians who never enter the competitions. If one decides to enter a competition, then he must try to take the good side – I often say to myself during competitions that I am not competing against the others but against myself, that the competition was an occasion to raise my level of artistic standard beyond what I had done before. All of the competitions in which I have participated have been the occasion for me to make progress as a pianist and as a musician.'

Sodi Braide presently lives in Paris and performs recitals and chamber music in France (Radio France, Salle de l'Archipel, Salle Cortot and the Chopin Festival of Bagatelle, among others) He also performs in England, the United States, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Romania and South Africa.

'The "Déclic" program of Cultures France (formerly AFAA) has been extraordinary for me. I have been able, thanks to this program, to make many tours, notably in Latin America, a continent which I adore and where I feel very well. I think the Latin Americans like me because I have been reinvited six or seven times in four years! Next autumn I am due to return there in a tour of Mexico. Thanks to these tours, I have been able to acquire an experience of the scene and a maturity that I never had before. It is not all working on the piano at home, one must also confront the public.'

He recently recorded a CD of works of César Franck. 'Franck is an amazing composer who often succeeds in reconciling simplicity and complexity in the most natural way there is. The idea of working with the Chorals transcribed by Blanche Selva came to me much later. These are very moving works, but difficult to play. They present numerous difficulties already at the organ, and this difficulty is still greater at the piano because we must come to do with our two hands that which the organists do with their hands and the pedals.'

Franck: Works for Piano, by Sodi Braide
César Franck (1822-1890), the Belgian composer who was naturalized French, was reconciled with the piano only towards the end of his life: against the wishes of his father, who had encouraged him to work on it in excessively high doses in his youth. He was more interested in the organ; however musicians did not miss the chance to transcribe for the piano writings, even late ones, which he had originally written for this other instrument.”

The website Arte.tv/fr writes:
“Jan. 9, 2007 – Romantic
César Franck Performed by Sodi Braide on Piano
Choral Prelude & Fugue FWV 21, Prelude, Fugue & Variation for Organ FWV 30 (Transcription by Harold Bauer & Sodi Braide), Three Chorales for Organ (Transcription by Blanche Selva), Prelude, Aria & Final FWV 23.

The Lyrinx company invites us to discover pianist Sodi Braide in the work of César Franck. A happy encounter and a CD which cannot be overlooked.”

Jean-Jacques Millo writes at the website Parutions.com (Posted March 13, 2007)
“In this recital devoted to the works for solo piano of Franck, Sodi Braide displays an exemplary sense of architecture. With finesse, his sensible and virtuoso playing reinvents the autumnal colors of the French composer. And for our greatest pleasure, the coherence of his program puts in evidence a customary and inspired talent.”

CDs and Concerts of Sodi Braide

DiscPlus.ch and other European websites sell the César Franck CD. The Van Cliburn Foundation Gift Shop http://shop.cliburn.org/ offers Sodi Braide's 2005 Competition CD. The pianist says: “I will be playing recitals and chamber music concerts in Paris (Salle Cortot and Invalides), Bourges and the festival Piano à Riom, as well as on a tour of the Middle East.”

Sodi+Braide" rel="tag">Sodi Braide
Nigerian+Pianist" rel="tag">Nigerian Pianist
African+Pianist" rel="tag">African Pianist
Black+Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Franck+CD" rel="tag">Franck CD

Piano Works of Franck on CD by Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide

Sodi Braide is a 32-year-old Nigerian pianist who brought himself to our attention last year. We recently learned of his Lyrinx CD of solo piano works of César Franck, released this year, and read an online interview he gave to Agnès Jourdain of the French website PianoBleu.com When we contacted him, Sodi told us of some French reviews of the CD, and recommended the PianoBleu.com interview to us as well. One of the most compelling passages is Sodi's description of his first piano competition, in Pretoria, South Africa in 1996. He recalls that local people were amazed to see a Black pianist who played classical music. The genre had been identified as belonging to White people. Sodi has vivid memories of the impact of his presence in the finals of the competition: “It was just after the end of apartheid, and some were really thunderstruck to discover that in fact there was not a cultural barrier due to skin color!”

This post presents our English translation of several excerpts from the interview:

“Sodi Braide was born June 14, 1975 to Nigerian parents at Newcastle, U.K. His parents were academics; both were scientists but music lovers as well. 'My father is an amateur pianist (as was his father before him). Moreover, one of my two brothers plays the guitar. Each Christmas my parents organize a concert, with children's chorale, in which I participate, on the piano or in the chorale. My mother had enough musical knowledge to make the chorale work, even though she has never pursued formal music studies.'

The piano of the house naturally made a part of Sodi's world from his childhood. 'I put myself on my father's knees to amuse myself with touching it' and Sodi Braide took courses from the age of 3 years in Dublin, Ireland. The family had moved to follow his father, who was completing his studies as an agronomist. 'My parents saw that I was interested in the instrument, but my father did not want to give me lessons himself, because he was fearful of passing on his faults. He preferred that the lessons be given by a professional. So one beautiful day, they led me to the home of a woman, a tutor. I was only three years old. She didn't want to give me lessons, finding me too young. She said she could not teach the reading of the notes unless children already knew how to read words. My parents told her 'But he already knows how to read!' She would not believe it, so she gave me a book, which I read. I was a little advanced. She found that I had begun to read at the age of two and a half years. She then agreed to take me as a student.'

In December 1979, Sodi had to leave again for Nigeria. 'My father had finished his doctorate. My parents therefore returned to their work at the Ahmadu Bello University, at Zaria, in the North of Nigeria. It was very difficult to find good teachers. At the time, there was no conservatory of music in Nigeria. So these years of piano studies were a little chaotic for me. We sometimes drove up to 100 kilometers, once a week, so I could have my piano lesson. When I think back on it, I tell myself it is a miracle that I became a pianist.'

In 1987, his parents learned, by chance, of a piano competition for pianists under 25 years of age. It was organized by the Musical Society of Nigeria, with the support of the French Cultural Center, in Lagos. His parents decided to have Sodi participate. 'The first prize of the competition was a scholarship for two months of studies in France. The pianist Éric Heidsieck was on the jury, as was his wife, Tania. They were filled with enthusiasm by my playing, and supported giving me the first prize. The other members of the jury were not in agreement, and the prize was finally awarded to someone else. But Heidsieck was so furious that, upon returning to France, he did everything he was able to do so that I would be able to come to France. Finally, thanks to his recommendations, I obtained a scholarship not of two months, but of two years, renewable!'

Sodi Braide was able to perfect his musical studies: 'In arriving in France, I was 13 years old. Éric Heidsieck entrusted me to Françoise Thinat, with whom I had studied at the Conservatory of Orleans. It was the first time I followed a regular course of musical studies. Some years later, I did a great deal of work to prepare for the entrance competition at the CNSM of Paris, where I was admitted at the age of 16 years, in the class of Jacques Rouvier. But at that time, I was not yet sure of wanting to become a professional musician. I also liked the sciences and I was in my final year of science studies that year. I really decided to become a musician two months before the end of the school year, when I requested a temporary leave from classes of the CNSM to be able to pass the baccalaureate. I practically stopped playing the piano for two months, and I missed it very much. At that time I knew that my wish was music.' It was a wish he followed with success since Sodi won the First Prize of piano and of chamber music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) of Paris in the classes of Jacques Rouvier and Jean Mouillère. He was unanimously awarded the Superior Performance Diploma of the École Normale de Paris, in the class of Françoise Thinat.

Desiring to continue to perfect himself, he entered in the 3^rd cycle at the CNSM of Paris in the class of Gérard Frémy, before being admitted in the class of Dimitri Bashkirov at the Reine Sofia School of Madrid.

Sodi Braide won numerous prizes and distinctions – first of all Pretoria, South Africa (1996). 'It was my first competition. I was only 20 years old, and one of my motivations for entering it was simply the fact that my parents did not live very far away at the time. They were working at the University of Lesotho. However, I believe that I was not really conscious of the investment, of the level of preparation, which was required for such a difficult competition! I had already played one or two times in South Africa, and I remembered that most of the South Africans, at the time, had never seen seen a Black pianist of classical music, “music of the Whites”, what's more in the finals of such a competition. It was just after the end of apartheid, and some were really thunderstruck to discover that in fact there was not a cultural barrier due to skin color!'

Sodi was also the winner of the Natexis Banques Populaires from 2001 to 2004, and the winner of the international competitions of Leeds (2003) and Van Cliburn (jury discretionary prize, 2005). 'I didn't like the competitions! I found the notion of “competition” impossible to reconcile with that of “art”. However, it was good the competitions existed, and rare are the young musicians who never enter the competitions. If one decides to enter a competition, then he must try to take the good side – I often say to myself during competitions that I am not competing against the others but against myself, that the competition was an occasion to raise my level of artistic standard beyond what I had done before. All of the competitions in which I have participated have been the occasion for me to make progress as a pianist and as a musician.'

Sodi Braide presently lives in Paris and performs recitals and chamber music in France (Radio France, Salle de l'Archipel, Salle Cortot and the Chopin Festival of Bagatelle, among others) He also performs in England, the United States, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Romania and South Africa.

'The "Déclic" program of Cultures France (formerly AFAA) has been extraordinary for me. I have been able, thanks to this program, to make many tours, notably in Latin America, a continent which I adore and where I feel very well. I think the Latin Americans like me because I have been reinvited six or seven times in four years! Next autumn I am due to return there in a tour of Mexico. Thanks to these tours, I have been able to acquire an experience of the scene and a maturity that I never had before. It is not all working on the piano at home, one must also confront the public.'

He recently recorded a CD of works of César Franck. 'Franck is an amazing composer who often succeeds in reconciling simplicity and complexity in the most natural way there is. The idea of working with the Chorals transcribed by Blanche Selva came to me much later. These are very moving works, but difficult to play. They present numerous difficulties already at the organ, and this difficulty is still greater at the piano because we must come to do with our two hands that which the organists do with their hands and the pedals.'

Franck: Works for Piano, by Sodi Braide
César Franck (1822-1890), the Belgian composer who was naturalized French, was reconciled with the piano only towards the end of his life: against the wishes of his father, who had encouraged him to work on it in excessively high doses in his youth. He was more interested in the organ; however musicians did not miss the chance to transcribe for the piano writings, even late ones, which he had originally written for this other instrument.”

The website Arte.tv/fr writes:
“Jan. 9, 2007 – Romantic
César Franck Performed by Sodi Braide on Piano
Choral Prelude & Fugue FWV 21, Prelude, Fugue & Variation for Organ FWV 30 (Transcription by Harold Bauer & Sodi Braide), Three Chorales for Organ (Transcription by Blanche Selva), Prelude, Aria & Final FWV 23.

The Lyrinx company invites us to discover pianist Sodi Braide in the work of César Franck. A happy encounter and a CD which cannot be overlooked.”

Jean-Jacques Millo writes at the website Parutions.com (Posted March 13, 2007)
“In this recital devoted to the works for solo piano of Franck, Sodi Braide displays an exemplary sense of architecture. With finesse, his sensible and virtuoso playing reinvents the autumnal colors of the French composer. And for our greatest pleasure, the coherence of his program puts in evidence a customary and inspired talent.”

CDs and Concerts of Sodi Braide
DiscPlus.ch and other European websites sell the César Franck CD. The Van Cliburn Foundation Gift Shop http://shop.cliburn.org/ offers Sodi Braide's 2005 Competition CD. The pianist says: “I will be playing recitals and chamber music concerts in Paris (Salle Cortot and Invalides), Bourges and the festival Piano à Riom, as well as on a tour of the Middle East.”

+Braide" rel="tag">Sodi Braide

+Pianist" rel="tag">Nigerian Pianist

+Pianist" rel="tag">African Pianist

César Franck

Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist

+music" rel="tag">classical music

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Afro-Brazilian Composer Born Sept. 22, 1767

(With apologies to subscribers, some posts must be republished because their tags were not originally indexed by Technorati, the principal search engine for blogs.)

[Top: La Passion du Baroque Brésilien; Missa de Nossa Senhora do Carmo; José Mauricio Nunes Garcia; Association of Choral Singing; Cleofe Person de Mattos, Director; Camerata de Rio de Janeiro; Henrique Morelenbaum, Director]
[Bottom: Método de Pianoforte (1821); Portrait by José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Jr.; Text Revised: Giulio Edoardo Draghi; Irmaos Vitale CPM 236 (2000)]

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) was an Afro-Brazilian composer and organist who was the grandson of slaves. Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto is Webmaster of an extensive illustrated Brazilian Website with numerous audio samples, José Mauricio Nunes Garcia: www.geocities.com/nunes_garcia/JM_Eng.htm

The Website is bilingual, in Portuguese and English. The Webmaster has generously made his site's content available to AfriClassical.com, with the stipulation that credit be given when material at the site is used. He begins by noting that 240 works of music by José Mauricio Nunes Garcia have survived, and that early biographers estimate his total output at nearly twice that number. He continues with a dedication of the page:

Today, thanks to an extraordinary work made by Professor Cleofe Person de Mattos (1913-2002), José Mauricio is the sole composer from the Brazilian colonial period whose biography is clearly established, and his remaining works are entirely catalogued.

To her memory we dedicate this page.

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's mother was Vitória Maria da Cruz and his father was Apolinário Nunes Garcia, a tailor. Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto says they were married in 1762. He tells us each parent was the child of a slave and a plantation owner:

Her mother was Joana Gonçalves, a slave of Simão Gonçalves, and Apolinário was son of Ana Correa do Desterro, and they both had no known fathers, that is another way to say they were both their landlord´s children.

The child was born in Rio de Janeiro on September 22, 1767. Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto tells us an aunt lived with the family and helped raise young José Mauricio after his father died in 1773. One way they aided in his development was to ask their friend Salvador José de Almeida e Faria to share his education in music with the youth. Monteiro Neto relates that some evidence indicates that José Mauricio sang in the choir of the Cathedral of Rio Janeiro as a soprano. He adds that choir members attended the Seminary of St. Jacques, where they were taught to read Music, Greek and Latin. Monteiro Neto gives further details of the youth's music education:

According to Manuel de Araújo Porto Alegre, his early biographer, he had "a beautiful voice and a great musical memory"; "reproduced everything he heard", and "created melodies of his own and played the harpsichord and the guitar without ever have learned to".

In 1779, at twelve, he began to teach music. José Mauricio never had a piano or a harpsichord, and trained himself by teaching harpsichord to the society´s ladies. To learn the organ, he was assisted by some good organists in the churches.

José Mauricio completed his education in the "Royal Classes", with lectures in history, geography, latin grammar and philosophy, and rhetoric as well.

The Webmaster of the Brazilian site next recounts the process Nunes Garcia followed to be ordained as a priest in the Archdiocese, or See, of Rio de Janeiro:

At 16, José Mauricio composed the first work that came to our days: the antiphon Tota pulchra Es Maria (CPM 1) in 1783, dedicated to the Cathedral and See.

During the decade of 1780, he studied the necessary disciplines to the examinations he had to go through to be ordained a priest, and began a collaboration with the old chapel master of the See, deacon Lopes Ferreira. This would be the first step to his final goal, to be Lopes Ferreira´s successor as the See´s chapel master.

We next learn from Monteiro Neto of the compositions which established the composer as a recognized figure in the musical life of Rio de Janeiro:

In 1784, a group of musicians founded in Rio de Janeiro the brotherhood of Santa Cecília, whose objective was to regulate their professional life. José Mauricio signed the foundation act as a music teacher.

At this time he composed the following works: Litany for Our Lady in 4 voices and organ, in 1788, the anthems O Redemptor Summe Carmen and Pange Lingua, in 1789, and the works a capella "for all the Holy Week of the See" (Bradados), from those the most important is Bradados de 6ª feira maior (CPM 219), for Holy Friday, which includes the motets Crux Fidelis (CPM 205), Heu Domine (CPM 211), Popule Meus (CPM 222), Sepulto Domino (CPM 223), and Vexilla Regis (CPM 225).

In 1790 he composed an instrumental work that made him famous in Rio de Janeiro: the Funeral Symphony (CPM 230).

Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto details the requirements for ordination as a priest, and the steps by which José Mauricio satisfied them. These included a request that the bishop not hold him ineligible due to "any color defect":

He requested his ordination in 1791. The ecclesiastic career would join his religious education and his musical art, and compensate his low origin as well.

Two requisites to be ordained were: to prove the true Catholic faith from himself and from his parents, and to be free from "any colour defect". The first had been proved through research and witnessing from his parents' and grandmothers' friends on their faith. To overcome the second obstacle, he requested from the bishop to be dismissed from his "defect", in which he was successful.

In June, 1791, he began the necessary examinations.

In March, 1792, he was ordained. The last requirement, to own any asset, was gone through with the help of one of his student's father, Thomaz Gonçalves, who gave him a house at Rua das Bellas Noutes.

In the year of his ordination as a priest, we learn from Monteiro Neto, Padre (Father) José Mauricio Nunes Garcia entered a religious order, the Brotherhood of Sao Pedro dos Clerigos, located in St. Peter's Church in Rio de Janeiro. From the same source we learn that the young priest began teaching public music classes in his home in 1795, using only a single steel guitar.

Garcia had a very productive period of composition after his ordination. The death of the Chapel Master, Lopes Ferreira, in July 1797 led to the appointment of José Mauricio as his successor, we learn from Monteiro Neto, who adds that José Mauricio's membership in a Literary Society brought him into contact with a leader of the Brazilian struggle against Portuguese rule, and led him to add Brazilian popular music and folk music to his liturgical compositions.

Ensemble Turicum, based in Switzerland, has recorded music of José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, and has contributed this assessment of his career:

At the heart of the creation of Brazilian musical history, José Mauricio was considered by his contemporaries to be a peerless organist and an excellent improvisor. His first period of creativity, which ended with the arrival of the royal court from Portugal, was defined by a refined and elegant melody in the manner of Haydn and Mozart.

Events in Europe caused the Royal Family of Portugal to take refuge in Brazil in March, 1808, we learn from the Brazilian Website, and the Prince Regent Dom João brought with him leading members of the Portuguese Catholic Church. Some of them tried to have José Mauricio removed from his post because of his color. Musicians were summoned from Portugal to bring the Church music in Brazil into line with the standards of Dom João, Monteiro Neto tells us, and José Mauricio was told to concentrate on writing new works. He did so in great number.

Among the works of 1808, the account continues, was the Missa Pastoril (CPM 108). It was recorded in 1998 by the Ensemble Turicum, whose website is: www.ensembleturicum.ch We learn from Monteiro Neto that both the Queen of Portugal and Vitória Maria da Cruz, José Mauricio's mother, died on the same day, March 20, 1816. Their deaths led him to compose the two works now considered his best masterpieces:

It is not known where Vitória Maria was buried. But the sorrow of her son would be revealed in his Missa de Requiem (CPM 185) - Requiem Mass and in the Ofício dos Defuntos (CPM 186), - Officium for the Dead, requested by the Ordem Terceira do Carmo to their funeral mass in the memory of the queen. These are regarded today as his two masterpieces.

On July 4th Fortunato Mazziotti was nominated master of the Royal Chapel. This nomination was a way to make clear to José Mauricio he would work no more for the Chapel.

Monteiro Neto tells us that a Royal wedding in 1817 included a group of 16 skilled musicians from Europe, giving José Mauricio the opportunity to compose 12 Divertimenti for the ceremony. The year 1817 was also when José Mauricio Nunes Garcia composed the first Brazilian opera, Le Due Gemelle (The Two Twins). His output in 1818 included, we are told by Monteiro Neto, a Novena (CPM 67), a Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel (CPM 110), a Qui Sedes and Quoniam (CPM 163) and three Motets, as well as a Mass for Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. We are further informed by Monteiro Neto that in December 1819 he conducted the first Brazilian performance of Mozart's Requiem (K 626).

The account of Monteiro Neto relates that the score of Le Due Gemelle was destroyed by fire in 1825, and that José Mauricio wrote his last work, St. Cecilia's Mass the following year. The Brazilian Webmaster says the wages of Church musicians had long been unpaid, due to financial problems, and a demand for payment was made in 1828 but was not successful. He reports that lack of money contributed to José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's loss of health, and reports that he died on April 18, 1830.

Ensemble+Turicum" rel="tag">Ensemble Turicum
José+Mauricio" rel="tag">José Mauricio
Afro-Brazilian+Composer" rel="tag">Afro-Brazilian Composer
Classical+Music" rel="tag">Classical Music
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Afro-Brazilian+Organist" rel="tag">Afro-Brazilian Organist

The Harlem Quartet, A Sphinx Ensemble, At Carnegie Hall Sept. 25, 2007

The Harlem Quartet: A Sphinx Ensemble, has been closely identified with the Sphinx Concerts at Carnegie Hall, such as the Sphinx Laureates Concert Sept. 25, 2007. Its website, www.harlemquartet.org/, points out that its members are all first-place winners in the Sphinx Competition. The group has a very challenging and forward-looking mission: “...to advance diversity in classical music while engaging young and new audiences through the discovery and presentation of varied repertoire, highlighting works by minority composers.”

The all-Black and Latino quartet comprises the Principal Faculty of the Sphinx Performance Academy, which is located at Walnut Hill School, an independent prep school for the arts in Massachusetts. The members also serve as Visiting Faculty for the Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute at Detroit's Wayne State University.

The website continues:

“The Harlem Quartet made their acclaimed debut in the fall of 2006 at the Sphinx Organization’s Gala Concert at Carnegie Hall, earning rave reviews from The New York Times, as well as at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem.“

Each member of the chamber music ensemble has also performed as a soloist with major orchestras.

“Ilmar Gavilan, a native of Havana, Cuba has had a remarkable and fascinating career which has taken him all over the world. His studies began at the Havana Conservatory of Music in his native country. At the age of 14, Ilmar Gavilan was selected for advanced studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Later studies took him to the Reina Sofia School of Music in Spain, and the Manhattan School of Music in New York.” Ilmar is now a candidate for a Doctor in Music degree from Rutgers University.

“Melissa White is a recent graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music where she studied under the direction of Ida Kavafian.”

“Melissa recently made a solo appearance with the New York Symphonic Ensemble at the legendary Apollo Theater and was named the 2006 Harmony Scholar by the Panasonic Corporation.”

“Juan-Miguel Hernandez is the Gold Achievement Award Winner of the 9th National Sphinx Competition 2006 presented by JPMorgan Chase. In addition to winning the Sphinx Competition, Mr. Hernandez was a first and second prize winner in the National Canadian Music Competitions, as well as a winner in the Sillery Music Competition and Clermont-Pepin Music Competition.

As a Sphinx artist, Mr. Hernandez gave stellar performances with the Atlanta and Colorado Symphonies, and Rochester Philharmonic, among others.”

“Desmond Neysmith received his Bachelors at the Royal College of Music with Prof. Steven Doane and went on to further his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Karine Georgian.”

“He has also made concerto appearances with La Orquesta Sinaloa Sinfonica de las Artes in Culiacan, Mexico where he currently holds the co-principal chair.

Further afield, Desmond has always been interested in other genres of performance and with his Music Theatre company, "The Gogmagogs", has toured Asia, Europe and the United States.

minority+composers" rel="tag">minority composers
Harlem+Quartet" rel="tag">Harlem Quartet
Sphinx+Laureates" rel="tag">Sphinx Laureates
Carnegie+Hall" rel="tag">Carnegie Hall
September+25" rel="tag">September 25
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Afro-Brazilian Composer Born Sept. 22, 1767

[Top: La Passion du Baroque Brésilien; Missa de Nossa Senhora do Carmo; José Mauricio Nunes Garcia; Association of Choral Singing; Cleofe Person de Mattos, Director; Camerata de Rio de Janeiro; Henrique Morelenbaum, Director]
[Bottom: Método de Pianoforte (1821); Portrait by José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Jr.; Text Revised: Giulio Edoardo Draghi; Irmaos Vitale CPM 236 (2000)]

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) was an Afro-Brazilian composer and organist who was the grandson of slaves. Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto is Webmaster of an extensive illustrated Brazilian Website with numerous audio samples, José Mauricio Nunes Garcia: www.geocities.com/nunes_garcia/JM_Eng.htm

The Website is bilingual, in Portuguese and English. The Webmaster has generously made his site's content available to AfriClassical.com, with the stipulation that credit be given when material at the site is used. He begins by noting that 240 works of music by José Mauricio Nunes Garcia have survived, and that early biographers estimate his total output at nearly twice that number. He continues with a dedication of the page:

Today, thanks to an extraordinary work made by Professor Cleofe Person de Mattos (1913-2002), José Mauricio is the sole composer from the Brazilian colonial period whose biography is clearly established, and his remaining works are entirely catalogued.

To her memory we dedicate this page.

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's mother was Vitória Maria da Cruz and his father was Apolinário Nunes Garcia, a tailor. Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto says they were married in 1762. He tells us each parent was the child of a slave and a plantation owner:

Her mother was Joana Gonçalves, a slave of Simão Gonçalves, and Apolinário was son of Ana Correa do Desterro, and they both had no known fathers, that is another way to say they were both their landlord´s children.

The child was born in Rio de Janeiro on September 22, 1767. Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto tells us an aunt lived with the family and helped raise young José Mauricio after his father died in 1773. One way they aided in his development was to ask their friend Salvador José de Almeida e Faria to share his education in music with the youth. Monteiro Neto relates that some evidence indicates that José Mauricio sang in the choir of the Cathedral of Rio Janeiro as a soprano. He adds that choir members attended the Seminary of St. Jacques, where they were taught to read Music, Greek and Latin. Monteiro Neto gives further details of the youth's music education:

According to Manuel de Araújo Porto Alegre, his early biographer, he had "a beautiful voice and a great musical memory"; "reproduced everything he heard", and "created melodies of his own and played the harpsichord and the guitar without ever have learned to".

In 1779, at twelve, he began to teach music. José Mauricio never had a piano or a harpsichord, and trained himself by teaching harpsichord to the society´s ladies. To learn the organ, he was assisted by some good organists in the churches.

José Mauricio completed his education in the "Royal Classes", with lectures in history, geography, latin grammar and philosophy, and rhetoric as well.

The Webmaster of the Brazilian site next recounts the process Nunes Garcia followed to be ordained as a priest in the Archdiocese, or See, of Rio de Janeiro:

At 16, José Mauricio composed the first work that came to our days: the antiphon Tota pulchra Es Maria (CPM 1) in 1783, dedicated to the Cathedral and See.

During the decade of 1780, he studied the necessary disciplines to the examinations he had to go through to be ordained a priest, and began a collaboration with the old chapel master of the See, deacon Lopes Ferreira. This would be the first step to his final goal, to be Lopes Ferreira´s successor as the See´s chapel master.

We next learn from Monteiro Neto of the compositions which established the composer as a recognized figure in the musical life of Rio de Janeiro:

In 1784, a group of musicians founded in Rio de Janeiro the brotherhood of Santa Cecília, whose objective was to regulate their professional life. José Mauricio signed the foundation act as a music teacher.

At this time he composed the following works: Litany for Our Lady in 4 voices and organ, in 1788, the anthems O Redemptor Summe Carmen and Pange Lingua, in 1789, and the works a capella "for all the Holy Week of the See" (Bradados), from those the most important is Bradados de 6ª feira maior (CPM 219), for Holy Friday, which includes the motets Crux Fidelis (CPM 205), Heu Domine (CPM 211), Popule Meus (CPM 222), Sepulto Domino (CPM 223), and Vexilla Regis (CPM 225).

In 1790 he composed an instrumental work that made him famous in Rio de Janeiro: the Funeral Symphony (CPM 230).

Antonio Campos Monteiro Neto details the requirements for ordination as a priest, and the steps by which José Mauricio satisfied them. These included a request that the bishop not hold him ineligible due to "any color defect":

He requested his ordination in 1791. The ecclesiastic career would join his religious education and his musical art, and compensate his low origin as well.

Two requisites to be ordained were: to prove the true Catholic faith from himself and from his parents, and to be free from "any colour defect". The first had been proved through research and witnessing from his parents' and grandmothers' friends on their faith. To overcome the second obstacle, he requested from the bishop to be dismissed from his "defect", in which he was successful.

In June, 1791, he began the necessary examinations.

In March, 1792, he was ordained. The last requirement, to own any asset, was gone through with the help of one of his student's father, Thomaz Gonçalves, who gave him a house at Rua das Bellas Noutes.

In the year of his ordination as a priest, we learn from Monteiro Neto, Padre (Father) José Mauricio Nunes Garcia entered a religious order, the Brotherhood of Sao Pedro dos Clerigos, located in St. Peter's Church in Rio de Janeiro. From the same source we learn that the young priest began teaching public music classes in his home in 1795, using only a single steel guitar.

Garcia had a very productive period of composition after his ordination. The death of the Chapel Master, Lopes Ferreira, in July 1797 led to the appointment of José Mauricio as his successor, we learn from Monteiro Neto, who adds that José Mauricio's membership in a Literary Society brought him into contact with a leader of the Brazilian struggle against Portuguese rule, and led him to add Brazilian popular music and folk music to his liturgical compositions.

Ensemble Turicum, based in Switzerland, has recorded music of José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, and has contributed this assessment of his career:

At the heart of the creation of Brazilian musical history, José Mauricio was considered by his contemporaries to be a peerless organist and an excellent improvisor. His first period of creativity, which ended with the arrival of the royal court from Portugal, was defined by a refined and elegant melody in the manner of Haydn and Mozart.

Events in Europe caused the Royal Family of Portugal to take refuge in Brazil in March, 1808, we learn from the Brazilian Website, and the Prince Regent Dom João brought with him leading members of the Portuguese Catholic Church. Some of them tried to have José Mauricio removed from his post because of his color. Musicians were summoned from Portugal to bring the Church music in Brazil into line with the standards of Dom João, Monteiro Neto tells us, and José Mauricio was told to concentrate on writing new works. He did so in great number.

Among the works of 1808, the account continues, was the Missa Pastoril (CPM 108). It was recorded in 1998 by the Ensemble Turicum, whose website is: www.ensembleturicum.ch We learn from Monteiro Neto that both the Queen of Portugal and Vitória Maria da Cruz, José Mauricio's mother, died on the same day, March 20, 1816. Their deaths led him to compose the two works now considered his best masterpieces:

It is not known where Vitória Maria was buried. But the sorrow of her son would be revealed in his Missa de Requiem (CPM 185) - Requiem Mass and in the Ofício dos Defuntos (CPM 186), - Officium for the Dead, requested by the Ordem Terceira do Carmo to their funeral mass in the memory of the queen. These are regarded today as his two masterpieces.

On July 4th Fortunato Mazziotti was nominated master of the Royal Chapel. This nomination was a way to make clear to José Mauricio he would work no more for the Chapel.

Monteiro Neto tells us that a Royal wedding in 1817 included a group of 16 skilled musicians from Europe, giving José Mauricio the opportunity to compose 12 Divertimenti for the ceremony. The year 1817 was also when José Mauricio Nunes Garcia composed the first Brazilian opera, Le Due Gemelle (The Two Twins). His output in 1818 included, we are told by Monteiro Neto, a Novena (CPM 67), a Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel (CPM 110), a Qui Sedes and Quoniam (CPM 163) and three Motets, as well as a Mass for Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. We are further informed by Monteiro Neto that in December 1819 he conducted the first Brazilian performance of Mozart's Requiem (K 626).

The account of Monteiro Neto relates that the score of Le Due Gemelle was destroyed by fire in 1825, and that José Mauricio wrote his last work, St. Cecilia's Mass the following year. The Brazilian Webmaster says the wages of Church musicians had long been unpaid, due to financial problems, and a demand for payment was made in 1828 but was not successful. He reports that lack of money contributed to José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's loss of health, and reports that he died on April 18, 1830.

Harlem Quartet Debuts "Delights and Dances" by Michael Abels at Sphinx Laureates Concert

The Sphinx Laureates Concert at Carnegie Hall on Sept. 25, 2007 will feature the Harlem Quartet's premiere of Delights and Dances, a work by Michael Abels which was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization to celebrate its 10^th Anniversary as well as its dedication to promoting the works of Black and Latino composers. Called “A genuine rising star” by ClassicsToday.com, Michael Abels is an African American composer and music educator who caught the attention of many in the field of classical music with his 1990 composition Global Warming. He is also Music Director of New Roads School in the Los Angeles area. His website, www.MichaelAbels.com, lists his compositions and illustrates his educational, athletic, and outreach activities.

Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, wrote the liner notes for African Heritage Symphonic Series, Vol. III, which opens with Global Warming (8:18). The work is performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta, conducted by its Founder and Musical Director, Paul Freeman, on Cedille Records 90000 066 (2002).

“Michael Abels was born in 1962 in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also attended grammar school. He spent his youngest years, however, in rural South Dakota and began studying piano there at an early age. A graduate of the University of Southern California, he studied composition with James Hopkins and Robert Linn and was named Outstanding Senior among student composers for his “Queries” for piano and prepared piano. In 1985-86, Abels studied West African music with Alfred Ladzekpo at the California Institute for the Arts. Abels remains a resident of Los Angeles.

Abels wrote Global Warming in 1990, not long after the Berlin Wall fell. It attracted international attention when it was featured at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's 1992 African-American Symphony Composers Forum and has enjoyed more than 100 performances since its debut. Most notable, Global Warming became the first piece by a Black composer to enter the repertory of the National Symphony of South Africa.
...
Among Abels's other works is Tribute (2001), a short orchestral memorial to the events of September 11. He has also written works for chorus, two operas, and other compositions for orchestra, many created on commission. His output manifests an interest in sports (he is a triathlete) and his dedication to outreach projects, with particular concern for social welfare and for young people. Abels ascribes to the philosophy of many contemporary artists of color who see international implications inherent in their ethnic heritage.”

A press release from New Roads School on Sept. 13, 2007 explains the origin of the composition and provides an overview of the composer's activities as a music educator:

"Michael was chosen for the commission because he is one of the leading African-American composers working today," said Sphinx Organization President Aaron Dworkin. “As Sphinx presents the most talented musicians from around the country, Michael’s work represents the height of artistic excellence. We could think of no better composer with whom to partner.”

In addition to his work as a composer, Abels runs the Music Program for New Roads School, one of L.A.'s most exciting, independent K-12 college preparatory schools. New Roads offers its diverse student body a challenging academic environment that promotes personal responsibility, community engagement and global awareness.

"Through his work at New Roads and his personal experience teaching music production to LA youth in public housing projects, Michael is a role model for the 21st Century," said Head of New Roads School, David Bryan. "His work underscores the importance of individualized, independent education in the arts, within a well-rounded academic environment that inspires social responsibility."

"Delights and Dances" is Mr. Abels's first commission with Sphinx. His works have been performed by orchestras throughout the world, including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. He is currently writing another commission for Sphinx, scheduled to premiere on PBS in February 2009.

"Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers" by D. Richard Greene

American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell, was recorded by Rachel Barton Pine, violin, and Matthew Hagle, piano, on Cedille Records 90000 097. The CD is a June 2007 release which includes two works by Black composers: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Deep River, Op. 59, No. 10; and J. Rosamond Johnson's Nobody Knows the Trouble I See. Both works were arranged by violinist Maud Powell (1867-1920), who first recorded them.

The Rachel Barton Pine recording is one of the CDs, containing more than 800 recorded works, by 140 Black Composers, found at “Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers: A Comprehensive Reference Guide to Recorded Works Available on Compact Disc”, compiled by D. Richard Greene, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Temple University. This unique resource has been a labor of love of the author for many years. It came to my attention a decade ago, and has been prominently linked from the Composers of African Descent section of AfriClassical.com since the website's early days.

Most websites on Black Classical Music focus on a limited number of Black composers and musicians. Prof. Greene operates one of the few open-ended Internet resources on the subject. His website classifies recordings by year of release from 2001 to 2007, and classifies the remainder as pre-2001. The 2007 file includes works of 14 Black composers, from Henry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) to George Theophilus Walker (b. 1922). The Reference Guide is updated quite often, and should be visited frequently by anyone who wishes to know what recordings are available.

Catalog numbers and cover art help make the resource useful and interesting. A "Selected Bibliography", "Historical Recordings of Note" and "Web Links" offer a great deal of additional information. A particularly valuable research project is: “An Overview of Black Composers and U.S. Symphony Orchestra Repertoire”. The author says “...a special report analyzes their inclusion in orchestra concerts from 1842-1970 and 2001-2006.”

Chelsea Tipton II Conducts Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall

(Photo by Matt H., Jay K. Hoffman & Associates, Inc.)

Maestro Chelsea Tipton II is Resident Conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. His prior positions and his prolific work as a guest conductor have given him considerable exposure to leading U.S. orchestras. His agent, Jay K. Hoffman & Associates, Inc., elaborates at its website:

“As a sought-after guest conductor, Tipton has appeared with major orchestras in the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, among others.”

The agent explains that Tipton prepared himself for careers in both conducting and clarinet performance:

"Tipton earned a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music, with additional studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine."

As a clarinet player, Chelsea Tipton II performed with numerous major orchestras and virtuoso instrumentalists, and recorded for three record labels. He has taught at Central Michigan University as an Assistant Professor, and was also Director of the Central Michigan University Band. Tipton has also been a Visiting Professor in clarinet and chamber music at Western Michigan University. His bio continues:

"Prior to his appointment with the Toledo Symphony, Tipton was Associate Conductor with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra for four seasons and Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra for three seasons."

As noted on this blog on July 28, 2007, in a post entitled “Black and Latino String Players at Carnegie Hall”, Chelsea Tipton II is the conductor for the “Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall”, at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 in the Stern Auditorium. An Afterglow will be held in the Rohatyn Room & Shorin Club at Carnegie Hall. The Sphinx Organization summarizes the evening's performers and repertoire:

“The concert will feature the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, comprised of top alumni of the prestigious Sphinx Competition for young Black and Latino string players, under the direction of Maestro Chelsea Tipton II. Top Sphinx Competition Laureates will be performing as soloists, and the Harlem Quartet will also perform. Inspired by Sphinx’s artistic mission of building diversity in classical music, the program will offer standard repertoire along with masterpieces by Black and Latino composers.”

Sphinx Laureate Plays Cello on "From the Top" Classical Music Radio Show

The website of SphinxMusic.org explains the organization's partnership with Public Radio International:

"From The Top radio show is created by Concert Productions, Inc. in association with WGBH Radio Boston and New England Conservatory of Music, and distributed by Public Radio International. This interactive program features world renowned pianist (and a member of the Sphinx Honorary Committee) Christopher O'Riley as the host, interviewing young musicians as well as collaborating with them on stage. As our artistic partner, each year From The Top features our 3 Junior Division Laureates in shows taped across the country."

This week's broadcast of "From the Top" features the 14-year-old cellist Gabriel Cabezas, a 2006 Sphinx Laureate. The program was first aired on May 2, 2007, and will remain available for online listening in the archives of "From the Top". Gabriel Cabezas plays the Andante from Sergei Rachmaninoff's Cello Concerto on the program. The NPR website quotes the young cellist on his recent performance opportunities:

"I've played with the Florida Symphony and New World Symphony, and I was also able to play with the Cleveland Orchestra a few months ago. Now that was an intimidating experience!"

Voices In Color: Diversity in Classical Music

(Photo of Aaron P. Dworkin by Bruce Giffin, Detroit Public Television)

Voices In Color is a blog which published a post entitled "Diversity in Classical Music" on Aaron P. Dworkin and the Sphinx Organization on Sept. 11, 2007. I added a comment which is reprinted below. Voices In Color wrote:

Yesterday I had a chance to catch an NPR News & Notes interview with Aaron Dworkin an accomplished violinist who created the Sphinx Organization, which helps introduce classical music to more artists of color.

The Sphinx Organization envisions a world in which classical music reflects cultural diversity and plays a role in the everyday lives of youth. The organization’s mission is to increase the participation of Blacks and Latinos in music schools, as professional musicians, as classical music audiences and to administer youth development initiatives in underserved communities through music education.

Sounds like a wonderful organization that's offering our kids opportunities they wouldn't otherwise know about.

I expressed my agreement with the post:

I am delighted by this post on the "News & Notes" broadcast on Sept. 10, 2007. For several years, Aaron Dworkin has been featured as a "Musician of African descent" at my website, www.AfriClassical.com His work is more effective than any other effort known to me. Another barrier to diversity in classical music is the neglect of Black classical composers and musicians in most textbooks on History and Music. My website deals with that issue by profiling 52 composers, conductors and instrumentalists of African descent, and by providing over 100 audio samples of their recordings.

Marvin V. Curtis, African American Composer

Dr. Marvin V. Curtis is an African American composer and college administrator whose works include "The City On The Hill", commissioned for the 1993 Inauguration of President Clinton. A Chicago native, Dr. Curtis is Assistant Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Choral Director, at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He previously held the post of Chairman of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts.

Dr. Curtis earned a Bachelor of Music from North Park University in Chicago; Master of Arts from The Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Stockton, California; and Doctor of Education from The University of the Pacific, also in Stockton, where he studied composition with Ron Caviani and Stan Beckler. He undertook graduate studies at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and at The Juilliard School of Music in New York. He was a 1993 Ford Foundation Fellow to the National Council for Black Studies Conference in Accra, Ghana. He also studied at the University of Ghana at Lagon.

Further details on the career of Marvin V. Curtis are excerpted from his bio:

Marvin V. Curtis is the first African American composer commissioned to write a work for a Presidential Inauguration. His composition, The City On the Hill, was premiered at the 1993 Inauguration of President William Clinton and was performed by the Philander Smith Collegiate Choir of Little Rock, Arkansas and the United States Marine Band. He has 33 choral works published by the Mark Foster Music Company, Music 70/80 and Coronet Press; and a woodwind quintet and work for voice/flute/piano published by International Opus. He has received commissions from the Hampton Ministers Conference in Hampton, Virginia; Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia; North Carolina A&T; Clark Atlanta University; Benedict College; San Joaquin Community College of Stockton, California; the All City Performing Ensembles of Chicago for their 25^th Anniversary; Rejoice Ensemble of New York City; Grand Prairie High School in Texas; Ebony Chorale of West Palm Beach, Florida; Wooten Choral Ensemble of Chicago; Brandon High School in Tampa, Florida; Lodi High School in California; the 1996 Interfaith Olympic Committee in Atlanta; North Park College; New York State Women’s Honor Chorus; VIDEMUS; and most recently for the 150^th anniversary of the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina. His orchestral works have been commissioned by California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California, for their tour of the Soviet Union; and from Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing Arts in Dallas. His orchestral works have been performed by the Stanislaus Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Petersburg Symphony.

Dr. Curtis was co-choral director for four years at the Virginia Governor’s School for the Humanities and the Performing Arts. During the summer of 1998, he was a guest pianist in Caux, Switzerland for the Moral Re-Armament International Conference. During the summer of 2000 he performed for the Women’s International Club and at the residence of the American Ambassador to the European Union, both in Brussels, Belgium.

He is published in scholarly journals and continues to serve as guest conductor at numerous choral festivals. He led the FSU choirs on their first European Tour to Paris and Belgium in May of 1998. He returned to Belgium and France, by invitation of Transmusical International, for an all-expense paid tour with the Fayetteville State University Chamber Singers during December of 1999. He conducted the Fayetteville State University Concert Choir with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Vancouver, B.C. in 2003 and at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in April of 2004.

Dr. Curtis is the recipient of the 2004-05 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award, was named the 2003-04 FSU Teacher of the Year, received the 2002 BC Powder Excellence in Teaching Finalist Award from GlaxoWellcome, and received the Teacher of the Year Award for the year 2000 from the Department of Performing and Fine Arts and the College of Arts and Sciences of Fayetteville State University. Other awards include: The Minority Enterprise Development Education and Cultural Development award from the Cumberland Regional Improvement Corporation, the Noah Ryder Composer Award from the Norfolk Chapter of Norfolk State University; the 1997 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the College of Arts and Sciences of Fayetteville State University; the 1992 Research Achievement Award from NAFEO; Key to the City of Savannah, Georgia; Medallion of the City of Richmond, Virginia; and Distinguished Alumnus Award from North Park College and the University of the Pacific.

Curtis is listed in the 2000 and 2002 editions of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, the 1999 and 2002 editions of Who’s Who in America and the 8th edition of Who’s Who in Black America. His choral work for President Clinton is housed in the Smithsonian Institute’s National African American Project Archives. Dr. Curtis served as Guest Conductor/Artistic Director for the In-Harmony Series sponsored by the Richmond Symphony.

He is the current host of The Classical Sampler on public radio station WFSS, 91.9 FM, on Sundays from 11a.m.-3 p.m.; Past-President of the Board of Directors of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (2003-05); Member of the Board of Directors of the Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council; Member of the North Carolina Humanities Council.; and Director of the Sanctuary Choir at John Wesley United Methodist Church.

Mokale Koapeng, South African Classical Composer

Mokale Koapeng is a South African classical composer and choral director who was born in 1963. He is a Music graduate of The University of Witwatersrand. Mokale has conceived a long-term project which he calls “A Hidden Cultural Picture”. He came across the phrase on the page devoted to the African American composer Edmond Dede (1827-1903) at AfriClassical.com, where a visitor remarked: "That is most fascinating - it reveals a previously hidden cultural picture which far too few of our contemporaries could conceive. This suggests a rarely seen dimension to that epoch, and raises a lot of questions." Mokale explains that "A Hidden Cultural Picture" aims to bring classical music of composers of African descent to the music public in South Africa, in part by incorporating it in established national choral festivals.

In 2000 he was appointed as conductor of the University of Pretoria Chorale. Mokale is also the Music Director of SDASA Chorale, drawn from the Seventh Day Adventists' Student Association. It released the CD Simunye to international acclaim in partnership with a British vocal group, I Fagiolini. The website of I Fagiolini explains the title:

“Simunye is a Zulu word meaning 'we are one' and is the name given to a project developed by I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale of Soweto. It resulted in a CD and joint concert tours to South Africa, the UK, Scandinavia and Bermuda.”

I Fagiolini's website provides several glowing comments on the CD from the press:

'This remarkable record' – The Times of London

'Audience smiling from ear to ear with sheer pleasure' - Business Day, South Africa

'Left seduced, enchanted and spiritually moved' – Daily News, South Africa

'A Simunye concert is an unforgettable experience. Don't miss it.' - Classical Music

Brett Pyper wrote the liner notes for the CD and has written additional comments at the website of I Fagiolini, including this overview of the SDASA Chorale of which Mokale Koapeng is Music Director:

“The SDASA Chorale is an amateur gospel group which draws its members from the Seventh Day Adventists' Students Association (SDASA) in Soweto. In recent years it has earned the reputation as one of South Africa's mostly highly regarded Gospel ensembles. The group was selected as the only South African choir to be featured on the main programme of the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in 1996. It has also performed at the Johannesburg Arts Festival alongside the celebrated Wendy Mseleku and Gloria Bosman. SDASA Chorale has performed with Sibongile Khumalo, Mimi Coertsee and shared stage with some of the well-known musicians in the country like Benjamin Dube and Tshepo Tshola. It has performed all over South Africa including Botswana and Lesotho.

A male-voice ensemble comprising nineteen members, the SDASA Chorale has been in existence for fourteen years and is committed to rendering community service. The group often performs for charities, and has initiated projects like visits to prisons and the upgrading of hostels. It is also involved with educational programmes like the Catch Them Young and Project Sunrise initiatives in Soweto. What distinguishes the group further is the fact that it has a number of talented composers within its ranks. The group's repertoire includes original compositions by four talented songwriters, all of whom sing in the group as well: G.M. Mojapelo (regrettably deceased in 1994), Mokale Koapeng, Boyce Monkitsi Seoketsa and Bheka Dlamini. These composers write in widely divergent styles, and the group is renowned for the versatility of its repertoire, while remaining firmly rooted in the bedrock of indigenous church music.”

The CD has 17 tracks, opening with Egolgotha (At Golgotha) and closing with Home. Mokale wrote two of the pieces and arranged a third. All of the tracks can be sampled at Amazon.com Brett Pyper comments on the two works Mokale composed:

Mokale Koapeng (b.1963) / Roderick Williams (b.1965) – Khutsho
Mokale composed this heartfelt chant for peace in 1988, after years of intense political oppression and resistance in South Africa with no end in sight. When he introduced the piece during one of the first sessions that the two groups spent together, Roddy was moved to write a part for I Fagiolini that would combine Mokale's piece with another chant for peace with a text from the heart of the Western liturgy, the 'Agnus Dei'.

Mokale Koapeng - Kgosietsile (Kingdom Come)
Perhaps the most eclectic of the SDASA Chorale's resident composers, Mokale combines his interest in international gospel and jazz styles with a deep love of indigenous African music. He has based this swinging setting of "the Lord's Prayer" on a shifting whole-tone bass pattern that is typical of traditional Xhosa music. Above this, he has written a sophisticated blend of parts that exploits the respective vocal idioms of I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale.

Excerpts from Mokale's bio summarize his many musical works and performances:

Mokale has performed with some of the best known musicians in the country, these include Sibongile Khumalo, Beki Khoza, Motsumi Makhene, Wendy Mseleku, Gloria Bosman, Khaya Mahlangu and many more.

He has directed musical productions like “Rainbow of Hope” (a dance revue by Nomsa Manaka, Wits Theatre 1991), “Swing High, Sweet Gospel” (Arts Alive, 1993/4), “Sellout” (Grahamstown 1995) and arranged the music of Sibongile Mngoma’s performance at the Grahamstown Festival (1997). Mokale founded the Soweto Youth Jazz Orchestra. He toured England and West Africa. He also toured Canada, USA and Wales as the pianist of Imilonji Ka Ntu Chorale Society.

Together with Motsumi Makhene, Sibongile Khumalo and Hugh Masekela, Mokale co-composed the music of “Milestones”, a musical by Mandla Langa. The musical premiered at the Grahamstown Festival and had a run at the State Theatre. The musical won 1999 FNB SAMA’s Best Soundtrack Award.

In October 1999, he held workshops on South African vocal, choral and jazz styles at the Sibelius Academy and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

He developed a concept called “Intyilo Kantu: Melodies of the Wise”. The concept involved a French solo ensemble Musicatreize and the University of Pretoria Chorale. The performances were held at the Standard Bank National Festival, Grahamstown and Octobre -en-Normandie, Rouen, France in 2001.

Together with the University of Pretoria Chorale and the Eastern Cape Philharmonic, Mokale performed South African premiere of Stanley Glasser’s cantata; “The Chameleon and the Lizard”. The performance was at the 2003 New Music Indaba Festival in Grahamstown.

He composed and conducted the world premiere of “CANTUS IN MEMORIA ‘76”. The work commemorates the 30^th anniversary of events of June 16, 1976.

Mokale Koapeng, South African Classical Composer

Mokale Koapeng is a South African composer and choral director who was born in 1963. He is a Music graduate of The University of Witwatersrand. Mokale has conceived a long-term project which he calls “A Hidden Cultural Picture”. He came across the phrase on the page devoted to the African American composer Edmond Dede (1827-1903) at AfriClassical.com, where a visitor remarked:

"That is most fascinating - it reveals a previously hidden cultural picture which far too few of our contemporaries could conceive. This suggests a rarely seen dimension to that epoch, and raises a lot of questions."

Mokale explains that "A Hidden Cultural Picture" aims to bring classical music of composers of African descent to the music public in South Africa, in part by incorporating it in established national choral festivals..

In 2000 he was appointed as conductor of the University of Pretoria Chorale. Mokale is also the Music Director of SDASA Chorale, drawn from the Seventh Day Adventists' Student Association. It released the CD Simunye to international acclaim in partnership with a British vocal group, I Fagiolini. The website of I Fagiolini explains the title:

“Simunye is a Zulu word meaning 'we are one' and is the name given to a project developed by I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale of Soweto. It resulted in a CD and joint concert tours to South Africa, the UK, Scandinavia and Bermuda.”

I Fagiolini's website provides several glowing comments on the CD from the press:

'This remarkable record' – The Times of London

'Audience smiling from ear to ear with sheer pleasure' - Business Day, South Africa

'Left seduced, enchanted and spiritually moved' – Daily News, South Africa

'A Simunye concert is an unforgettable experience. Don't miss it.' - Classical Music

Brett Pyper wrote the liner notes for the CD and has written additional comments at the website of I Fagiolini, including this overview of the SDASA Chorale of which Mokale Koapeng is Music Director:

“The SDASA Chorale is an amateur gospel group which draws its members from the Seventh Day Adventists' Students Association (SDASA) in Soweto. In recent years it has earned the reputation as one of South Africa's mostly highly regarded Gospel ensembles. The group was selected as the only South African choir to be featured on the main programme of the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in 1996. It has also performed at the Johannesburg Arts Festival alongside the celebrated Wendy Mseleku and Gloria Bosman. SDASA Chorale has performed with Sibongile Khumalo, Mimi Coertsee and shared stage with some of the well-known musicians in the country like Benjamin Dube and Tshepo Tshola. It has performed all over South Africa including Botswana and Lesotho.

A male-voice ensemble comprising nineteen members, the SDASA Chorale has been in existence for fourteen years and is committed to rendering community service. The group often performs for charities, and has initiated projects like visits to prisons and the upgrading of hostels. It is also involved with educational programmes like the Catch Them Young and Project Sunrise initiatives in Soweto. What distinguishes the group further is the fact that it has a number of talented composers within its ranks. The group's repertoire includes original compositions by four talented songwriters, all of whom sing in the group as well: G.M. Mojapelo (regrettably deceased in 1994), Mokale Koapeng, Boyce Monkitsi Seoketsa and Bheka Dlamini. These composers write in widely divergent styles, and the group is renowned for the versatility of its repertoire, while remaining firmly rooted in the bedrock of indigenous church music.”

The CD has 17 tracks, opening with Egolgotha (At Golgotha) and closing with Home. Mokale wrote two of the pieces and arranged a third. All of the tracks can be sampled at the Music section of Amazon.com Brett Pyper comments on the two works Mokale composed, Khutsho and Kgosietsile:

Mokale Koapeng (b.1963) / Roderick Williams (b.1965) – Khutsho
Mokale composed this heartfelt chant for peace in 1988, after years of intense political oppression and resistance in South Africa with no end in sight. When he introduced the piece during one of the first sessions that the two groups spent together, Roddy was moved to write a part for I Fagiolini that would combine Mokale's piece with another chant for peace with a text from the heart of the Western liturgy, the 'Agnus Dei'.
Mokale Koapeng - Kgosietsile (Kingdom Come)
Perhaps the most eclectic of the SDASA Chorale's resident composers, Mokale combines his interest in international gospel and jazz styles with a deep love of indigenous African music. He has based this swinging setting of "the Lord's Prayer" on a shifting whole-tone bass pattern that is typical of traditional Xhosa music. Above this, he has written a sophisticated blend of parts that exploits the respective vocal idioms of I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale.

Excerpts from Mokale's bio summarize his many musical works and performances:

Mokale has performed with some of the best known musicians in the country, these include Sibongile Khumalo, Bheki Khoza Motsumi Makhene, Wendy Mseleku, Gloria Bosman, Khaya Mahlangu and many more.

He has directed musical productions like “Rainbow of Hope” (a dance revue by Nomsa Manaka, Wits Theatre 1991), “Swing High, Sweet Gospel” (Arts Alive, 1993/4), “Sellout” (Grahamstown 1995) and arranged the music of Sibongile Mngoma’s performance at the Grahamstown Festival (1997). Mokale founded the Soweto Youth Jazz Orchestra. He toured England and West Africa. He also toured Canada, USA and Wales as the pianist of Imilonji Ka Ntu Chorale Society.

Together with Motsumi Makhene, Sibongile Khumalo and Hugh Masekela, Mokale co-composed the music of “Milestones”, a musical by Mandla Langa. The musical premiered at the Grahamstown Festival and had a run at the State Theatre. The musical won 1999 FNB SAMA’s Best Soundtrack Award.

In October 1999, he held workshops on South African vocal, choral and jazz styles at the Sibelius Academy and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

He developed a concept called “Intyilo Kantu: Melodies of the Wise”. The concept involved a French solo ensemble Musicatreize and the University of Pretoria Chorale. The performances were held at the Standard Bank National Festival, Grahamstown and Octobre -en-Normandie, Rouen, France in 2001.

Together with the University of Pretoria Chorale and the Eastern Cape Philharmonic, Mokale performed the South African premiere of Stanley Glasser’s cantata; “The Chameleon and the Lizard”. The performance was at the 2003 New Music Indaba Festival in Grahamstown.
He composed and conducted the world premiere of “CANTUS IN MEMORIA ‘76”. The work commemorates the 30^th anniversary of events of June 16, 1976.

Aaron Dworkin, Founder/President of Sphinx Organization, Born Sept. 11, 1970

(Photo: Aaron Dworkin & Trevor Ochieng, 2004 1st place Jr. Division Laureate, Sphinx Competition)

Aaron Paul Dworkin was born in Monticello, New York on Sept. 11, 1970 to White and Black parents. At the age of two weeks he was adopted by a White couple in New York City. He began playing the violin at age five. When Aaron was 10, the family moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania, which had only one Black family. Racism made life difficult for him there. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan.

He was often the only student of color in a Violin class. It was not until college that he was introduced to the rich classical repertoire of Black composers such as William Grant Still. He decided one way to bring about racial diversity in the study, performance and enjoyment of classical music was to help young string students of color prepare for careers as performers in major orchestras. In 1996, while still a graduate student at the University of Michigan, Aaron became Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization, which organized a national competition for Black and Latino string students. That is why he is honored as a Musician of African Descent at the website AfriClassical.com

With the support of JPMorganChase, Dworkin guided the organization through its 10th Annual Sphinx Competition in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Feb. 7-11 2007. The organization's home page is SphinxMusic.org, which sets out its mission: “Sphinx envisions a world in which classical music reflects cultural diversity and plays a role in the everyday lives of youth”. This uplifting goal is a powerful invitation for Black and Latino students, and for students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, to enrich their lives with classical music. For children, SphinxKids.org is a collection of interactive resources such as Minorities on Stage, Orchestration Station, String Instrument Gallery, Music Match – Composers, and Music Match – Instruments.

Recognition has come in many forms, such as: 2006 Newsweek Giving Back Award; 2005 MacArthur Fellowship or “Genius Grant”; 2005 National Governors Award; 2003 Michigan Governor's Award; and selection as 2003 Michiganian of the Year, by The Detroit News.

Dworkin has served on the Boards of Directors of the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, ArtServe Michigan, Walnut Hill School, and WRCJ-FM Public Radio in Detroit. He has been a speaker on the topic of diversity in the arts at national conferences of the American Symphony Orchestra League, Suzuki Association, Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, and National Association of Negro Musicians.

Aaron's personal website, EthnoVibe.com, includes this observation: “As a musician and a writer, I have experienced the power that the arts possess to bridge racial and cultural divides and touch a mosaic of people from differing backgrounds and communities."

Radio host Dick Gordon interviewed him in detail on the American Public Media program The Story, Feb. 16, 2007. The 50-minute broadcast Music for All is an intimate conversation which includes excerpts of classical works of William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn. It is still available in the program archives. Among the most recent press coverage is a video clip of Aaron speaking at Chatauqua on Aug. 22, 2007, on the topic: “Music: Heart, Soul and Dollar”.

“The Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall” will be presented on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 by JPMorgan Chase, featuring the nation's top young Black and Latino string players. Music critic Anthony Tommasini reviewed last year's concert at Carnegie Hall in The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2006:

“The concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday evening offered typical fare: a string chamber orchestra playing works by Mozart, Villa-Lobos and others. But the audience, far from the typical classical music crowd, was overwhelmingly black and Latino, and most were children. Onstage as well, all the players were young black and Latino musicians. It was a sight you rarely encounter at Carnegie Hall.”

It is also a sight made possible by the vision and leadership of the Founder/President of the Sphinx Organization. Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges: 10 Sonatas for Harpsichord

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Les 10 sonates pour clavecin [10 Sonatas for Harpsichord], is a world premier recording of previously unpublished works, performed by harpsichordist Anne Robert on BNL 112934 (2006). The liner notes observe:

“The works that were published during Saint-George's life time, except for those in the BNF [French National Library], remain unfairly in the shade together with his 10 surprising Sonatas for harpsichord. They are polished and audacious, engaging, and astonishingly modern.”

Ms. Robert is a Harpsichord Professor at the Conservatory of Besançon, France. She also records CDs on the BNL label, performs extensively at important music festivals, gives concerts in the villages of Franche-Comté, and plays for children in hospitals, according to the liner notes of the CD.

The sonatas on this recording were found by her at the French National Library. They are not the only unpublished works Anne Robert has unearthed from libraries. For example, she has played and performed an unpublished work by Boccherini after discovering it in manuscript form in the Public Library of Besançon, the liner notes report. The notes continue:

“At the pianoforte, Anne Robert followed the courses of Paul Badura-Skoda. She played and studied the historical instruments of the most significant European Museums: Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Vienna. She is the 2005 prize winner of the Foundation Marcelle and Robert De Lacour. She has also taught Musicology at the University of Franche-Comté.”

The website of Anne Robert is in French, but no language skill is needed to operate the music player beneath the Saint-Georges CD cover, allowing one to hear a brief audio sample of Sonata No. 1 in C Major. The Saint-Georges Harpsichord Sonatas page of AfriClassical.com provides a link to an audio sample of Sonata No. 2 in G Minor of nearly four minutes. The sample can also be found at the Audio page of the website.

Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Tours With Music of William Grant Still

“William Grant Still: Celebrating An American Master Composer” is a 5-city tour of Mississippi by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Crafton Beck, in honor of the African American composer who was a native of the State.

“The Mississippi Arts Commission and the MSO present a tribute to the legendary William Grant Still, Mississippi native and internationally known composer. The concert will showcase the broad range of Still’s inspiring compositions, from his symphonic works to his arrangements of spirituals. Choirs from across Mississippi will be joined by soloists and the full MSO for this tribute. The concert is presented through the leadership of the Mississippi Arts Commission and generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces Initiative and the Phil Hardin Foundation and will be presented in several venues throughout the state.”

The dates and locations of the concerts are:

Oct. 12, 2007 Thalia Mara Hall, Jackson, MS 7:30pm

Oct. 14, 2007 Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS 4:00pm For tickets, call (662) 915-7411
The Ole Miss Concert Singers, Delta State University Chorale, and Rust College Choir will perform with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Crafton Beck.

Nov. 9, 2007 Riley Center, Mississippi State University, Meridian, MS 8pm

Nov. 11, 2007 Bennett Auditorium, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 3pm

Nov. 15, 2007 Bologna Performing Arts Center, Cleveland, MS 7:30pm

The CD shown above, Bridge 9086 (1999), features William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony, recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Karl Krueger, conductor.

"Landscapes of Africa: Music for Orchestra" by Fred Onovwerosuoke

Landscapes of Africa: Music for Orchestra by Fred Onovwerosuoke (52:18), AGCD 2071 (2007) is a vibrant new CD of musical compositions largely salvaged from the rubble left by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The composer was born in Ghana to Nigerian parents and is Founder and Director of the St. Louis African Chorus. For me, the African tone was set before I opened the disc, by the well-traveled composer's back cover photo of the exotic lavender-tinted Temple des Pythons at Ouidah, Benin Republic. Two of the ten instrumental works were commissioned, including Rhapsody on Nketia's Republic Suite (5:04), commissioned by Prof. Emeritus J. H. Kwabena Nketia of Ghana for last month's Ghana Jubilee Celebrations. The recording has received a very favorable review by James Manheim at AllMusic.com It is excerpted here:

Music written by Africans for Western symphonic ensembles is not common on recordings or Euro-American concert programs, but several African countries have conservatories with music-making that would seem worthy of further investigation. Fred Onovwerosuoke was born Fred Okorefe Kwaku Onovwerosuoke in Ghana in 1960. His family was Nigerian, and his education in African idioms encompassed the music of many different ethnic groups. At the University of Ife in Nigeria he conducted a choral group, and he studied with Ghana's most famous musical scholar, J.H. Kwabena Nketia. Onovwerosuoke now lives in New Orleans, where many of his manuscripts were nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; admirers recopied them off the soaked pages. The orchestral works heard here are strongly recommended to anyone interested in fusions between the European and African musical languages, for Onovwerosuoke's thinking is subtle and original. His music strikes the listener as characteristically West African, but at first it's hard to tell why this should be -- the traditions out of which his music grew are all heavily dependent upon percussion instruments, but he uses them only sparingly.

Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th & 19th Centuries

This is a tribute to the 10th Anniversary of a landmark CD: "Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries", Cedille Records CDR 90000 035 (1997). The violin soloist was a 23-year-old Chicago musician named Rachel Barton; she was accompanied by the Encore Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Hege, conductor. The CD was recorded in June, 1997. News of the forthcoming release reached me via an online classical music group that summer.

An earlier CD had introduced me to the works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, but this was my first recording of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, José Sylvestre White and Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas. When I received my copy in September, I knew from the sound, the cover image of Saint-Georges and the thoughtful liner notes of Prof. Mark Clague of the University of Michigan that I had the makings of a website. Saint-Georges had been heard in the 1970s on the CBS Black Composers Series of LPs, and on a handful of Arion CDs from France, but this was the first U.S. CD to present the music of this distinguished composer of the French Enlightenment.

This disc was also my introduction to Cedille Records, the highly respected classical music label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. Cedille's President is James Ginsburg, who subsequently recorded an important “African Heritage Symphonic Series” in 3 volumes, with the Chicago Sinfonietta and its Founder and Conductor, Dr. Paul Freeman.

David Mermelstein wrote in The New York Times on Feb. 22, 1998:

“The young violinist Rachel Barton handles the concertos' varied demands with unaffected aplomb, performing this music lovingly rather than dutifully.”

ClassicsToday.com wrote:

"10/10 -- Soloist Rachel Barton sounds perfectly at home in all four of these stylistically disparate compositions, but she gives an especially impressive performance of White's expressively and technically demanding concerto. The composers would be pleased to hear such committed advocacy on the part of Daniel Hege and the Encore Chamber Orchestra, who present these works as repertoire staples. Cedille's usual top-drawer sound makes this a disc you should not miss."

The Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, www.REBF.org, is a tax-exempt charitable organization founded in 2001 to foster awareness and appreciation of classical music. The website explains its landmark effort to diversify classical music for strings, for which I am an Advisor: “The Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation is working on an exciting project to research, commission, and compile classical works by composers of African descent. The String Student’s Library of Music by Black Composers will be a supplemental curriculum to acquaint students of all races and various stages of development with the rich heritage of classical string music from this ethnic background. Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, the leading authority on black classical composers, is Chief Advisor for this project.

The motivation for The String Student's Library grew out of REB Foundation President Rachel Barton Pine's release in 1997 of a CD with the Encore Chamber Orchestra, "Violin Concertos by Blakc Composers from the 18th & 19th Centuries." Working with Chicago's Center for Black Music Research to locate the music and learn more about it, Ms. Pine became keenly aware of the relative obscurity of this repertoire and how little is known about it by students and performers."

A decade after its release, the CD is still in print and is still an important part of the repertoire of recordings of the works of composers of African descent. I continue to give copies of the CD as gifts. One thing which has changed is the historical data on the Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas. When Gabriel Banat wrote the biography, “The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow”, published by Pendragon Press (2006), he found no evidence that Meude-Monpas was of African descent. Historical references had named him a “Black Musketeer”, but Banat's research disclosed that “Black” referred to the color of the horses used by the members of his unit, not to the composer's race.

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma posted a comment at Amazon.com on June 17, 2007 to clarify the situation: “Quite true, this is an excellent collection of perfectly fine works, offered beautifully by an enormously gifted technician and real musician. No reservations on that point. In very recent times, however, we have determined that Meude-Monpas had no African ancestry. I was responsible for that error about twenty years ago, being misled by everything except for the composer's biography. I wondered at that time why a minority citizen would have been a royalist.”

Link to Website of Myrtle Hart Society

The purpose of this post is to provide a link to MyrtleHart.org, the website of The Myrtle Hart Society, which was not included in the original post on the group.

Myrtle Hart Society Promotes Classical Musicians of Color

The Myrtle Hart Society is a nonprofit organization whose Founder/Director is Rashida Black, an African American harpist and music researcher in Chicago. Its motto is: “Illuminating the Accomplishments of Classical Musicians of Color”. Ms. Black launched the website MyrtleHart.org in February 2007, and began publishing the monthly Myrtle Hart Society Newsletter online in March 2007.

The Myrtle Hart Society is a nonprofit organization which accepts charitable contributions. It has the ambitious objective of collecting information on all classical composers, conductors, musicians and vocalists of color. The website evolves from day to day as new biographies and works of music are added.

The Society is named in honor of a virtuoso African American harpist who was born in Chicago in 1878. Myrtle Hart was only 15 when she performed on the harp at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, we are told at the website. The MHS Newsletter has rapidly gained subscribers while adding new features such as CD reviews and guest columns. This informative resource is free. To read it, visit MyrtleHart.org and click on “eNewsletter” in the left column of the home page. If you would like to subscribe, send your E-mail address to: enewsletter@myrtlehart.org