Stuart Isacoff Links to AfriClassical in The Wall Street Journal Online

“Lessons From Beethoven and Life” by Stuart Isacoff appears in the Oct. 31 edition of The Wall Street Journal Online:

NEW YORK -- Beethoven is forever contemporary. In his own time, he pushed artistic boundaries so far that the formidable pianist and composer Muzio Clementi once asked him if he really considered a set of string quartets to be "music." "Oh," replied the indomitable composer casually, "they are not for you, but for a later age."

That story appears in Donald Grout's classic, "A History of Western Music." It has been told in several versions, but the theme rings true. Like Shakespeare, Beethoven continually opens a curtain on the modern soul: its struggles, dreams, and incongruities. Read full post

Following the column are two links:

Beethoven for Novices, posted Oct. 26 by Elaine Fine on Musical Assumptions, http://musicalassumptions.blogspot.com, which is on our Favorite Blogs list.

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860): Beethoven's Black Violinist, posted Oct. 29 on AfriClassical Blog. We thank Stuart Isacoff for the link.

Stuart+Isacoff" rel="tag">Stuart Isacoff
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Musical+Assumptions" rel="tag">Musical Assumptions
Beethoven's+Pianist" rel="tag">Beethoven's Pianist
Black+Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist
Kreutzer+Sonata" rel="tag">Kreutzer Sonata

Africa Matters: African Music to My Ears!

[Girma Yifrashewa: The Shepherd with the flute (2001)]

Sarah Pollak of CBN.com writes today in her blog Africa Matters:

African Music to My Ears!

October 31, 2007

As I write this post, I am listening to a new classical composer favorite of mine. His name is Joseph Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. He is the son of George de Bologne and Anne, a slave. Joseph's African heritage made him ineligible for nobility and titles under French law. But he rose above the social stigma to become a world renown composer of beautiful music.

I wouldn't have known any of this had I not come upon a special web site.

It's not often that I pass along recommendations for other web sites, but I've just got to pass this one on! The name of the web site is AfriClassical. It is GREAT! I've discovered some truly remarkable classical music that I didn't even know existed before. (And I consider myself a bit of a music buff!)

The gentleman who runs the site, Bill Zick, recently e-mailed me a link. He said...

For 7 years I have operated a website on African Heritage in Classical Music, with profiles of 52 composers and musicians of African descent, and over 100 audio samples.

In July I started a companion blog, I wish large numbers of Africans could learn of the classical music talent of Africans and people from Africa. The growing success of talented young musicians in particular proves the African potential in this music genre, and demonstrates the career possibilities for Africans in classical music.

One of his recent posts is about the Ugandan musician Ivan Kiwuwa , a virtuoso on both the piano and violin. He went on to write...

A handful of used pianos collected by Pianos for Uganda provided the instruments on which he learned to play. He was discovered in a master class by Maxim Vengerov, and found himself accompanying Vengerov on violin in Germany just 14 months after his first violin lesson.

The previous post covered the Nigerian pianist Glen Inanga, partner for 13 years in the Micallef/Inanga Piano Duo, with three successful recordings and endless appearances and concerts.

Other posts have focused on Ethiopian composer and pianist Girma Yifrashewa, Nigerian pianist and French cultural ambassador Sodi Braide, South African choral director Mokale Koapeng and the Soweto Nation Building Massed Choir Festival.

You've got to check out this site!

Africa Matters
classical music
African Pianist
Saint Georges
African Composer
Black Musicians

Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog: Beethoven's black violinist

[Kreutzer Sonata, Op. 47; Raphael Wallfisch, cello; John York, piano; Yuko Inoue, viola; Cello Classics CC1014 (2005)]

We are grateful that Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog has published "Beethoven's black violinist - post from AfriClassical":

“William J. Zick wrote an interesting post on his AfriClassical blog earlier this week, stating:

The rumor that Beethoven is Black just won't go away, in spite of the lack of any real evidence. What most people are unaware of is Beethoven's real relationship with the Black violinist George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860).

Today I have posted the meticulously documented essay on his life by my principal adviser, Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University, who has specialized in Black composers and musicians for four decades.

Beethoven wrote his Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9 in A Minor, Op. 47 to display the virtuoso talent of Bridgetower.

Beethoven rescinded his dedication to Bridgetower because of a personal disagreement prior to publication. It was also George Bridgetower who was accompanied on piano by Beethoven at the work's debut performance in 1803 at Vienna's Auergarten Theater.

Check out the complete post here.

George+Bridgetower" rel="tag">George Gridgetower
Beethoven+race" rel="tag">Beethoven race
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Black+Violinist" rel="tag">Black Violinist
Beethoven+Violinist" rel="tag">Beethoven Violinist
Beethoven+Dedication" rel="tag">Beethoven Dedication

Francis Johnson (1792-1844): African American Bugler, Band Leader & Composer

[The Music of Francis Johnson & His Contemporaries: Early 19th-Century Black Composers; Diane Monroe, Violin; The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends; Tamara Brooks, Conductor; Music Masters 7029-2-C (1990)]

Francis B. "Frank" Johnson was an African American bugler, bandleader and composer born in 1792. He is profiled in AfriClassical.com Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University has made his research on Johnson available to this Website. He begins:

“Francis (or Frank) Johnson was the first major bandmaster in the U.S. It has long been thought he was born in Martinique, but it is now believed he was born in Philadelphia, known there as a professional musician by 1812, probably as a violinist.”

Francis Johnson played the bugle, keyed bugle, cornet, violin and other instruments. He also composed music for band. Among the recordings of his works is The Music of Francis Johnson and His Contemporaries: Early 19th-Century Black Composers, Music Masters 7029-2-C (1990). The music is performed on original instruments by The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends, accompanied on violin by Diane Monroe and led by Tamara Brooks, Conductor. The CD includes marches and dances of the period by Johnson's four African American contemporaries in Philadelphia who also wrote band music: James Hemmenway, Isaac Hazzard, A.J.R. Conner and Edward Roland.

The liner notes for the recording begin by emphasizing the unusual nature of Francis Johnson's professional activities:

“The career and musical legacy of Francis 'Frank' Johnson (1792-1844) represent one of the most singular achievements in the history of American music. In an era when full-time musicians were a rarity in the United States, Johnson fashioned a career of such variety and importance that it would be the envy of many a modern musician. Even more remarkable is that Johnson, an African-American, was able to achieve such success against a background of racial strife which worsened even as his work progressed.

Johnson was the composer of over three hundred pieces of music, the majority of which were published. He was a renowned performer on the keyed bugle and violin and led one of the best bands of his time.”

The liner notes point out that information on Francis Johnson's early life is sketchy:

“The sources of his musical training are likewise a mystery, though some of his study appears to have been with Richard Willis, an Irish keyed-bugle soloist who arrived in the United States in 1816 and assumed leadership of the West Point band in 1818.”

Dominique-René de Lerma relates the origin and early use of the instrument known as the keyed-bugle:

“The keyed bugle, which Johnson played by 1818, was patented in 1810 by Joseph Halliday, an Irish bandmaster. It was also known as the Kent bugle, named for the Duke of Kent who called for its use in the royal bands.”

Johnson was already well-established as a Philadelphia musician when his first sheet music appeared, according to the liner notes:

“By 1818, the year of his first published composition, A Collection of New Cotillions, Johnson was established as a well-known musician in Philadelphia, then the national cultural center. Robert Waln, author of The Hermit in America, penned the following oft-quoted portrait of Johnson in 1819: 'In fine, he is the leader of the band at all balls, public and private; sole director of all serenades, acceptable and unacceptable; inventor-general of cotillions; to which add, a remarkable taste in distorting a sentimental, simple, and beautiful song, into a reel, jig or country-dance'."

Strategic alliances with important institutions contributed to the acceptance of Johnson's African American band by White society, as we learn from the liner notes:

“Johnson's band, which probably was begun to fill a need in the Black community, shortly became popular with the more affluent White society as well. Two important, long-standing associations were formed in the early 1820s when the band became affiliated with the Philadelphia State Fencibles (militia units at the time contracted with their own bands) and with the Summer Resort at Saratoga Springs, presaging the current summer residency of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1824 Johnson's reputation was further enhanced when he composed much of the music for the triumphal return to Philadelphia of Revolutionary War hero General Lafayette, who was traveling the United States to great public acclaim and celebration.”

Prof. De Lerma elaborates:

“A band of 20 players provided music for most of the festivities accorded General Lafayette in 1824.”

Francis Johnson's music for General Lafayette on this recording includes: Honor To The Brave: Gen. Lafayette's Grand March (3:57).

Johnson typically played the violin at dances, accompanied by a small ensemble, as Prof. De Lerma recounts:

The popular dances (performed indoors with a smaller ensemble and with Johnson as violinist) included the polka, galop, waltz, cotillion, country dance, reels, jigs, and quadrille. These were played in sets, with a pattern of repeats so, even if rather short individually, the performances became extended.

The liner notes of the CD quote from Johnson's announcement of his European trip:

“In 1837 Francis Johnson announced that he and a small contingent of his band members were departing for Europe to 'improve his musical capacity and knowledge, so as to be able in a much greater degree than formerly to contribute to the gratification of the public'."

Prof. De Lerma identifies the band members who accompanied Johnson to Europe, and notes they performed for Victoria shortly before she became Queen of England:

“In November of 1837, he took William Appo (Johnson's brother-in-law), Aaron J. R. Connor, Edwin Roland, and Francis V. Seymour (if not also James Hemmmenway) to London as the first Black American musicians to visit Europe, and to the royal court at Buckingham Palace to play for Victoria (1838), soon to be crowned Queen of England.”

The liner notes summarize the activities of the musicians in Europe, and give the approximate date of their return:

“The musicians remained in Europe, acquiring music, studying continental styles and giving concerts until their return to the United States for the Christmas season of 1838.”

The liner notes recount that Johnson's band returned to Philadelphia and began giving "promenade concerts" in the French style:

“Upon their return they promptly introduced Johnson's tremendously successful Promenade Concerts a la Musard, forerunners of the modern "pops" concerts. Prominent White performers were later included in these programs, some of the first interracial performances in America. In 1842 Johnson provided the music for a ball in honor of the visiting English author Charles Dickens.

Prof. De Lerma notes that Johnson subsequently toured widely in
the United States, and also visited Canada:

“His tours (1839-1844) took him as far north as Toronto, as far west as St. Louis. They also performed in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Cleveland, and Louisville.”

As free Blacks, Johnson and his band members found themselves unwelcome in Missouri, which had entered the Union as a slave state.

The liner notes tell us that Johnson and his band performed works of Haydn and Handel at social and religious gatherings of African Americans, and dedicated compositions to the fight against slavery and to the Haitian Revolution:

“Johnson remained musically active in the Black community as well, often conducting the orchestra at church concerts, including works by Haydn and Handel. His pride in, and commitment to, his race is manifest in many of his works, notably the Recognition March on the Independence Hayti and the music to the moving abolitionist song The Grave of the Slave.

Racist persecution was a fact of life during the career of Francis Johnson, as the liner notes make clear in vivid detail:

“Johnson's career was never far from the ugliest forms of racial persecution. White bands often refused to participate in parades when Johnson's band was scheduled to appear; and when the band toured to St. Louis, Missouri, its members were arraigned, fined and ordered from the state under laws prohibiting the entry of free Blacks. A particularly violent incident occurred near Pittsburgh: "At the close of the concert the mob followed Mr. Johnson and his company shouting "n____" and other opprobrious epithets, and hurling brick-bats, stones and rotten eggs in great profusion upon the unfortunate performers. One poor fellow was severely, it is feared dangerously, wounded in the head, and others were more or less hurt. No thanks to the mobocrats that life was not taken, for they hurled their missiles with murderous recklessness if not with murderous intention." The Tribune [NY], May 23, 1843.

We learn form the liner notes that a long illness near the end of his life in 1844 limited Johnson's performances but not his output of music.

Prof. De Lerma says Francis Johnson's bands continued long after his death, under the leadership of Joseph G. Anderson (1816-1873), until around the outbreak of the Civil War.

Read the full entry

Francis+Johnson" rel="tag">Francis Johnson
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Black+Bugler" rel="tag">Black Bugler
Band+Composer" rel="tag">Band Composer
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
Band+Music" rel="tag">Band Music

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860): Beethoven's Black Violinist

[George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860); Copyright The British Library]

(Note to Subscribers: This post was not properly indexed in the Technorati Blog Search Engine when it was first published today, so it is being republished.)

Introduction: Bridgetower Sonata Was Renamed for Kreutzer
The Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9 in A Minor, Op. 47, now called the Kreutzer Sonata, was originally dedicated to the Black violin virtuoso George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com Beethoven accompanied him on piano at the work's premiere in Vienna in 1803. Before the sonata could be published, a personal disagreement with Bridgetower led Beethoven to substitute the name of another violinist, Rodolphe Kreutzer.

Bridgetower, George Augustus Polgreen, 1780-1860[1]
Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin
Bridgetower (dubbed “the Abyssinian Prince”) was born in Baiła,[2] Poland to John Frederick Bridgetower[3] (employed, like Haydn, in the Austro-Hungarian court of the Esterházy family), a polyglot valet (he is said to have spoken fluent English, French, German, Italian, and Polish) who is thought to have come from the Caribbean, possibly a slave who escaped from Barbados. His mother, Marie Ann [née Sovinki?], was from Eastern Europe, perhaps Poland. She died in 1807, then living in Dresden with her other child, Friedrich T. Bridgetower, according to Hare 1936 [p299] and a cellist. As a child prodigy, Bridgetower made his debut as soloist with the Concert Spirituel on 11 or 13 April 1789.[4] He was introduced to England,[5] performing at the Drury Lane Theatre on 19 February 1790, when he played between parts of the Messiah. This attracted the attention of the British royalty, resulting in performances at Windsor Castle,[6] Brighton Pavilion, the Pump Rooms at Bath in December (attended by about 550, including George III)[7] and in London. Bridgetower had already studied perhaps with Haydn (1732-1809) and now under the patronage of the Prince, he studied violin with Giovanni Mane Giornovichi or Ivan Jarnović (ca. 1735/1747-1804, resident in Paris from 1773 and London from 1791-1796) and with François-Hippolyte Barthélémon (1741-1808, concertmaster at the Royal Opera), and composition with a former Mozart student, keyboardist Thomas Attwood (1765-1838), who was in service to the Prince of Wales starting in 1787. Joining with his Austrian contemporary, Franz Clement (for whom Beethoven was to write his violin concerto), he presented a benefit concert at Hanover Square Rooms on 2 June 1790, with the patronage of the Prince of Wales[8] (the future George IV), for which the father was paid £25. The concert included a performance of a string quartet by Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) in which the two young violinists were joined by Ware and F. Attwood (relative of Thomas?). It is possible Pleyel was in the audience, as he was in London for the next season. Present however was the composer Abbé Georg Johann Vogler (1749-1814), who commented that the quartet’s aggregate age was not even 40. In 1791, Bridgetower joined another former Mozart student, Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), both attired in scarlet clothing, pulling stops as they sat alongside the organist Joah Bates at the Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey.[9] It was also that year when he joined with Clement in a string quartet performance (2 June) at Hanover Square, and entered the Prince’s service at Brighton, playing violin in the orchestra until 1809. He also served at least once in the first violin section in his pre-teen years of London’s Solomon concerts (starting 15 April 1791), thereby involved in the premières of the Haydn symphonies, commissioned by Johann Peter Solomon (1745-1815), and conducted from the keyboard by the composer.[10] During the remainder of this season, Bridgetower appeared as concerto soloist in each of the remaining five programs at the Hanover Square Rooms. It is estimated that in the last decade of the century, about 50 performances were presented in London.

Before his departure for the continent, he gave performances from 24 February 1792 and 30 March within oratorio performances at the King’s Theatre, managed by Thomas Linley (1733-1795), father of yet another Mozart student, also named Thomas Linley (born in 1756 and died by drowning in 1778). He played at a concert in 1794 in benefit for the Spitalfields weavers,[11] and one in Salisbury, 6 November 1794, with a concerto said to be in the style of Viotti. He appeared with Haydn at a concert held by Barthélémon, at which time a Viotti[12] concerto was programmed. When he played at the King’s Arm in Cornhill on 31 October 1793 – his work for the Prince still allowed him to be engaged for non-court engagements – he might have been upstaged by the presence of Charles Claggett and his Aiuton, or Ever Tuned Organ. In 1788 the Irishman mounted a series of tuning forks in a row and placed them in a narrow hollow wooden box, where they were struck by hammers. Depending of course on the tuning forks, the range might be Six octaves. The volume of sound was very small and nothing evolved from the concept until 1886, when the Parisian harmonium maker unveiled the celesta, first employed by Ernest Chausson in. La tempête (1888) and Chaikovskĭi The nutcracker (1892).

Up to this time, John Frederick had regaled himself in extravagant Turkish-style robes[13] (Turkish exoticisms were very popular at the time, as exemplified by Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Beethoven’s ecumenical Turkish variation in the last movement of the ninth symphony) but about 1791 he was sent into exile by the Prince of Wales for immoral behavior. Thereafter his son resided at Carlton House under the Prince’s protection,[14] dressed as an English gentleman. In later years, Bridgetower lived at 20 Eaton Street (1797), John Street (1807-1809), Chancery Cross (1810), Little Ryder Street (1812), and Chapel Street (1814-1815). At the time of his death, he lived at 8 Victory Cottages (and/or Norfolk Street) on a small road in Peckham.

He was granted a leave from the Prince’s service and went to Europe in 1802 to visit his mother and brother in Dresden. He gave two concerts while there (24 July 1802 and 18 March 1803). On the first was performed the first symphony by Beethoven, the violinist’s own concerto (not extant?) and a cello concerto by his brother (also not located). The second concert included a concerto by Mozart and one by Viotti, directed by [Johann Philipp?] Schulz. He also performed in Tepliz and Carlsbad during this time.

He went to Vienna in the spring of 1803, already celebrated, where he met Beethoven. At the Augarten Theater on 24 May 1803, in a concert series managed by Ignaz Schuppanzigh, the two gave the première of Beethoven’s penultimate violin sonata (opus 47), much to Beethoven’s delight.[15] Despite the fact that the concert took place at 8 in the morning, it was well attended,[16] including the presence of Prince Karl Lichnowsky (who had introduced the two at his home), Prince Josef Johann Schwarzenberg, the British Ambassador, and Prince Josef Marx Lobkowitz. When “Brischdauer” inserted an improvised flourish, Beethoven left the piano and said to Bridgetower, “Noch einmal, mein lieber Bursch!” There had been no time for a rehearsal, even though Beethoven had awakened Ferdinand Ries at 4:30 that morning to make a copy for the violinist. The second movement, which Bridgetower had to read from the piano part, looking over Beethoven’s shoulder, so pleased the audience that it was immediately repeated.

Beethoven wrote a letter of introduction (18 May 1803) on behalf of Bridgetower to Baron Alexander Wetzlar (1769-1810).

He made friends in Vienna, including the physician, Prof. Johann Th. Helm of Prague and Count Prichnowsky. He and Dr. Helm met Beethoven on the street and the pair was taken to the home of Schuppanzigh for the rehearsal of a Beethoven quartet. Present were violinists Ignaz Krumbholz, Christian Schrieber Karl Moser of Berlin, and cellist Anton Kraft. He also met Alexander Wetzler (to whom Beethoven had recommended Bridgetower), Count Moritz Fries (a banker), and Theresa Schonfeld.

Warm relationships with Beethoven were however ephemeral. They parted ways over an argument,[17] and Beethoven withdrew the sonata, dedicating it to Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831),[18] never a Beethoven enthusiast, who refused to perform it since the première had already been given, but also saying the work was “outrageously unintelligible” (according to Berlioz in his Voyage musical en Allemagne et en Italie). The work, originally titled by Beethoven as Sonata mulattica composta per il mulatto Brischdauer, gran pazzo e conpositore mulattico, and in his 1803 sketchbook, as a Sonata per il Pianoforte ed uno violino obligato in uno stile molto concertante come d’un concerto, is nonetheless now known as the Kreutzer sonata.

Full essay

George+Bridgetower" rel="tag">George Bridgetower
Black+Violinist" rel="tag">Black Violinist
Beethoven+Sonata" rel="tag">Beethoven Sonata
Kreutzer+Sonata" rel="tag">Kreutzer Sonata
African+descent" rel="tag">African descent
Beethoven's+Violinist" rel="tag">Beethoven's Violinist

Thoughts from the History Major: Propaganda of The Brownie's Book 10/29

[Lies My Teacher Told Me; James W. Loewen; Touchstone (1996)]

Thoughts from the History Major posted “Propaganda of The Brownie's Book 10/29” on Oct. 27. Its opening paragraph, and a link to the full post, are followed by a Comment we posted on the same date:

“Propaganda of The Brownie's Book 10/29”

When I first began reading the Du Bois article “Criteria of Negro Art” I wondered what connections I could make with The Brownie’s Book. Since Prof. Wells had told us that it was intended for children, I guess I picture it as an old time Highlights, but I was considerably struck by the letter in the ‘grownup’s corner.’ While I knew that text book history did not consider the contributions of African Americans until rather recently, I hadn’t thought of what it might feel like to be a child growing up with out role models or a mother unable to tell her child about the people the text books forgot. It was then I thought about what Du Bois said about propaganda. Read the full post

Comment

I would like to comment on the observation that text books did not teach the accomplishments of African Americans until recently. Prof. James Loewen brought this home to me powerfully in his 1996 book "Lies My Teacher Told Me". He documents the intentional exclusion of Black contributions from textbooks, because of the belief of publishers that school boards and textbook adoption committees don't wish to see such facts included.

I read the book while compiling books and recordings to document the contributions made to classical music by people of African descent. I used my findings for a website which is now known as www.AfriClassical.com It profiles 52 Black composers, conductors and instrumental performers of classical music. A few months ago I started a companion AfriClassical Blog to deal with some of the hundreds of additional classical artists who have been brought to my attention.

Over a period of seven years of maintaining the website, I have found that year after year, curious students and teachers have continued to come to my site for material which I believe should have been made part of textbooks by now. I first focused on Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), the son of a slave who was educated with the sons of the nobility, and who became the finest fencer in France before he was a fashionable composer, virtuoso violinist and conductor of the best orchestras in Paris. During the French Revolution, Colonel Saint-Georges commanded 1,000 volunteers of color, and heroically halted a military advance by a far larger force sent by the treasonous Gen. Dumouriez, secretly allied with Austria.

In 2003, CBC TV first aired a documentary called "Le Mozart Noir"; it was released on DVD in 2005. My name is in the credits because I made my research available for the production. It remains the only documentary film on Saint-Georges.

Why is the life of this amazing man of color still not presented in most History textbooks? While it is certainly true some Black classical composers and musicians are now mentioned, many other important musical figures and their works are still missing from textbooks today.

James+Loewen" rel="tag">James Loewen
racial+history" rel="tag">racial history
Black+contributions" rel="tag">Black contributions
music+history" rel="tag">music history
Black+composers" rel="tag">Black composers
African+American" rel="tag">African American

Analogy to “10 Black Aviators That Paved The Way For Barrington Irving”

[George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860); Copyright The British Museum]

Latimer Williams blogs at LatimerWilliams.com, where he posted “10 Black Aviators That Paved The Way For Barrington Irving”, Sept. 21, 2007. Here is the introductory paragraph:

Well we have all heard of Barrington Irving by now and what he has accomplished by being the first black man to fly around the world. The fact that he did it in a plane that he built makes an even more amazing accomplishment. I hope that he will be the inspiration for children for years to come. The questions that comes to my mind is who was Barringtion Irving’s predecessors? I have seen black commercial airline pilots and I know of a few military pilots but that is the present, where are the ones from that past eras? So I went on the hunt as usual and had to find these elusive black aviators of the past. Keep in mind that the Tuskegee Airmen are not on the list. For one it’s a group and secondly that’s far too easy.

The analogy to Black Heritage in Music proved irresistible, and led us to make this
comment on the Latimer Williams post on Oct. 27:

Without too much of a stretch, my website AfriClassical.com and the companion AfriClassical Blog, can be seen as analogous to your efforts to find the historical precedents to the success of the Black Aviator Barrington Williams.

Pianist Roy F. Eaton is a 2007 Grammy Award nominee in the category of Music for children, for his CD ”Keyboard Classics for Children”; Conductor James DePreist has 50 recordings to his credit and won the 2005 National Medal of the Arts; Michael Abels has won worldwide acclaim for his composition ”Global Warming”, and the Harlem Quartet gave the debut performance of his ”Delights and Dances” at Carnegie Hall Sept. 25. Long before those Black classical artists were born, and still unknown to most people, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) conducted Le Concert de la Loge Olympique, the finest orchestra in Paris; Beethoven wrote the ”Bridgetower Sonata” for a Black Violinist, George Bridgetower (1780-1860), but renamed it the ”Kreutzer Sonata” after an argument with him; Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) wrote the most famous musical of his time, ”Hiawatha\’s Wedding Feast”, in 1898.

Barrington+Irving" rel="tag">Barrington Irving
Black+Heritage" rel="tag">Black Heritage
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
Black+Conductor" rel="tag">Black Conductor
Black+Musician" rel="tag">Black Musician

Freedom and Culture Weekend Nov. 9-11, Southbank Centre, London

[Angela Davis is a participant in The Freedom and Culture International Creative Forum]

Earlier this month, we announced Lost Chords, Unsung Songs, taking place at Southbank Centre on 9^th November. Today we take a look at the full schedule of events for Freedom & Culture Weekend:

Tomorrow's Warriors perform The Freedom Rider

Fri 9th Nov 2007

Tomorrow's Warriors perform The Freedom Rider, the final recording by one of the most influential and timeless editions of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers bands that featured Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons and Jymmie Merrit.

Admission free

Lost Chords, Unsung Songs

Fri 9th Nov 2007

A celebration of the hidden contribution Black composers have made to the Western classical musical tradition, performed through chamber music and art songs.

£8

The Freedom and Culture International Creative Forum

Sat 10th Nov 2007

This full-day event features artists, thinkers and cultural commentators who discuss the bicentenary parliamentary abolition of the slave trade.

£120 (organisations) £60 (individuals)

Anansi: Reunion

Sun 11th Nov 2007

A new work from Denys Baptiste, embodying the spirit of Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas, using music, narration and illustrations.

£8

Coltrane and Miles

Sun 11th Nov 2007

The Renga Ensemble is a one of the London Philharmonic Orchestra's most innovative initiatives.

£20 £15 £10 £5

Angela Davis
Freedom Weekend
Creative Forum
Freedom Rider
Philharmonia Orchestra
classical music

Roy Eaton's "Keyboard Classics for Children" Nominated for Grammy

[Keyboard Classics for Children; Roy Eaton, pianist; Summit (2007)]

Three weeks ago, in a post about a concert of 7 Gershwin Preludes on Roosevelt Island in New York City, we discussed a February 2007 release by African American pianist Roy Eaton, Keyboard Classics for Children, on the Summit label. On the CD Eaton performs works of Bach, Mozart, Eaton, Debussy, Pinto, Schumann, Joplin and Golson. We are pleased to congratulate him on his nomination for a Grammy Award for the recording:

My latest album, "Keyboard Classics for Children" has been nominated in category 77, Music albums for children. You can preview it at www.CDBABY.com/cd/royeaton2

Roy+Eaton" rel="tag">Roy Eaton
Grammy+Nomination" rel="tag">Grammy Nomination
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
children's+classics" rel="tag">children's classics
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Black+Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist

Quincy C. Hilliard, African American Composer for Wind Band

[C. L. Barnhouse, publisher; Variations On An African Hymnsong; Quincy C. Hilliard, composer]

Band Music is a crucial aspect of music education; it touches the lives of millions of children and adults every day, from students and their band directors to audiences at parades, programs and athletic events. Quincy C. Hilliard, Ph.D. is an African American composer of band music. He is prolific and well known, with works available from several companies, including his present publisher, FJH Music Co., Inc. The website SheetMusicPlus.com offers 105 titles he has written or arranged. We are pleased to present Dr. Hilliard's bio:

Quincy C. Hilliard’s compositions for wind band are published by a variety of well known publishers. He is frequently commissioned to compose works, including one for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and a score for a documentary film, The Texas Rangers. For many years, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) has recognized him with annual awards for the unusually frequent performance of his compositions. Hilliard is regularly invited to conduct, demonstrate effective techniques, and adjudicate festivals throughout the world.

Because Hilliard, the composer, conductor, and educator, is also a scholar of Aaron Copland’s music and life, Copland estate administrators authorized Hilliard to publish the educational performance edition, Copland for Solo Instruments (Boosey and Hawkes, 1999). To train school band students, he wrote Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks (FJH Music Company, 2003), Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands (FJH Music, 2004), Theory Concepts, Books One and Two and is the co-author of the Skill Builders, Books One and Two (Sounds Spectacular Series, Carl Fischer, 1996). He is also the co-author of Percussion Time (C.L. Barnhouse Company) which is a collection of music written specifically for the beginning percussion ensemble. He has presented scholarly papers on music theory and analysis at meetings of the College Music Society and the Central Gulf Society of Music Theory (of which he is past president). He has published articles in Opera Journal, The Instrumentalist, School Musician, Bandworld, American Music Teacher, Florida Music Director, and Tennessee Musician.

Hilliard is Composer in Residence and the Heymann Endowed Professor of Music at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. Previous teaching positions were at Nicholls State University, Florida International University, North Marion High School (Sparr, Florida) and White Station Junior and Senior High School (Memphis, Tennessee).

He holds the Ph.D. in music theory and composition from the University of Florida where, in 1999, he was recognized as the Outstanding Alumnus of the School of Music. He holds the Masters of Music Education from Arkansas State University and the Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Mississippi State University where he was designated College of Education 1998 Alumnus of the Year. Hilliard’s early music experience was as a trumpet player in the public elementary and high school of his native Starkville, Mississippi. Dr. Hilliard is also president of Hilliard Music Enterprises, Inc. a personal consulting firm, which has a corporate board of distinguished music educators. He and his wife Rubye have two sons.

Selected Titles

FJH Music Co., Inc., publisher; Africata; product description: Exploring the rhythms and sounds of Africa, Quincy Hilliard uses some unusual percussion sounds as well as clapping and pencils hitting stands. A slow, lyrical section provides excellent opportunities to work on phrasing. The main theme then returns to build to a powerful and exciting conclusion. Perfect for the multicultural portion of your concert!

Band Music Press, publisher: Energico; product description: Delightful music for the beginning band, this outstanding piece features strong rhythms and melodies that are interesting and fun to play. A percussion ensemble is featured in the middle of the piece and every instrument gets to play the melody. Opportunities to develop and display musicianship abound. Right on target for the young band; Quincy C. Hilliard, composer.

Boosey & Hawkes, publisher: Scenes from Billy the Kid, Ghost Dance, Hoe Down; Aaron Copland, composer; Quincy C. Hilliard, arranger.

C. L. Barnhouse, publisher; Variations On An African Hymnsong; Quincy C. Hilliard, composer.

Quincy+Hilliard" rel="tag">Quincy Hilliard
band+composer" rel="tag">band composer
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
African+American" rel="tag">African American
wind+band" rel="tag">wind band

Chamber Music Today: Elena Urioste: Violin Against the Commodification of Everything

Chamber Music Today reviews a performance by Latino violinist Elena Urioste at Curtis Institute of Music yesterday:

Elena Urioste delivered a remarkable performance of Bruch’s Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, as part of the student recital at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia last night. Elena, a 20 year-old Mexican-Basque violininst, began her violin studies in Philadelphia and made her debut as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age thirteen as winner of the Albert M. Greenfield Competition. Since then, she has appeared as soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States. Urioste made her Carnegie Hall debut as a featured soloist in the December 2004 Sphinx Gala Concert, and has returned as a soloist in the 2006 and 2007 Galas. She has performed in recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall as the youngest musician ever selected for the Young Performers Career Advancement Showcase.

Urioste has collaborated with David Kim, Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster; pianist Christopher O’Riley; and conductors Keith Lockhart and Shlomo Mintz, among others. She has been a featured artist in the International Young Artists Music Festival, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota and Aspen Music Festivals, as well as the Festival International de Musique in Sion, Switzerland. In 2007 she was first prize winner of the Sion International Violin Competition. Also this year she won both the senior (2007) and junior (2003) divisions of the national Sphinx Competition, as well as the Kennett Symphony Concerto Competition. Urioste has appeared on NPR radio programs From the Top and Performance Today, and the Spanish language television network, Telemundo. Miss Urioste is a student at The Curtis Institute of Music where she has studied for the past four years with Joseph Silverstein and Ida Kavafian. On 25-SEP-2007 she performed at Carnegie Hall.

Aaron P. Dworkin, Founder/President of the Sphinx Organization, is profiled at www.AfriClassical.com Last Friday he announced the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and the Harlem String Quartet will make an historic U.S. Tour in 2008.

Read the full post.

Elena+Urioste" rel="tag">Elena Urioste
Latino+Violinist" rel="tag">Latino Violinist
Sphinx+Competition" rel="tag">Sphinx Competition
Latino+Instrumentalist" rel="tag">Latino Instrumentalist
Chamber+Music" rel="tag">Chamber Music
Classical+Music" rel="tag">Classical Music


Joshua Nemith's Cincinnati Pianist Blog: Some Profiles of African Pianists

[[Elilta: Ethiopian Classical Music by Girma Yifrashewa; Balkan Media Center (2006)]

Dr. Joshua Nemith writes Joshua Nemith's Cincinnati Pianist Blog. His bio reads, in part:

"Pianist JOSHUA S. NEMITH has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral keyboardist. Dr. Nemith was recently awarded the Principal Keyboard position of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in May of 2007. He is also the principal keyboardist with the IRIS chamber orchestra in Germantown, Tennessee, under the direction of conductor Michael Stern. He completed his doctorate in piano performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in June of 2004."


Joshua Nemith's Cincinnati Pianist Blog has supported AfriClassical from its first post, in July, on demeaning cover art of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges on Calliope 9373 (2007). We are very pleased that Dr. Nemith has published a brief overview today of our recent posts on African pianists:

"Monday, October 22, 2007 Some Profiles of African Pianists

Check out these in-depth profiles of pianists of African heritage over at AfriClassical.com This blog (authored by William Zick) has recently been calling attention to some worthy keyboard artists:

Glen Inanga

Ivan Kiwuwa

Girma Yifrashewa (he is also a composer)

Listen to some short samples of Yifrashewa's spacious and lovely piano compositions at his page at the AfriClassical.com website. His music incorporates traditional Ethiopian musical styles with Western harmonies and gestures. How wonderful it is that an African composer is channeling some of his own rich traditions into music for the piano! I hope that this music becomes available from international publishers; it would be fun and enriching to learn, study, and teach some of this new and fresh repertoire."

Joshua+Nemith" rel="tag">Joshua Nemith
African+Pianists" rel="tag">African Pianists
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Ugandan+Pianist" rel="tag">Ugandan Pianist
Ethiopian+Pianist" rel="tag">Ethiopian Pianist
Nigerian+Pianist" rel="tag">Nigerian Pianist

Significance of 2008 Sphinx Tour of the U.S.

“Sphinx Plans Historic US Tour: Tour to feature Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and Harlem Quartet” was the exciting news to which we awoke Friday morning. We are convinced the U.S. Tour will indeed make history. As the tour progresses, top-flight Black and Latino musicians will introduce themselves to communities around the country.

The tour will be the first opportunity for many people to hear all-minority ensembles. Judging from the Sphinx galas at Carnegie Hall, audiences are likely to include far more Black and Latino patrons than typical classical concerts. While it is a foretaste of a more diverse future in classical music, the Tour is also a testament to 11 years of hard work involving thousands of participants, teachers, professional musicians and supporters, inspired by the vision of Founder/President Aaron Dworkin, who is proudly profiled at AfriClassical.com

Legions of music students, their teachers, and families will join regular concert-goers in experiencing classical music by both majority and minority composers, performed by two ensembles of Sphinx Competition Winners. Performing excellent music by fine composers of all racial and ethnic backgrounds is part of the Sphinx philosophy. The Chicago Sinfonietta, which Maestro Paul Freeman founded in 1987 and continues to direct, also has the mission “Musical Excellence Through Diversity”.

It is an example which could be the enduring significance of the 2008 Sphinx Tour of the U.S.

Sphinx+Tour" rel="tag">Sphinx Tour
Sphinx+Organization" rel="tag">Sphinx Organization
Black+Musiciand" rel="tag">Black Musicians
Latino+Musicians" rel="tag">Latino Musicians
Chicago+Sinfonietta" rel="tag">Chicago Sinfonietta
Paul+Freeman" rel="tag">Paul Freeman

AfriClassical On Afro-Netizen Blog Roll

AfriClassical has added the highly influential blog Afro-Netizen to its Favorite Blogs. In turn it has been added to the Afro-Netizen Blog Roll. The following motto and blog description are from Afro-Netizen:

"Afro-Netizen
"Dedicated to informing, inspiring and engaging afro-netizens and the communities they touch".
-Christopher M. Rabb, Founder/Chief Evangelist

About Afro-Netizen Founded in 1999 by native Chicagoan and social entrepreneur Chris Rabb, Afro-Netizen™ is a net-centric social experiment whose mission is to inform, inspire and engage afro-netizens and the communities they touch.

Technically speaking, an 'afro-netizen' is a Black 'citizen of the (Inter)net'. However, the connotation of this term coined by Rabb in the final moments of the 20th Century, bespeaks a more civic value to -- and utility of -- the Internet in one's life beyond its more consumer or individualistic applications.

What started as an informal e-mail-based news aggregation service for and about Blackfolk has blossomed into a burgeoning online community, having gained national visibility and momentum in the aftermath of the frenzied mainstream media (MSM) coverage of the then-nascent 'political blogosphere' during the 2004 election cycle."

Last week Afro-Netizen announced it will proudly sponsor and promote the
Presidential campaign video question project known as
“10 Questions.com” 

Afro-Netizen Blog
10 Questions
African American
Black Citizen
Chris Rabb
Black Issues

Ivan Kiwuwa (b. 1983), Ugandan Pianist & Violinist

We learned of Ivan Kiwuwa from Dr. William H. Chapman Nyaho, pianist, professor and music editor. Born in the U.S. and raised in Ghana, he is profiled at AfriClassical.com We soon found Dr. Chapman Nyaho's high opinion of Ivan's musical talents is widely shared by audiences and critics.

Nicola Lisle interviewed Ivan Kiwuwa for the article “A Passion for the Piano” in The Oxford Times, May 31, 2007:

Meeting Ivan Kiwuwa is an extraordinary experience. At just 23 years of age, he oozes maturity and self-assurance, and talks about his music with passion and authority. His enthusiasm is infectious, and it is impossible not to be charmed by this young man, who is clearly hovering on the cusp of international stardom.

...

For Ivan, this talent took root and blossomed in a most unlikely setting. He was born in Uganda in 1983, into a country steeped in traditional African music with little western influence. But he was lucky enough to live close to Kampala Cathedral, one of the few places in Uganda that has a tradition of serious classical music, and he joined the choir at the age of eight, later rising to head chorister.

"I joined the choir mainly because my friend was already a choirboy there," he recalled. "It's one of the very few places where this kind of music happens due to the legacy left by the missionaries. So that's where the classical tradition is, and people go there to practise serious music."

When Ivan's voice broke at the age of 13, he turned to the piano; initially out of curiosity, rather than a conviction that this was the instrument for him.

"I guess every child would be curious at seeing other people playing something," he said. "But, for me, it was made more intense by needing something else to do. I had to grab hold of something and the piano was an instrument I knew about, so I thought I'd try it."

Ivan began studying with Fiona Carr, and a year later took up the violin as well, studying with Isabel Turner. But, despite the fact that he clearly had a natural talent, he received surprisingly little encouragement from family and friends.

"At the beginning, as a choirboy, I had a bit of encouragement from my family, but later on, when I decided to learn and take the piano seriously, it was the opposite, I have to say. It was discouraged because it's not recognised; it's not in the culture.

"My family thought this was taking time out of my normal school and hence was destroying my future, a view which was strongly shared by my school teachers. So I had an uphill struggle. My family even now don't understand what I do."

Ivan was soon to prove them all wrong. Before he reached his 16th birthday, his talent had been spotted at a masterclass with Maxim Vengerov, and he made his concert debut in Germany shortly afterwards, performing Bach's Double Violin Concerto with Vengerov and the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra. The offer of a full scholarship to Wells Cathedral School swiftly followed and he remembers his time there with great fondness.

"Wells is one of the four major music specialist schools in Britain but it has a strong academic side as well. It was a good atmosphere for me and it was interesting because obviously it was such a different culture. It was also my first ever boarding school.

"I remember for the first few days, every time I woke up I thought, this is a dream - it's a long dream. Every day there was something new, and it was very intense, taking it all in."

In 2003, Ivan was awarded a full scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he is now in his final year as an undergraduate and he has already accepted a place on a post-graduate masters course.

He has won numerous prizes and given solo recitals at the Purcell Room and at the National Theatre in Nairobi. Now Oxford beckons. So what does he have in store for local audiences?

"I will be playing Impromptus Op.90 by Schubert, piano sonata in E major by Mendelssohn and piano sonata in A flat major by Beethoven. I always love playing Schubert because of his beautiful, tender melodies and the simplicity of his music. Mendelssohn captures both Schubert qualities, but it has a lot more excitement and furore. Beethoven's depth is something which always speaks directly to the deepest corners of the heart.

"I love composers which my personality and my temperament most naturally associate with, and I think those composers tend to be mainly German and Viennese - Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. Beethoven, I think, is the hardest composer to play on the piano, but I love the challenge."

On June 13, 2007, The Oxford Times printed a glowing review, “Ivan Kiwuwa, Jacqueline du Pre Music Building”:

'We weren't expecting it to be this full," one of the ushers was saying as we walked into the JDP last week. That's understandable. It is notoriously difficult to get audiences in to hear unknown musicians, especially those who have yet to break through on to the world stage. But for Ivan Kiwuwa's recital on Friday evening, the place was packed.

There is always a danger with publicity that promises great things that the reality will fail to live up to the hype. Fortunately, with Kiwuwa, this was emphatically not the case. From the moment he stepped on to the platform, and noticeably prepared himself mentally before sinking his fingers on to the keys, it was clear we were about to witness something very special; the public unveiling of a new, phenomenal talent.

Schubert's Impromptus Nos. 1 and 2 from Opus 90 were a perfect taster, the first dramatic and exciting, the second restless and full of rhythmic gymnastics. In the programme, Kiwuwa notes that the accessibility of these sonatas has made them a favourite with amateur pianists, but few amateurs, I am sure, would dispense them with such technical dexterity and mastery, best displayed in the shifting textures and harmonies.

Then came a radiant account of Mendelssohn's Sonata in E major, its lyrical quality explored with eloquence and assurance. Two more Schubert Impromptus opened the second half, and the evening was brought to a close with Beethoven's Sonata opus 110 in A flat major, its contrasting moods allowing Kiwuwa to give full rein to his musical energy and virtuosity.

This was an exhilarating and enthralling programme, given by a brilliant but seemingly unassuming young man, who is clearly destined for international stardom. From the moment he starts to play, Kiwuwa becomes completely engrossed in the music, which he imbues with passion, sensitivity and sincerity, giving a deeply committed and informed interpretation and displaying an extraordinary empathy with the composer. Absolutely wonderful.

Pianos For Uganda is a nonprofit organization which collects used pianos in Britain and lends them to schools in Uganda. The Newsletter of the Kampala Music School proudly noted in July 2002 that Ivan became one of the program's first two successes when he began his studies on a full scholarship at Wells Cathedral School in January 2000. Though still in school, Ivan has already performed widely in Europe and Africa.

Ivan+Kiwuwa" rel="tag">Ivan Kiwuwa
Ugandan+Pianist" rel="tag">Ugandan Pianist
Chapman+Nyaho" rel="tag">Chapman Nyaho
African+Pianist" rel="tag">African Pianist
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Black+Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist

Glen Inanga, Nigerian Pianist in Micallef-Inanga Duo

[Ravel: Music for Two Pianos; Somm 25 (2002)]

Glen Inanga is a Nigerian pianist who lives in the U.K. He was brought to our attention by his fellow Nigerian pianist Sodi Braide. For the past 13 years the career of the one-time Engineering student has been nearly inseparable from that of his partner in the Micallef-Inanga Duo, Jennifer Micallef, from Malta. The two pianists give such priority to their appearance on stage that they have their own fashion designers. The Duo's website is MicallefInanga.com, which provides this introduction:

Jennifer Micallef and Glen Inanga have been collaborating since 1994 when they began their studies with Aaron Shorr and Martin Roscoe at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Their binding chemistry was obvious from the outset, and three years later critics were already describing them as "an exceptionally gifted team in terms of ensemble, nuance, sensitivity, elan and musical intelligence".

In 1995 the Duo won the International Schubert Piano Duo competition in the Czech Republic and was invited to return as jury members the following year. In 1996, they were awarded the RTZ-CRA Ensemble Prize at the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, London. Success continued in later years with major prizes at international piano duo competitions - ARD in Munich and Murray Dranoff in Miami - Osaka International Chamber Music Competition & Festa, Japan, and awards granted by the Eric Falk and John Tunnell Trusts and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme.

Since their highly acclaimed South Bank début in the Park Lane Group Young Artists Series, the Duo have performed at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall giving regular recital and concerto engagements throughout Europe, Canada, the USA and Asia.

Pianist Magazine published a fascinating article on the Micallef-Inanga Duo in June 2003:

'We are at opposite ends of the spectrum personality-wise,' says Glen frankly, and Jennifer doesn't deny it: 'I'm from the heart - the soul! He's a diplomatic guy.'

However, as Glen points out, opposing characteristics have ultimately proved to be positive: 'You just accept the differences and make them work. You see it as a responsibility to bring something new that the other person doesn't have - so in a way you actually celebrate your differences. A bit of Jennifer has rubbed off on me - I think she has encouraged the instinctive side of my playing to come out.'

'Neither of us had exposure to classical music in the same way that our peers did in England,' says Glen. 'My mum is a musician and there was always music in the house, but I was still behind many other people.'

Having spent summers in America at music camps Glen had done a certain amount of chamber music already but he remembers, 'The level Jennifer had in mind was unlike anything else. It hadn't occurred to me that you could make a career as a duo pianist.'

Honey Park and Kis Jeong are the duo's own couture designers - it may be icing on the cake but both Jennifer and Glen clearly love it.

The Luzerne Music Center at Lake Luzerne, New York recently referred to Glen Inanga as “Alumnus Star pianist” in an article on its Chamber Series:

July 25th featured Alumnus Star pianist Glen Inanga in duo with pianist Jennifer Micaleff in music of Chopin, Ravel, Shostakovich and Dave Brubeck. (Sponsored by Lufthansa German Airlines)

Glen Inanga began his training as a boy in Nigeria, attended our Center under a scholarship from his piano instructor beginning in 1985, and studied with Ms. Blumenthal for two summers.

The Micallef-Inanga Duo have made three CDs, all of which have been very well received:

Micallef/Inanga Two-Piano Works; Works of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Bohuslav Martinu, Francis Poulenc; Royal Over-Seas League (1998)

Ravel: Music for Two Pianos; Somm 25 (2002)

Holloway: Gilded Goldbergs; Hyperion (2002)

On Sept. 28, 2007 Joshua Nemith's Cincinnati Pianist Blog discussed Sodi Braide's CD of piano works of César Franck, Lyrinx 249 (2007). The blog observed:

Nigeria is increasingly producing some young pianists of note. Glen Inanga, one half of the Micallef-Inanga piano duo, is of Nigerian descent. The duo has released quite a few records, one of the most interesting being a massive set of variations by Robin Holloway based on Bach’s Goldberg Variations (the work only fits on two CD’s and is titled “Gilded Goldbergs”).

The International Record Review had high praise for the Duo's interpretation of Robin Holloway's score:

The very capable duo of Jennifer Micallef and Glen Inanga provide a handsome rendering of this enormous, intricate, many-mooded piece, parts of which will only ever be within the reach of virtuosi (there are variations dedicated to Nicolas Hodges and Thomas Adès).

On Nov. 11, 2006, Nigerians in America published a piece by Wumi Raji on the 70^th birthday party of Abiola Irele at Churchill College. The Liberian vocalist Dawn Padmore was accompanied on piano by Glen Inanga in a concert of works of composers of African descent. Sponsors were the Centre for Intercultural Musicology at Churchill College (CIMACC) and the Churchill College Music Society. CIMACC was founded under the leadership of Prof. Akin Euba, the well known Nigerian composer and musicologist who is the Andrew Mellon Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. Akin Euba is profiled at AfriClassical.com Wumi Raji turned to the qualifications of the pianist:

Inanga, a Nigerian pianist of distinction, had originally studied Engineering at Clare College, University of Cambridge, before proceeding to the Royal Academy of Music, London to pursue a former qualification in the area of his first love. Now a holder of a Master of Music degree of the University of London and Associate of Royal Academy of Music, Inanga has a standing partnership with Jennifer Micallef together with whom he won the 1995 Schubert Piano Duo competition in the Czech Republic. He is also a distinguished soloist and in this regard, a major feat of his was the Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue performed to a capacity hall at Lincoln Centre, New York in 2000.

Glen Inanga
Nigerian Pianist
African Pianist
Black Pianist
classical music
Duo Pianist

Sphinx Chamber Orchestra & Harlem Quartet to Tour U.S. in 2008

(Harlem Quartet: Ilmar Gavilan, violin; Melissa White, violin; Juan-Miguel Hernandez, viola; Desmond Neysmith, cello)

The Sphinx Organization, dedicated to diversity in classical music, announces an Historic U.S. Tour for the fall of 2008. Sphinx Founder Aaron P. Dworkin is profiled at AfriClassical.com This first national tour will feature the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and the Harlem Quartet, and will include a return to Carnegie Hall, where previous performances have been warmly received by audiences and critics alike. Tour management will be shared by Sphinx and Opus 3 Artists. The press release continues:

The Sphinx Chamber Orchestra is comprised of top alumni of the annual Sphinx Competition for young Black and Latino String Players presented by JPMorgan Chase. Joining the Orchestra on tour will be the Harlem Quartet and several top Sphinx Competition Laureates (winners) as soloists. The members of the Harlem Quartet are all first-place Laureates of the Sphinx Competition.

“Building on the phenomenal successes we’ve had in Detroit and at Carnegie Hall, the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra tour will continue building diversity in the concert halls across the country. This will be a truly historic undertaking, and we could not be more proud and honored to work with Opus 3 Artists; their unmatched expertise will be truly invaluable,” said Aaron P. Dworkin, the Sphinx Organization’s Founder and President. “The tour allows us to share not only the incredible talent of our Competition alumni, but also the underperformed masterpieces of Black and Latino composers,” Dworkin added.

Past Sphinx Chamber Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall have earned rave reviews in the pages of The New York Times. “[F]irst rate in every way—polished, nuanced, rich in tone and thoughtfully shaped,” wrote Allen Kozinn reviewing the 2004 performance. He also noted, “…this student ensemble produced a more beautiful, precise and carefully shaped sound than some fully professional orchestras that come through Carnegie Hall…” In the Times’ review of Sphinx’s most recent Carnegie Hall performance, Vivien Schweitzer wrote, “The Harlem Quartet played with panache.”

The Sphinx Organization is the national non-profit arts and youth development organization committed to building diversity in classical music. The mission of the Sphinx Organization is to increase Black and Latino participation in music schools, as professional musicians, as classical music audiences, and to administer youth development initiatives in underserved communities through music education.

For Sphinx Chamber Orchestra tour booking information, please contact Opus 3 Artists at 212-584-7500 or info@opus3artists.com.

Sphinx Tour
Harlem Quartet
Chamber Orchestra
Latino Musicians
Black Musicians
classical music

"Ulysses Kay: Works for Chamber Orchestra" (2007), Albany Records

Ulysses S. Kay, Jr. (1917-1995) was an African American composer, conductor and professor. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com Albany Records has just released the first major CD devoted exclusively to his works: Ulysses Kay: Works for Chamber Orchestra; Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra; Kevin Scott, Conductor; Troy 961 (2007). It was our pleasure to learn of the CD and its significance from the conductor:

“As a former student of Ulysses Kay when he taught at Lehman College, I am
pleased to announce the release of a recording I conducted four years ago for
Albany Records. On the disc are four of his works for chamber orchestra that
are receiving their first recordings: Suite from the documentary The Quiet One;
Three Pieces after Blake, for soprano and orchestra; Scherzi Musicali and Aulos,
for flute and chamber orchestra. This is the first volume in what is hoped to be
a series devoted to Kay's orchestral, operatic and chamber works. I hope you
can update your site to include this recording in your chapter devoted
to Kay.

Kevin Scott is also Project Director/Conductor for the Ulysses Kay Recording Project. His liner notes for the CD are admiringly titled “A Conductor's Recollection Of A Great American Composer”. The notes begin:

“My first encounter with the music of Ulysses Kay came when I first heard his
brilliant Short Overture from 1947, with the Oakland Youth Orchestra under
Robert Hughes that was televised over the PBS Network (and subsequently
recorded for Desto Records). Upon learning that Kay was teaching at Herbert
H. Lehman College in the Bronx, I knew I wanted to study composition with
this man. Later, when I heard his orchestral essay Markings on the third
volume of Columbia Masterworks Black Composers Series, it only confirmed
my resolve to learn from this master.”

A year later than he had hoped, Kevin Scott enrolled in Kay's composition class, which had only six or seven students. He recalls his professor's philosophy on composition, and mentions several important performances of his works:

“Though I never got as close to Uly as I would have liked, he always held my
compositions in high regard, though he felt that the melodic material in my
early scores suffered from endless meandering, and expressed to several
people that I wrote too little. He always felt that thematic and structural
concision was the best way to express oneself, even within a large canvass.
This being the case, I was present at several major performances of his
music, including the second performance of his Quintet Concerto at the
Juilliard School, and the New York premieres of his evocative Western
Paradise with William Conrad narrating under Antal Dorati's baton at
Carnegie Hall, and his orchestral rhapsody Chariots conducted by Zubin
Mehta.

As the years progressed and my musical avenues expanded to conducting,
I began to program several of Uly's compositions when deemed right for the
occasion, two of those works on this CD. It was my hope that one day I
would record several of his orchestral pieces for commercial release. In all,
Uly composed over four dozen works for orchestra. Of this, about a fourth of
his output has been represented on LP. Several of his important compositions,
including his 1967 Symphony, the Portrait Suite, Quintet Concerto, Southern
Harmony, Western Paradise, the ballet Danse Calinda and his most
programmed work Overture: Of New Horizons, have never received major
commercial recordings, not to mention his five operas,numerous large-scale
choral works, three string quartets and several compositions for concert band
and wind ensemble. For one who received many awards and commissions
that culminated in performances led by the likes of Stokowski, Bernstein,
Mitropoulos, Dorati, Szell and Mehta during his lifetime, much of his music stil
remains unheard since his passing in 1995.

The last time I saw Uly was in 1994 when Leon Botstein conducted his Short
Overture at Lincoln Center. It was then that Uly also embraced an old friend
whose music was also on the program, namely Morton Gould. Little did we
know that this event would be his last public appearance. As I escorted Uly to
his limousine after the performance, I could not help but feel sorry for a man
who was the pinnacle of wonderful health all his life. The evils of Parkinson’s
disease caught up with him and destroyed not only his physical body, but also
impaired his creativity. His last commission, a work for the New York
Philharmonic’s 150th anniversary, was never to be fulfilled.

It is the hope that this is the first of a projected multi-volume series devoted
to the orchestral, band, choral and operatic works of a great American
composer whose time should never leave.”

“His first scoring assignment took place in 1947, when he was approached to
contribute a score for an experimental quasi-documentary entitled The Quiet
One. Written by Janice Loeb, Sidney Meyers and Helen Levitt (who also
served as film editor), with commentary by James Agee and narrated by Gary
Merrill, this hour long film about an abused African-American child and his
coming of age is not dissimilar to the realism of Vittorio DeSica’s The Bicycle
Thief, or the allegorical world of Joseph Losey’s The Boy With Green Hair.”

The total time of the disc is 69:06. At its website, Albany Records gives this outline of the CD's program:

CONTENTS:
Ulysses Kay, composer
Suite from The Quiet One
Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kevin Scott, conductor

Ulysses Kay, composer
Three Pieces After Blake, for Soprano and Orchestra
Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kevin Scott, conductor, Janet Hopkins, soprano

Ulysses Kay, composer
Scherzi Musicali
Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kevin Scott, conductor

Ulysses Kay, composer
Aulos, for Flute and Chamber Orchestra
Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kevin Scott, conductor, Melanie Valencia, flute

Ulysses+Kay" rel="tag">Ulysses Kay
Chamber+Works" rel="tag">Chamber Works
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
Kevin+Scott" rel="tag">Kevin Scott
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
African+American" rel="tag">African American

Tunde Jegede (b. 1972), Composer of Nigerian Descent

[Opus 18 Project; String Quartet No. 2 (Reflecting on Beethoven, Op. 18, No. 2), Brodsky Quartet, Challenge (2003) (3-disc set)]

Tunde Jegede is a composer of Nigerian descent who was born in 1972 and lives in the U.K. For an overview of his wide-ranging career, we turn to the opening paragraph of TundeJegede.com:

“Welcome to the official homepage of Tunde Jegede. Tunde Jegede is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who is uniquely placed between the worlds of Contemporary Classical, African and Popular music. He is a prolific Producer/Song writer and has worked across several genres both as a performer (Cello, Kora, Piano and Percussion) and producer. This site contains Biographies, List of works, Videos, free downloads, information on his forthcoming album Nomad
out later this year and much more.”

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and former Director of the Center for Black Music Research. In addition, he is principal advisor to AfriClassical.com, the web companion to AfriClassical. He has generously provided his research file on Tunde Jegede for this post:

Jegede,Tunde, 1972- by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma

“A resident in Britian of Nigerian descent, Jegede studied the cello at the Purcell School of Music with Alfia Bekova, Elma de Bruyne, and Joan Dickson, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Rafael Wallfisch. He was introduced to the kora by Bouly Cissokho, his first teacher of the instrument. When 10, he studied with the griot, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh. He began performing professionally at age 12, beginning his work as composer two years later. With his African Classical Music Ensemble, he has toured and been featured on broadcasts and telecasts, bringing attention to the classical music traditions of Africa, including a 1991 première at the South Bank Center in London, part of an Arts Council project. BBC2 produced a documentary, Sound stories, of his work.

He was appointed Innovations Composer in 1999 to the Eastern Orchestral Board. He has written for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Britten Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players, and the East of London Orchestra. In 2005 he went to Sénégal for research leading to his opera, Sundiata, composed in eight days.

He has recorded Trilok Gurtu’s Living magic for CMP, Orphy Robinson’s Tomorrow never comes for EMI, Caron Wheeler’s War of a beach goddess for EMI, Deepak Ram’s Flute for thought for M.E.L.T. in 2000, and River of sound by Michael O. Suillebhain and Donal Lunny for Virgin.

Tunde Jegede
Black Composer
Contemporary Classical
Black Instrumentalist
Classical Music
Nigerian Descent

"Kidstuff" 2007 CD by Regina Baiocchi, African American Composer

Yesterday, Oct. 16, 2007, AfriClassical was pleased to present the bio of Regina Harris Baiocchi, an African American composer who was born in 1956. Her Etude No. 2 (2:48) is available on the CD Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women; Helen Walker-Hill, piano; Gregory Walker, violin; Leonarda 339 (1995). The cover of Kaleidoscope was pictured yesterday. Today we turn our attention to the front and back covers of the children's CD recently produced by Regina Harris Baiocchi and Michael Adams, Kidstuff (2007).

Regina Baiocchi
Kidstuff CD
Black Composer
Children's music
African American
Woman Composer

Call For Papers: Black Conductors & Concert Music

AfriClassical has received a clarification regarding the Encyclopedia of Black Music, which is seeking an author for the section on Black Conductors & Concert Music:

Thanks for posting the call for articles for the black music encyclopedia. Horace Maxile, now on our staff, is an editor, but this encyclopedia (unlike the IDBC) is not a CBMR publication.

Suzanne Flandreau,Head Librarian and Archivist,Center for Black Music Research Columbia College Chicago.

[Editor's Note: The IDBC is The International Dictionary of Black Composers, Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., Editor (1999)]


Call for Contributors: Encyclopedia of African American Music

Black Conductors & Concert Music

The Center for Black Music Research, www.cbmr.org, announces the three-volume Encyclopedia of African American Music is scheduled to be published by Greenwood Press in 2008. The editors and advisory board seek writers for remaining unassigned entries, including: Black Conductors & Performers of Concert Music.

A special feature of this encyclopedia will be entries that focus on geographic centers of African American Music. Among the remaining entries in this category are: Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, New York, and Chicago.

Deadline for submissions is January 20, 2008. The deadline is firm, so please be confident that you can complete assigned entries by that date.

If you are interested in writing for this important reference, please send a brief C.V. (2-page maximum) along with your preferred e-mail, affiliation, and postal address to:

editors@eoaam.org

For more detailed information and the complete list of entries visit http://www.eoaam.org

EDITORS:

Emmett G. Price III, Ph.D.

Northeastern University

Tammy L. Kernodle, Ph.D.

Miami University

Horace J. Maxile, Jr., Ph.D.

Center for Black Music Research

Black+Conductors" rel="tag">Black Conductors
Black+Composers" rel="tag">Black Composers
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Music+Encyclopedia" rel="tag">Music Encyclopedia
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Black+Music" rel="tag">Black Music

Regina Baiocchi, African American Composer (b. 1956)

AfriClassical is pleased to present the bio of Regina Harris Baiocchi, an African American composer who was born in 1956. Her Etude No. 2 (2:48) is available on the CD Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women; Helen Walker-Hill, piano; Gregory Walker, violin; Leonarda 339 (1995).

Regina Harris Baiocchi

Regina Harris Baiocchi is a composer and author. Her music has been performed by Detroit Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, and Southeast Symphony orchestras; the US Army Band, various ensembles and universities in the USA. European performances include concerts in Rome, Paris and Bari, as part of Festival Incontri Musicali di Musica Sacra, and in Unna, Germany at the Women Composers’ Library. (See composer’s résumé, vita, and list of compositions.)

Regina is the subject of articles in New Grove Dictionary of Music, International Dictionary of Black Composers, cover profile of Spirituals to Symphonies: Music by Black Women Composers, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Reader, Chicago Daily Defender, Hyde Park Herald and the South Loop Journal.

Regina has written music for symphony orchestra, libretto and one-act opera, hand drum concerto, ballet, chamber music, liturgical and secular music; vocal and instrumental. Commercial recordings include her piano etudes, “Equipoise by Intersection” on the Kaleidoscope CD; a work song, “Legends” (the Legend of John Henry, from her ballet) recorded by baritone, Robert Sims; and Kidstuff, a CD of her compositions for children.

Regina wrote articles on Women Composers and Musicologists, Spirituals, Jazz, Gospel Music, Hip-Hop and Contemporary Poetry for Oxford University Press Encyclopedia, 2005 edition. Her poetry and articles appear in Chicago Tribune Magazine, AIM Magazine, ESI Anthology, Technology News and Gwendolyn Brooks and Working Writers. She is featured at TheHistoryMakers.com website.

The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, New Orleans, requested and was bequeathed with Regina’s papers. Regina’s original, compositions, letters, awards, etcetera are stored at Amistad’s repository; and at the Center for Black Music Research located at Columbia College Chicago.

Her debut novel, Indigo Sound, and poetry volume Urban Haiku, garnered critical acclaim. Regina lives in Chicago with her husband, Greg.

Regina+Baiocchi" rel="tag">Regina Baiocchi
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
Woman+Composer" rel="tag">Woman Composer
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Black+Woman" rel="tag">Black Women

Lost Chords, Unsung Songs - Southbank Centre 9th Nov.

[Top to bottom: Philip Herbert, piano; Kay Smith, mezzo-soprano; Chris Rogers, violin]

Lost Chords, Unsung Songs

The last of four performances of the program "Lost Chords, Unsung Songs" will be presented at London's Southbank Centre at 7.30pm Friday, 9th November, 2007. Margaret Bonds, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence Price, William Grant Still are profiled at our companion website, www.AfriClassical.com

Here are excerpts from announcements of the event, which is part of the "Freedom and Culture Weekend":

Purcell Room

Lost Chords, Unsung Songs

Friday 9 November 2007, 7:45 P.M.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Sonata in D minor for Violin and Piano
Margaret Bonds The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Julia Perry Free At Last
Undine Smith Moore Come Down Angels
Betty Jackson King It's Me O Lord
Margaret Bonds He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
Oswald Russell Jamaican Dance No. 2
Margaret Bonds Troubled Water
Undine Smith Moore I Am In Doubt
Betty Jackson King Spring Time
Florence Price To A Dark Virgin
Florence Price My Soul's Been Anchored To The Lord
Hall Johnson Ride On King Jesus
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Deep River from 24 Negro Melodies
William Grant Still Suite for Violin and Piano

Philip Herbert piano
Kay Smith mezzo-soprano
Chris Rogers violin

A celebration of the hidden contribution Black composers have made to the Western classical musical tradition, performed through chamber music and art songs.

The concert will include songs by Betty Jackson King, Margaret Bonds, Julia Perry, Undine Smith Moore, and Florence Price as well as music for violin and piano by William Grant Still and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The aesthetic outlook in this music touches on themes from the 'Harlem' and 'Chicago' Renaissance movements, celebrating cultural ideology derived from the African Diaspora. This concert offers a unique opportunity to hear chamber music from a different creative perspective on classical music repertoire, a perspective rarely heard in Britain, and is a true celebration of the hidden contribution Black composers have made to the western classical music tradition.

Lost+Chords" rel="tag">Lost Chords

Unsung+Songs" rel="tag">Unsung Songs

Black+Composers" rel="tag">Black Composers

African+Diaspora" rel="tag">African Diaspora

classical+music" rel="tag">classical music

chamber+music" rel="tag">chamber music

AfriClassical Blog Digest

[Afro-American Symphony; William Grant Still; Suite from 'The River'; Duke Ellington; Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Järvi, conductor; Chandos 9154 (1993)]

AfriClassical Blog Digest

Have you missed a few posts on AfriClassical Blog recently? Are you new to the blog? Either way, here is a handy way to skim the stories covered recently, and follow the links to the posts which grab your attention. AfriClassical Blog is a companion to www.AfriClassical.com, the website on African Heritage in Classical Music.

Final 3 Dates of Mississippi Symphony's William Grant Still Tour

Alvin Singleton, African American Composer: "Sing to the Sun”

Girma Yifrashewa, Ethiopian Composer Born Oct. 15, 1967

Global Voices: Trinidad and Tobago, Canada: Profiling Kwamé Ryan

Franco-American News & Events, 7: ...multicultural society...fact, not fiction.

Kwamé Ryan, Black Canadian Conductor in Bordeaux

T. J. Anderson, African American Composer (b.1928)

R. Nathaniel Dett, African American Composer Born Oct. 11, 1882

Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale

Reader : 'Drawing Reeks of Disdain and Contempt'

Minstrelsy, Racist To Its Core, Is Morally Repugnant

Sphinx Organization Seeks Director of Education & Youth Development

The Sowetan Nation Building Massed Choir Festival

Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Premier Performer of Afrocentric Choral Music

Robert Nathaniel Dett 125th Anniversary Celebration and American Music Festival

French Language Post on AfriClassical

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot : Compositeur nigérian né le 3 octobre 1932

Pianist Roy Eaton Plays “7 Gershwin Preludes” On Roosevelt Island Oct. 6

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot, Nigerian Composer Born Oct. 3, 1932

'On An Overgrown Path' Honors Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide

Songs of African American Composers, UC Berkeley Oct. 3

AfriClassical+Digest" rel="tag">AfriClassical Digest
Black+Composers" rel="tag">Black Composers
Black+Conductors" rel="tag">Black Conductors
Black+warming" rel="tag">global warming
global+Musicians" rel="tag">Black Musicians
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music

Final 3 Dates of Mississippi Symphony's William Grant Still Tour

[Oregon Festival of American Music Presents William Grant Still; Koch 3 7546 2H1 (2002)]

“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 and is profiled at www.AfriClassical.com Darryl E. Harris, Sr. is second basoonist of the orchestra and calls our attention to the final three dates:

"If You Come, Say Hello To The 2nd Bassonist of the Mississippi Symphony"

The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra with the choirs of Alcorn State University, Rust College,
Jackson State University, Delta State University, University of Mississippi, Mississippi State 
University, William Carey University and the University of Southern Mississippi and the 
Hattiesburg Choral Union is presenting concerts of the music of William Grant Still. The 
remaining dates are October 15th at The Delta State University in Cleveland Mississippi at 
7:30pm in the Bologna Performing Center. November 8th at the MSU Riley Center in 
Meridian Center at 8:00pm. November 11th at the Bennett auditorium on the campus of 
the University of Southern Mississippi at 3:00pm. The Mississippi Public Broadcasting 
network did video the events for television and radio broadcast. This is really GREAT music.
If you come, say hello to the 2nd bassoonist of the Mississippi Symphony... Darryl E. 
Harris, Sr.


 

Missippi+Symphony" rel="tag">Mississippi Symphony
Still+Tour" rel="tag">Still Tour
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
African+Descent" rel="tag">African Descent
Darryl+Harris" rel="tag">Darryl Harris

Alvin Singleton, African American Composer: "Sing to the Sun"

[Sing to the Sun: Chamber Music by Alvin Singleton, Troy 902 (2007)]

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, the principal advisor of AfriClassical.com, has brought this message from Alvin Singleton to our attention:

I have just launched my first ever Website and want all to see: www.alvinsingleton.com

Here is an excerpt from the Biography page of the new website:

Composer Alvin Singleton was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended New York University and Yale. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied with Goffredo Petrassi at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. After living and working in Europe for fourteen years, Singleton returned to the United States to become Composer-in-Residence with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (1985-88). He subsequently served as Resident Composer at Spelman College in Atlanta (1988-91), as UNISYS Composer-in-Residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1996-97), and was the 2002–03 Composer-in-Residence with the Ritz Chamber Players of Jacksonville, Florida. In addition, he has served as Visiting Professor of Composition at the Yale University School of Music.

Singleton has amassed numerous awards throughout his compositional life. He is the recipient of a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship and was commissioned by The Serge Koussevitsky Music Foundation and American Composers Orchestra for the orchestral work When Given a Choice, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in April 2004. His other awards include the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis by the City of Darmstadt, Germany, twice the Musikprotokoll Kompositionpreis by the Austrian Radio, the Mayor’s Fellowship in the Arts Award by the City of Atlanta, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Also in Spring 2004, Singleton joined the American Composers Orchestra as “Music Alive” Composer-in-Residence and Artistic Advisor for the IMPROVISE! Festival.

Singleton has composed music for theatre, orchestra, solo instruments, and a variety of chamber ensembles. His most recent work, TRUTH, a work for chorus, ensemble and dance based on the life of Sojourner Truth, was premiered on February 19, 2006 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and TU Dance. His music is published by Schott Music Corporation, and is recorded on the Albany Records, Elektra/Nonesuch, Tzadik, and Innova labels. Singleton’s latest CD “Sing to the Sun” was released in February 2007 on Albany Records and is the fourth all-Singleton disc.

The following Contents and Review information is from the website of Albany Records:

CONTENTS:
Alvin Singleton, composer
Greed Machine
Teresa McCollough, piano, Peggy Benkeser, vibraphone

Alvin Singleton, composer
Argoru III
Sara Vargas-Barritt, flute

Alvin Singleton, composer
Sing To The Sun
Spivey Hall Children's Choir, Ashley Bryan, narrator, Ted Gurch, clarinet, Barbara Cook, oboe, Amy Leventhal, viola, Laura Gordy, piano, Petty Benkeser, percussion

Alvin Singleton, composer
Apple
Richard Faria, Marianne Gythfeldt, Michael Lowenstern, Charles Neidich, clarinets

Alvin Singleton, composer
Fifty Times Around The Sun
David Shifrin, clarinet, Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

REVIEW:
"Singleton is a difficult composer to categorize, but his works always have a clarity and accessibility to them despite the often-dissonant tonal language. ...serves as a great introduction to a great artist." (Sequenza 21)

"Singleton's music is playful, free, sometimes quite funny, sometimes a bit funky." (American Record Guide)

Alvin Singleton
Chamber Music
Albany Records
Sojourner Truth
Black Composer
classical music

Girma Yifrashewa, Ethiopian Composer Born Oct. 15, 1967

(This post replaces the version dated Oct. 13)

[Elilta (Cry of Joy): Ethiopian Classical Music by Girma Yifrashewa; Elilta (7:06), Ambassel (9:40), Chewata (9:31), Sememen (9:50), My Strong Will (7:32), The Shepherd with the Flute (8:50); Girma Yifrashewa, piano; Doroteya Dimitrova, violin; Lyubomir Nikov, cello; Mikhail Zhivkov, clarinet; Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra; Dian Tchobanov, Conductor; Balkan Multimedia Center (2006)]

[Girma Yifrashewa: The Shepherd with the flute (2001)]

Elilta was initially sold only in Ethiopia. Plans for international distribution are in the works. In the meantime, all six tracks of the CD can be sampled at Girma Yifrashewa's page at www.AfriClassical.com We asked if Girma had any comments for the post celebrating his birthday; he made this response:

“How nice and thoughtful of you to think of my birthday I really do appreciate. I have just completed rehearsals with a group of children (about 30) and we are planning to present a concert in Addis Ababa on the 19th of October. It is a choir with about eight songs on the themes of children's rights, identity, and other contemporary issues. The project has been funded by an NGO the African Child Policy Forum) and a CD will be released. I have also been preparing for some performances in the USA and I am waiting to hear from the other side to finalize arrangements for my trip.

My last concert was in London in March 2007 as you can see from my web page.

You can also see the interview I had with the BBC.”

The interview lasts about six minutes, and can also be reached via the “References” tab on Girma's home page. It has this introduction at the BBC World Service website:

“BBC World Service; March 20, 2007; Classically gifted

In a basement studio here in Bush House sits a magnificent grand piano, it doesn't feature regularly on Network Africa, but this week Ethiopian concert pianist Girma Yifrashewa came to visit.

He is in the UK to perform a series of concerts at London's Guildhall School of Music.

Girma started his career at the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa and continued his musical education in London, Sofia and Leipzig.

He has performed all over the world, enchanting audiences in Europe, Australia and Africa.”

“Shen Liknaitzky heard him play and spoke to him about his life as a concert pianist.” It is hard to imagine a less traditional path to classical piano than the one followed by the Ethiopian pianist Girma Yifrashewa. He was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 40 years ago, on Oct. 15, 1967. Married and the father of one child, he lives in Addis Ababa. The pianist who has two classical CDs to his credit and has toured widely in Africa and elsewhere grew up playing a traditional Ethiopian string instrument, the kirar. Not surprisingly, passengers on Ethiopian Airlines enjoy duty-free shopping from In-Flight Services. However, along with jewelry, perfume, wine and spirits, passengers may buy Girma Yifrashewa's 2001 classical CD, The Shepherd with the flute. Ethiopian Airlines proudly sponsors its country's only prominent participant in the world of classical piano performance and composition.

The online Addis Tribune reported on May 25, 2001 that Yifrashewa first saw a piano on
the day he began his studies at the renowned Yared Music School in Addis Ababa:

"Girma first saw the piano at the Yared Music School when he was sixteen.  He had just
passed the entrance examination and was about to join the school with only the love and
the ability to play the kirar, the Ethiopian stringed instrument.  'When I saw the grand
piano there in the room at the school I fell in love with it,' recalls Girma.  I never had any
other choice'."

Girma's own website is bilingual in English and German, and offers audio samples of each track on the CD Elilta: http://girma.farbkonstrukt.de/ The home page opens with these words:

“My life has not always been easy. I am nevertheless extremely grateful for each experience, as it has helped to make what I am today. I have been to many parts of the world and have had the honour to meet many people. I would like to thank all individuals and institutions that have made it possible for me to experience diverse cultures and share my own. I will redouble my efforts to bring my music to the world. The journey continues…”

The bio of the pianist explains the first two phases of his studies in piano:

“He studied at the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa for four years and graduated with a diploma in piano. He then received a five-year bursary from the Ethiopian government to study at the Sofia State Conservatory of Music and graduated with a Masters in Piano.”

It was in Bulgaria that the young student established himself as a solo pianist, his bio says:

“It is in Bulgaria that he made an impact as a solo pianist holding shows throughout the country until his return to East Africa in 1995. Perhaps his best show was in the Sala Baldini Room in Rome just before returning to his home country.

His best achievement as a performer is in the sphere of romantic and impressionist repertoires, above all the piano works of Schumann, Schubert and Debussy. He has a preference and well-determined approach to the music of Bach as well as to those of Mozart and Beethoven.”

The fall of the Soviet Union had immediate impact on Yifrashewa's graduate studies in Bulgaria, as the Addis Tribune relates:

“His training in Bulgaria was never a rosy one. In the middle of his school years at the Conservatory, Girma saw the collapse of the Soviet Union that was also felt seriously in Bulgaria. Instantly, the stipend that they got as students was discontinued and [he] could not carry on with his drills as he had no access to the piano.”

The article explains that Yifrashewa's financial crisis caused him to leave Bulgaria. He arrived at a train station in Rome, Italy penniless. An Ethiopian he met there took him in, and soon Yifrashewa found shelter with the Christian Brothers in Rome. After a short period of manual labor by day and piano practice by night, financial support from the Christian Brothers enabled Yifrashewa to return to Sofia to complete his studies. He is quoted as saying:

"The brothers saved me and made me what I am today as I possibly would have ended up being somebody else," he notes. He then completed his education at the Conservatory in good standing. "His performance radiates a pure and rich mentality, a precious balance between the emotional and the rational... He manages to perfect his instrumentalist skills to a degree that permitted him to play with ease compositions requiring virtuoso technique," testified Atanas Kourtev, the professor under whose tutelage Girma perfected his skills.

We learn from Yifrashewa's bio that additional studies in piano were made possible by the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom:

“Girma was privileged to have received scholarships for short-term specialization courses from the British and German Governments, at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1997) and at the Hochschule fur Music Und Theater – Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – in Leipzig (1999), respectively.”

His teacher in Leipzig was Professor Helgcheide Schmidt. In his bio Girma also lists the professional positions he has held since completing his music studies:

“With regard to his work experience, on his return to Ethiopia in 1995, he took up a position with the Yared School of Music as a piano teacher where he worked until 2001. He was also working at the Sheraton Addis as a Pianist for one year (2000-2001). Now Girma is involved in his private work to promote Ethiopian and Classical Music throughout the continent and beyond. On his spare time, he also gives private piano lessons to students of different age groups.”

In his bio, Girma notes his first CD was the classical release called The Shepherd with the Flute (2001). It was followed by a popular music recording, Meleya Keleme (2003). His most recent CD is the classical disc Elilta (2006). The Addis Tribune article recounts that the actual recording of the 2001 CD had been done nearly two years earlier, at the Bavaria Studio in Munich, Germany. Two days were required for the recording, which was supported by the Germany Embassy. The article notes with pride:

“In light of dreams coming true, this CD production of classical music has therefore, become the first of its kind ever to be published by an Ethiopian.”

The Shepherd with the flute includes works of Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Mozart and Schumann, as well as a new work by the pianist himself. It is called The Shepherd Flutist (7:14) and is based on The Shepherd with the Flute, a composition of Ashenafi Kebede (1938-1998), an Ethiopian composer who was a Professor of Music at Florida State University. The liner notes for Elilta tell of an important commemorative concert at which the pianist performed:

“In 2005, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 100th Anniversary of the commencement of Ethio-German diplomatic relations, Girma was given the unique opportunity to perform with the German Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 2 and Ethiopian music (Girma's own compositions.) The concert was highly praised both in Germany (Leipzig and Berlin) and Addis Ababa.”

The CD Elilta, released in 2006, begins with four works for solo piano: Elilta (7:06), Ambassel (9:40) Chewata (9:31) and Sememen (9:50). The liner notes explain the first work:

“Elilta is the vocal custom by which Ethiopians express their deepest joy. It is usually used during happy occasions like weddings and other joyous social events. It is also widely used during church festivities. Elilta, in this album, is an amalgamation of popular Ethiopian wedding songs and Girma's personal interpretation of this unique sound on the piano.”

My Strong Will (7:32) is a work for quartet. The performers are: Girma Yifrashewa, piano; Doroteya Dimitrova, violin; Lyubomir Nikov, cello; and Mikhail Zhivkov, clarinet. Ventsi Mitsov orchestrated the final work, The Shepherd with the Flute (8:50). It is performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Dian Tchobanov, Conductor, and is dedicated to Ashenafi Kebede.

During his unprecedented first concert tour of 11 countries in Africa in February and March, 2002, the young Ethiopian pianist received a favorable critique from The Herald newspaper in Harare, Zimbabwe:

“Girma successfully explores lyric music with a marked taste for romantic and impressionist repertoires.

Recently, he received the Phoenix Prize given in honour of artists contributing to the development of art in Ethiopia.”

With two classical CDs to his credit, a children's rights concert on Oct. 19 and another U.S. tour soon to be announced, Girma Yifrashewa celebrates his 40^th birthday at a high point in his career. He has a proven formula of introducing Western classical music to listeners in Africa, while employing traditional Ethiopian musical elements in Western classical forms. His latest CD runs the gamut of those forms from solo piano to quartet and on to orchestral music. We hope classical music listeners everywhere will explore what this cosmopolitan African classical composer and pianist has to offer when Elilta reaches the international market.

Girma Yifrashewa
Ethiopian Composer
Ethiopian Pianist
classical music
African Composer
Black Pianist

Girma Yifrashewa, Ethiopian Composer Born Oct. 15, 1967

[Elilta (Cry of Joy): Ethiopian Classical Music by Girma Yifrashewa; Elilta (7:06), Ambassel (9:40), Chewata (9:31), Sememen (9:50), My Strong Will (7:32), The Shepherd with the Flute (8:50); Girma Yifrashewa, piano; Doroteya Dimitrova, violin; Lyubomir Nikov, cello; Mikhail Zhivkov, clarinet; Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra; Dian Tchobanov, Conductor; Balkan Multimedia Center (2006)]

[Girma Yifrashewa: The Shepherd with the flute (2001)]

Elilta was initially sold only in Ethiopia. Plans for international distribution are in the works. In the
meantime, all six tracks of the CD can be sampled at Girma Yifrashewa's page at
www.AfriClassical.com We asked if Girma had any comments for the post celebrating his birthday; he
made this response:

"How nice and thoughtful of you to think of my birthday I really do appreciate. I have just completed rehearsals with a group of children (about 30) and we are planning to present a concert in Addis Ababa on the 19th of October. It is a choir with about eight songs on the themes of children's rights, identity, and other contemporary issues. The project has been funded by an NGO (the African Child Policy Forum) and a CD will be released. I have also been preparing for some performances in the USA and I am waiting to hear from the other side to finalize arrangements for my trip. My last concert was in London in March 2007 as you can see from my web page. You can also see the interview I had with the BBC." The interview lasts about six minutes, and can also be reached via the "References" tab on Girma's home page. It has this introduction at the BBC World Service website:

“BBC World Service; March 20, 2007; Classically gifted

In a basement studio here in Bush House sits a magnificent grand piano, it doesn't feature regularly on Network Africa, but this week Ethiopian concert pianist Girma Yifrashewa came to visit.

He is in the UK to perform a series of concerts at London's Guildhall School of Music.

Girma started his career at the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa and continued his musical education in London, Sofia and Leipzig.

He has performed all over the world, enchanting audiences in Europe, Australia and Africa.

Shen Liknaitzky heard him play and spoke to him about his life as a concert pianist.”

It is hard to imagine a less traditional path to classical piano than the one followed by the Ethiopian
pianist Girma Yifrashewa. He was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 40 years ago, on Oct. 15, 1967.
Married and the father of one child, he lives in Addis Ababa. The pianist who has two classical CDs to
his credit and has toured widely in Africa and elsewhere grew up playing a traditional Ethiopian string
instrument, the kirar.

Not surprisingly, passengers on the national air carrier of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airlines, enjoy duty-free
shopping from In-Flight Services.  However, along with jewelry, perfume, cigarettes, neckties, wine
and spirits passengers may buy Girma Yifrashewa's 2001 classical CD, The Shepherd with the flute.
Ethiopian Airlines proudly sponsors its country's only prominent participant in the world of classical
piano performance and composition, Girma Yifrashewa. 

The online Addis Tribune reported on May 25, 2001 that Yifrashewa first saw a piano on the day he began his studies at the renowned Yared Music School in Addis Ababa:

“Girma first saw the piano at the Yared Music School when he was sixteen. He had just passed the entrance examination and was about to join the school with only the love and the ability to play the kirar, the Ethiopian stringed instrument. 'When I saw the grand piano there in the room at the school I fell in love with it,' recalls Girma. 'I never had any other choice'.”

Girma's own website is bilingual in English and German, and offers audio samples of each track on the CD Elilta: http://girma.farbkonstrukt.de/ The home page opens with these words:

“My life has not always been easy. I am nevertheless extremely grateful for each experience, as it has helped to make what I am today. I have been to many parts of the world and have had the honour to meet many people. I would like to thank all individuals and institutions that have made it possible for me to experience diverse cultures and share my own. I will redouble my efforts to bring my music to the world. The journey continues…”

The bio of the pianist explains the first two phases of his studies in piano:

“He studied at the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa for four years and graduated with a diploma in piano. He then received a five-year bursary from the Ethiopian government to study at the Sofia State Conservatory of Music and graduated with a Masters in Piano.”

It was in Bulgaria that the young student established himself as a solo pianist, his bio says:

“It is in Bulgaria that he made an impact as a solo pianist holding shows throughout the country until his return to East Africa in 1995. Perhaps his best show was in the Sala Baldini Room in Rome just before returning to his home country.

His best achievement as a performer is in the sphere of romantic and impressionist repertoires, above all the piano works of Schumann, Schubert and Debussy. He has a preference and well-determined approach to the music of Bach as well as to those of Mozart and Beethoven.”

The fall of the Soviet Union had immediate impact on Yifrashewa's graduate studies in Bulgaria, as the Addis Tribune relates:

“His training in Bulgaria was never a rosy one. In the middle of his school years at the Conservatory, Girma saw the collapse of the Soviet Union that was also felt seriously in Bulgaria. Instantly, the stipend that they got as students was discontinued and [he] could not carry on with his drills as he had no access to the piano.”

The article explains that Yifrashewa's financial crisis caused him to leave Bulgaria. He arrived at a train station in Rome, Italy penniless. An Ethiopian he met there took him in, and soon Yifrashewa found shelter with the Christian Brothers in Rome. After a short period of manual labor by day and piano practice by night, financial support from the Christian Brothers enabled Yifrashewa to return to Sofia to complete his studies. He is quoted as saying:

"The brothers saved me and made me what I am today as I possibly would have ended up being somebody else," he notes. He then completed his education at the Conservatory in good standing. "His performance radiates a pure and rich mentality, a precious balance between the emotional and the rational... He manages to perfect his instrumentalist skills to a degree that permitted him to play with ease compositions requiring virtuoso technique," testified Atanas Kourtev, the professor under whose tutelage Girma perfected his skills.

We learn from Yifrashewa's bio that additional studies in piano were made possible by the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom:

“Girma was privileged to have received scholarships for short-term specialization courses from the British and German Governments, at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1997) and at the Hochschule fur Music Und Theater – Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – in Leipzig (1999), respectively.”

His teacher in Leipzig was Professor Helgcheide Schmidt. In his bio Girma also lists the professional positions he has held since completing his music studies:

“With regard to his work experience, on his return to Ethiopia in 1995, he took up a position with the Yared School of Music as a piano teacher where he worked until 2001. He was also working at the Sheraton Addis as a Pianist for one year (2000-2001). Now Girma is involved in his private work to promote Ethiopian and Classical Music throughout the continent and beyond. On his spare time, he also gives private piano lessons to students of different age groups.”

In his bio, Girma notes his first CD was the classical release called The Shepherd with the Flute (2001). It was followed by a popular music recording, Meleya Keleme (2003). His most recent CD is the classical disc Elilta (2006). The Addis Tribune article recounts that the actual recording of the 2001 CD had been done nearly two years earlier, at the Bavaria Studio in Munich, Germany. Two days were required for the recording, which was supported by the Germany Embassy. The article notes with pride:

“In light of dreams coming true, this CD production of classical music has therefore, become the first of its kind ever to be published by an Ethiopian.”

The Shepherd with the flute includes works of Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Mozart and Schumann, as well as a new work by the pianist himself. It is called The Shepherd Flutist (7:14) and is based on The Shepherd with the Flute, a composition of Ashenafi Kebede (1938-1998), an Ethiopian composer who was a Professor of Music at Florida State University. The liner notes for Elilta tell of an important commemorative concert at which the pianist performed:

“In 2005, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 100th Anniversary of the commencement of Ethio-German diplomatic relations, Girma was given the unique opportunity to perform with the German Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 2 and Ethiopian music (Girma's own compositions.) The concert was highly praised both in Germany (Leipzig and Berlin) and Addis Ababa.”

The CD Elilta, released in 2006, begins with four works for solo piano: Elilta (7:06), Ambassel (9:40) Chewata (9:31) and Sememen (9:50). The liner notes explain the first work:

“Elilta is the vocal custom by which Ethiopians express their deepest joy. It is usually used during happy occasions like weddings and other joyous social events. It is also widely used during church festivities. Elilta, in this album, is an amalgamation of popular Ethiopian wedding songs and Girma's personal interpretation of this unique sound on the piano.”

My Strong Will (7:32) is a work for quartet. The performers are: Girma Yifrashewa, piano; Doroteya Dimitrova, violin; Lyubomir Nikov, cello; and Mikhail Zhivkov, clarinet. Ventsi Mitsov orchestrated the final work, The Shepherd with the Flute (8:50). It is performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Dian Tchobanov,Conductor, and is dedicated to the late Ethiopian composer and Professor Ashenafi Kebede.

During his unprecedented first concert tour of 11 countries in Africa in February and March, 2002, the young Ethiopian pianist received a favorable critique from The Herald newspaper in Harare, Zimbabwe:

“Girma successfully explores lyric music with a marked taste for romantic and impressionist repertoires.

Recently, he received the Phoenix Prize given in honour of artists contributing to the development of art in Ethiopia.”

With two classical CDs to his credit, a children's rights concert on Oct. 19 and another U.S. tour soon to be announced, Girma Yifrashewa celebrates his 40^th birthday at a high point in his career. He has a proven formula of introducing Western classical music to listeners in Africa, while employing traditional Ethiopian musical elements in Western classical forms. His latest CD runs the gamut of those forms from solo piano to quartet and on to orchestral music. We hope classical music listeners everywhere will explore what this cosmopolitan African classical composer and pianist has to offer when Elilta reaches the international market.

Global Voices: Trinidad and Tobago, Canada: Profiling Kwamé Ryan

AfriClassical is happy to report that Nicholas Laughlin of GlobalVoicesOnline.org has linked to our post on Kwamé Ryan, the Black Canadian conductor who is in his first season as Music Director of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, also known as Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine:

Trinidad and Tobago, Canada: Profiling Kwame Ryan; Friday, October 12^th, 2007 @ 04:04 UTC

AfriClassical offers a short profile of the Trinidadian classical conductor Kwame Ryan (who was born in Canada).

Global+Voices" rel="tag">Global Voices
Kwame+Ryan" rel="tag">Kwame Ryan
Kwamé+Ryan" rel="tag">Kwamé Ryan
Black+Conductor" rel="tag">Black Conductor
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
African+American" rel="tag">African American

Franco-American News & Events, 7: ...multicultural society...fact, not fiction.

[Le Mozart Noir: Music of / Musique de Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges; Tafelmusik Orchestra; Jeanne Lamon, conductor; CBC Records / Les disques SRC SMCD 5225 (2003)]

“Franco-American News & Events, 7” is: “A study via the media of the French on the North American continent and elsewhere.” The description and a post on multiculturalism by Editor Rhea Côté Robbins struck a chord with us. The post is followed by a Comment we posted on the blog.

“Thursday, October 11, 2007 ...multicultural society...fact, not fiction.

N.D.L.R.: ...always interesting to me to read what the other side is "thinking"...more like Lost in SPACE of their own cavity of thought...never been a multicultural society...er...what about the Native American tribes that were here already, as the greeting party, when the immigrants arrived?...history does not begin on this continent 400, or even 500 years ago...to say that is to put your head where the sun does not shine...sainte vache! And then there is the aspect of the many languages in the WORLD, never mind the fact that on the continent known as America...both of them for that matter...America does not = the U.S. corridor...ok. Like I said, I like to read, once in a while, the AM station thought process of the other side...like saying multi-cultural does not exist...makes it all go bye-bye...keyrice...diversity is a FACT of nature...or else we perish...

Wake up...and smell the varieties! Rhea Côté Robbins”

Comments: William J. Zick said...

An excellent example of French influence in the Americas, and the distinctive cultural contributions of African Americans is the composer, conductor and virtuoso violinist Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), who was born on a plantation on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. His music, his life and his status as France's finest fencer are discussed on his page at www.AfriClassical.com Saint-Georges was among the first composers of the string quartet and the symphony concertante in France. Dozens of CDs display his elegant works. He is only one of many people of African descent who have contributed to the classical genre. My website profiles 52 Black composers, conductors and instrumentalists, and gives over 100 audio examples of their music.

An active cultural ambassador for France is the Nigerian pianist Sodi Braide, recently profiled on my blog, http://africlassical.blogspot.com/
Sodi released a CD of solo piano works of César Franck on the Lyrinx label in March, and tours the world on behalf of France. The CD is sold on French music websites.

The Opéra National de Bordeaux has a new Musical Director this season, Kwamé Ryan, who is Black and was born in Canada. Kwamé's charisma has thrilled many patrons of his concerts.


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Franco-American+News" rel="tag">Franco-American News
Black+Conductor" rel="tag">Black Conductor
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
Black+Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music

Kwamé Ryan, Black Canadian Conductor in Bordeaux

(Note this post is being published a second time because of an error in the URL)

125 years ago today, on Oct. 11, 1882, a Black composer was born in Drummondville, Ontario, since incorporated into Niagara Falls. He left Canada with his family as a child, and settled in the United States. His name was R. Nathaniel Dett, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com

Kwamé Ryan is a Black conductor who was also born in Canada. His agent, HarrisonParrott, summarizes his youth and career:

“Canadian born Kwamé Ryan grew up in Trinidad, where he received his first musical education. At the age of fourteen he attended boarding school in England where he studied conducting, piano, voice, and double bass, before moving on to study musicology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, and conducting with the conductor and composer Peter Eötvös.”

Beginning with the 2007-2008 season, Kwamé holds the post of Music Director for the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. Maestro Ryan was Music Director Designate for the orchestra in the 2006-2007 season, his agent relates, with responsibility for numerous presentations, including a staged production of Berlioz's La Mort de Cleopatre and Poulenc's La Voix Humaine with Mireille Delunsch in January 2007. HarrisonParrot continues:

“Recent highlights have included his English National Opera debut in autumn 2005, conducting Strauss' Salome, a highly acclaimed debut at the opening concert of the 2004 Edinburgh Festival where he conducted Honegger's Jeanne d'arc au bűcher and the world premiere of Pintscher's L'espace dernier at the Bastille in Paris in January 2005.”

Kwamé Ryan maintained a heavy schedule of North American appearances last season, we are told, and plans to continue to do so this season, the agent reports. On Dec. 11, 2006, Tim Page of The Washington Post reviewed Kwamé Ryan's performance as Guest Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra:

“The BSO's Concentrated Concert

By Tim Page
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 11, 2006; C01

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plays with such tenderness and welling musicality that it makes many other ensembles seem loud and muscle-bound. On Saturday morning, the BSO offered a brief, lovely program at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, under the direction of Kwame Ryan.

Ryan would seem to be a genuine find. He grew up in Trinidad, took most of his musical studies in England and has served in important positions at the Stuttgart State Opera and the Freiburg Opera in Germany. Most recently, he conducted the English National Opera and the opening concert of the Edinburgh Festival. He is particularly well suited to the Baltimore players, whom he conducts with affection and authority.

He was well-partnered on Saturday by the pianist Markus Groh, who calls to mind such great Germanic pianists of the past as Wilhelm Backhaus and Edwin Fischer with his attention to form and his strong technique, which, however, is never employed for the sake of mere massiveness.

From the beginning of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, Groh and Ryan seemed in full harmony. The pianist took firm authority in the opening Allegro Moderato (as opposed to the softer flow of the orchestral playing) and then there was a role reversal in the strange and marvelous second movement -- a musical dialogue where the orchestra is blunt and aggressive and the piano introspective and almost pleading. Finally, piano and orchestra exploded together joyfully, happy partners, in the concluding Rondo.”

For a more recent and more personal account of Maestro Ryan's conducting, we turn to a post entitled “College Essay in Retrospect” at the blog http://KatherinesMusings.blogspot.com/:

“Wednesday, September 12, 2007

My friends, I present to you the labor of 16 drafts and hours of breakdowns. It is my college essay. After drafting essays about conducting, directing, and even about my eyebrows as a metaphor for my personality and mannerisms, I sent in this sad little conglomeration of 500 words. So, for those curious, this is how I sold myself to nine schools in one page:

Diminuendo: The once-blazing house lights cool to a reverent blue. Subito piano: the volume of an excited audience crackles and diminishes abruptly. It’s a concerto—the conductor, the soloist—disguised as a Rachmaninov symphony. My neighbor precariously teeters on the edge of her seat and eventually leans over so far that her threatening elbows encroach on my personal space, and I’m fairly certain the gentleman to my right is sweating profusely although the current room temperature is approximately sixty degrees. It could have been the Mexican food he’d consumed for his dinner. It could be Rachmaninov (after all, I am no exception to this falderal—I am in tears within minutes). But I’m fairly certain it is Kwamé Ryan that is the root of our emotional turbulence. Never, in my extensive symphony-going career, have I witnessed a man snatch an audience so quickly or with such force. He is our conductor.

Ryan sends us into a rapturous maelstrom from exposition to recapitulation. He is unconventional. He conducts sans baton. He closes his eyes, barely consults the score, and sways with the music. My heartbeat unabashedly becomes dependent on each pulse of his wrist to the three-four rhapsody. As absurd as it may seem, this clean-cut man clad in a freshly-pressed tuxedo, is one of the most radical conductors of our time, and my most prevalent intrigue.”

Naxos.com gives the details of a DVD of an opera conducted by Kwamé Ryan in 2005. The composer is Karl Amadeus Hartmann, K.A.; the work is Simplicius Simplicissimus. Maestro Ryan conducts the Stuttgart State Opera Chorus and Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra. The DVD was released in 2007; the time is 85 minutes. Among the CDs recorded by Kwamé Ryan is Neither, opera in one act for soprano and orchestra; Morton Feldman, composer; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Col Legno (2000).

Kwamé+Ryan" rel="tag">Kwamé Ryan
Bordeaux+Orchestra" rel="tag">Bordeaux Orchestra
Black+Conductor" rel="tag">Black Conductor
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Black+Canadian" rel="tag">Black Canadian
African+American" rel="tag">African American

Kwamé Ryan, Black Canadian Conductor in Bordeaux

125 years ago today, on Oct. 11, 1882, a Black composer was born in Drummondville, Ontario, since incorporated into Niagara Falls. He left Canada with his family as a child, and settled in the United States. His name was R. Nathaniel Dett, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com

Kwamé Ryan is a Black conductor who was also born in Canada. His agent, HarrisonParrott, summarizes his youth and career:

“Canadian born Kwamé Ryan grew up in Trinidad, where he received his first musical education. At the age of fourteen he attended boarding school in England where he studied conducting, piano, voice, and double bass, before moving on to study musicology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, and conducting with the conductor and composer Peter Eötvös.”

Beginning with the 2007-2008 season, Kwamé holds the post of Music Director for the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. Maestro Ryan was Music Director Designate for the orchestra in the 2006-2007 season, his agent relates, with responsibility for numerous presentations, including a staged production of Berlioz's La Mort de Cleopatre and Poulenc's La Voix Humaine with Mireille Delunsch in January 2007. HarrisonParrot continues:

“Recent highlights have included his English National Opera debut in autumn 2005, conducting Strauss' Salome, a highly acclaimed debut at the opening concert of the 2004 Edinburgh Festival where he conducted Honegger's Jeanne d'arc au bűcher and the world premiere of Pintscher's L'espace dernier at the Bastille in Paris in January 2005.”

Kwamé Ryan maintained a heavy schedule of North American appearances last season, we are told, and plans to continue to do so this season, the agent reports. On Dec. 11, 2006, Tim Page of The Washington Post reviewed Kwamé Ryan's performance as Guest Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra:

“The BSO's Concentrated Concert

By Tim Page
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 11, 2006; C01

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plays with such tenderness and welling musicality that it makes many other ensembles seem loud and muscle-bound. On Saturday morning, the BSO offered a brief, lovely program at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, under the direction of Kwame Ryan.

Ryan would seem to be a genuine find. He grew up in Trinidad, took most of his musical studies in England and has served in important positions at the Stuttgart State Opera and the Freiburg Opera in Germany. Most recently, he conducted the English National Opera and the opening concert of the Edinburgh Festival. He is particularly well suited to the Baltimore players, whom he conducts with affection and authority.

He was well-partnered on Saturday by the pianist Markus Groh, who calls to mind such great Germanic pianists of the past as Wilhelm Backhaus and Edwin Fischer with his attention to form and his strong technique, which, however, is never employed for the sake of mere massiveness.

From the beginning of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, Groh and Ryan seemed in full harmony. The pianist took firm authority in the opening Allegro Moderato (as opposed to the softer flow of the orchestral playing) and then there was a role reversal in the strange and marvelous second movement -- a musical dialogue where the orchestra is blunt and aggressive and the piano introspective and almost pleading. Finally, piano and orchestra exploded together joyfully, happy partners, in the concluding Rondo.”

For a more recent and more personal account of Maestro Ryan's conducting, we turn to a post entitled “College Essay in Retrospect” at the blog http://KatherinesMusings.blogspot.com/:

“Wednesday, September 12, 2007

My friends, I present to you the labor of 16 drafts and hours of breakdowns. It is my college essay. After drafting essays about conducting, directing, and even about my eyebrows as a metaphor for my personality and mannerisms, I sent in this sad little conglomeration of 500 words. So, for those curious, this is how I sold myself to nine schools in one page:

Diminuendo: The once-blazing house lights cool to a reverent blue. Subito piano: the volume of an excited audience crackles and diminishes abruptly. It’s a concerto—the conductor, the soloist—disguised as a Rachmaninov symphony. My neighbor precariously teeters on the edge of her seat and eventually leans over so far that her threatening elbows encroach on my personal space, and I’m fairly certain the gentleman to my right is sweating profusely although the current room temperature is approximately sixty degrees. It could have been the Mexican food he’d consumed for his dinner. It could be Rachmaninov (after all, I am no exception to this falderal—I am in tears within minutes). But I’m fairly certain it is Kwamé Ryan that is the root of our emotional turbulence. Never, in my extensive symphony-going career, have I witnessed a man snatch an audience so quickly or with such force. He is our conductor.

Ryan sends us into a rapturous maelstrom from exposition to recapitulation. He is unconventional. He conducts sans baton. He closes his eyes, barely consults the score, and sways with the music. My heartbeat unabashedly becomes dependent on each pulse of his wrist to the three-four rhapsody. As absurd as it may seem, this clean-cut man clad in a freshly-pressed tuxedo, is one of the most radical conductors of our time, and my most prevalent intrigue.”

Naxos.com gives the details of a DVD of an opera conducted by Kwamé Ryan in 2005. The composer is Karl Amadeus Hartmann, K.A.; the work is Simplicius Simplicissimus. Maestro Ryan conducts the Stuttgart State Opera Chorus and Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra. The DVD was released in 2007; the time is 85 minutes. Among the CDs recorded by Kwamé Ryan is Neither, opera in one act for soprano and orchestra; Morton Feldman, composer; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Col Legno (2000).

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African+American" rel="tag">African American

T. J. Anderson, African American Composer (b.1928)

(Photo of T. J. Anderson used by permission of the composer)

This biography of T. J. Anderson has been compiled by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. Prof. De Lerma is the prior Director of the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago. He has researched and written on Black classical composers for four decades. T. J. Anderson is a member of the American Composers Alliance, whose website devotes a page to his compositions. The composer's own website is http://www2.emji.net/tjanderson/index.html The Works page contains a chronological list of his compositions.

Popularly known as T. J. Anderson, Thomas Jefferson Anderson, Jr. was born in Coatesville PA in 1928, but grew up in Washington DC where, at age five, he began the study of piano with his mother, a professional musician and daughter of a Methodist minister. His father was professor of education at Howard University. Later he took up the violin and the trumpet as a student in junior high school (and subsequently the horn and double bass). He attended the public schools there, in Cincinnati, and his hometown. During his high school years, he had his own jazz ensemble. In 1950 he earned his B.M. degree at West Virginia State College. In these years, he toured during vacations with Tate Wilburn’s Jazz Orchestra while living in Cincinnati with his grandmother. While in North Carolina he was active with his own trio, playing the trumpet, joined by Dannie Richmond on drums and Jackie McLean on saxophone. He acquired his M.M.E. degree in 1951 at Pennsylvania State University where he was a student of George Ceiga. It was during this time he became active in non-jazz composition. From then until 1954, he taught school in High Point NC, spending the summer of 1954 studying with T. Scott Huston at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He joined the faculty of West Virginia State College in 1955 for one year, moving then to the University of Iowa for his Ph.D. (1958), a student there of Philip Bezanson and Richard Hervig. The year after graduating he published his first work, Introduction and Allegro (ACA, 1959). His next faculty appointment was at Langston University in Oklahoma (1958-1963), where he chaired the music department. His summer of 1964 was at the Aspen School of Music where he studied with Darius Milhaud, following this with an appointment at Tennessee State University (1963-1969). In 1969, he was engaged as composer-in-residence with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to 1971, and remained in Atlanta one additional year as Danforth Visiting Professor at Morehouse College. In 1972, he joined the faculty of Tufts University, where he became the music department chairman in 1980 and holder of the Austin Fletcher Professor of Music Chair from 1978. He was guest conductor of the Boston Pops in 1976, 1977 and 2007, of Oklahoma Arts Institute Orchestra at Quartz OK (1984), and the original conductor of the Black Music Repertory Ensemble (1988). He retired in 1990 and moved to Chapel Hill NC. He has later been Hill Distinguished Professor at the University of Minnesota (1990), Distinguished Visiting Professor at California State University-Chico (1991), Composer-in-Residence at Northwestern University (1992, 1997), Visiting King/Chavez/Parks Professor at the University of Michigan (1993), Composer-in-Residence at Ohio State University (1994), Composer-in-Residence, Berklee School of Music, 2007, and as a Fellow of the National Humanities Center (1996-1997).

He has held fellowships and grants from the MacDowell Colony (summers of 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1968, and Norlin/MacDowell Fellow in 1983). the Copley Foundation and the Fromm Foundation (both in 1964, with Fromm Foundation Award in 1971), the Rockefeller Foundation (1968), the Yaddo Foundation (1970, 1971, 1974, 1977), the Rockefeller Center Foundation Grant (1969, 1971, 1972) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1976). In 1977 he was named an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was given the Distinguished Achievement Award from the National Association of Negro Musicians at their 60^th annual convention in St. Louis in 1979. In commemoration of his 50^th birthday, special concerts were held in Cambridge MA at the Longy School of Music (1979) and in Chicago at the studio of sculptor Richard Hunt (1978). Videmus, under the guidance of its founder, Vivian Taylor, presented a 60^th Birthday concert, conducted by Olly Wilson, at Harvard University in 1989. The One-Hundredth Year Celebration Concert at Tufts University honored him in 1995. The National Black Music Caucus of the Music Educators National Convention provided him with the Leadership Award in 1980 at their Miami meeting. Other awards and honors include being named an Alumni Fellow of Pennsylvania State University (1982), Senior Faculty Citation for Outstanding service, from Tufts University (1983), Scholar-in-Residence at Bellagio 1984, 1994), Lillian Leibner Award for Distinguished Teaching and Advising from Tufts University (1985), a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1988-1989). The IBM-Michael Stillman Fellowship in Music, from the Dierassi Foundation (1988), Artistic Residency at the Escola da Música, Universidade da Bahia, a Fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (Sweet Briar VA, 1989), the Achievement Award at Atlanta’s First All-Black Symphony and Chorus (1990), Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Arts and Architecture of Pennsylvania State University (1990), Sterling Patron of Phi Mu Epsilon (1990), and the Mary Hudson Onley Award from Boston’s Hall of Black Achievement (1991). A concert of his music was offered at the 25^th Anniversary Conference of the National Black Music Caucus, now the National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music (NASPAAM) of which he was the first president, in Atlanta in 1997.

He holds honorary doctorates from the College of Holy Cross (D.M.A., 1983), West Virginia State College (D.M., 1984), Bridgewater State College (D.M., 1991), St. Augustine’s College (D.M., 1996), and Northwestern University (D.F.A., 2002), Bates College (D.M., 2005) and Tufts University (D.M., 2007). He is married to Lois Anderson, librarian and genealogist.

Selected Recordings:

Intermezzi (6:50); A City Called Heaven; Thamyris; Tania Leon, conductor; Aca Digital (2003)

Cabaret Songs (7) (24:33); It Won't Be The Same River; Mallarme Chamber Players; Capstone (2001)

Chamber Concerto “Remembrances” (17:04); New American Scene II; Cleveland Chamber Symphony; Edwin London, conductor; Albany Records (1999)

Intermezzi (7:53); Works By T.J. Anderson, David Baker, Donal Fox, Olly Wilson; Vivian Taylor, piano; Eric Thomas, clarinet; J. Michael Leonard, tenor recorder; Videmus (1994)

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classical+music" rel="tag">Classical music
Music+Professor" rel="tag">Music Professor
Black+Conductor" rel="tag">Black Conductor

R. Nathaniel Dett, African American Composer Born Oct. 11, 1882

(The Nathaniel Dett Chorale and Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Founder and Conductor)

Thursday, Oct. 11 is the birthday of R. Nathaniel Dett, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com
Audio Samples of his music include: Listen to the Lambs sung by the VocalEssence Ensemble, Philip Brunelle, conductor; and Juba Dance played by the African American pianist Dr. William H. Chapman Nyaho, who is profiled at our website and at his own site, Nyaho.com

The Chattanooga Choral Society offers a series of events and programs to celebrate the 125^th Anniversary of the Birth of Robert Nathaniel Dett, a most successful African American composer, pianist, conductor and educator. He is, perhaps, best known for his use of spirituals and idiomatic melodies and rhythms in composition. Dett was born, October 11, 1882, in Dummondville, Ontario, a termination point of the Underground Railroad, now part of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Dett taught at Sam Houston College (TX), Lincoln University (MO), Lane College (TN), Bennett College (NC), and Hampton Institute (VA) where he founded the school of music and conducted it’s famed choirs. Among his best known works are the anthem Listen to the Lambs and Juba Dance, from In the Bottoms, a suite for piano.

The Celebration of American Music begins with A Conversation with Elizabeth Houston. Ms. Houston is a Bennet College alumna who participated in the choir under the direction of Dr. Dett. She will chat with students in Patten Chapel on the campus of the University of TN at Chattanooga. Leon Bates will be guest of honor for a reception hosted by the Society on Wednesday evening October 10. Leon Bates will be guest artist for the Chattanooga Symphony opening subscription concerts, October 11-12. He will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Ellington’s New Word A-Coming on the program of American Music offered by the symphony and Maestro Robert Bernhardt.

On October 11, concert pianist Charles Pettaway, Jr. will perform and lecture on piano music of American composers which will include a performance of Nathaniel Dett’s In the Bottoms Suite. The lecture/performance will be held in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall on the UTC Campus at 1:40 PM.

The University Women’s and Men’s Choruses and the Chamber Singers will join the Chattanooga Choral Society and special guest chorus, The Wendell P. Whalum Community Chorus from Atlanta, in a program of Dett’s Choral music on Friday evening, October 12 at 8:00 PM. This concert is also in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall.

The celebration continues at 7:00 PM on November 1, with a lecture/performance in Bessie Smith Hall. Marilyn Thompson, soprano, with Roland Carter at the piano, will perform solo vocal music of Dett. The celebration culminates with a concert by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale of Toronto, on November 3, at the First Baptist Church – Golden Gateway, 5:00 PM. The celebration has been made possible by an agreement with the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the National Endowment of the Arts, and the Southern Arts Federation with additional funding provided by the Lyndhurst Foundation and the UTC Holmberg Professorship of American Music. For additional information, please call 423-266-7738 or visit the Society’s web page at www.ccspaas.org

125th+Anniversary" rel="tag">125th Anniversary
Dett+birthday" rel="tag">Dett birthday
African+American" rel="tag">African American
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Dett+Chorale" rel="tag">Dett Chorale

Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale honors the legacy of R. Nathaniel Dett, an African American composer, pianist and choral director who is profiled at AfriClassical.com He was born Oct. 11, 1882. We recently wrote about the 125th Anniversary Celebration and American Music Festival at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Wednesday, Oct. 10 to Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007. Today we present the bio of Brainerd Blyden-Taylor:

Brainerd Blyden-Taylor is the Founder, Artistic Director and conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada's first professional chamber choir dedicated to the creation and performance of Afrocentric music of all styles. Born in Trinidad & Tobago, Mr. Blyden-Taylor immigrated to Canada in 1973. He founded The Chorale in 1998, in response to a musical void in Canada; there had never before been a professional ensemble dedicated to the dissemination of Afrocentric choral music. The response that The Chorale has received in Canada and the United States since its inception has certainly given credence to Mr. Blyden-Taylor's vision.

Mr. Blyden-Taylor works frequently as a guest conductor, having appeared with organizations such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Nova Scotia Youth Choir, Ontario Youth Choir and the New Brunswick Choral Federation Youth Sing. He has recently completed a 25-year tenure with The Orpheus Choir of Toronto, and he has also worked as a conductor, artistic director and artistic advisor for the Nova Scotia Mass Choir and the Algoma Festival Choir.

Mr. Blyden-Taylor is currently a member of the teaching staff at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. He is also a Master Teacher with the Toronto Board of Education, coaching teachers and students in conducting and choral technique. In constant demand as a Clinician, Adjudicator and Lecturer, engagements this season include the Conference on Black Musics in Canada - York University, Toronto; Canadian Rocky Mountain Festival - Banff, Alberta; Tempo 2003 Manitoba Music Conference; Minister's Conference & Organist and Choir Director's Guild Workshop - Hampton University, Virginia; Festival 500, Newfoundland; Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival; National Association of Negro Musicians Conference - Detroit, Michigan; and Manitoba Choirfest.

In addition Mr. Blyden-Taylor is an active church musician, serving currently as Music Director of St. Timothy's Anglican Church, North Toronto.

Brainerd+Blyden-Taylor" rel="tag">Brainerd Blyden-Taylor
Trinidad+Tobago" rel="tag">Trinidad Tobago
guest+conductor" rel="tag">guest conductor
Afrocentric+music" rel="tag">Afrocentric music
Black+Conductor" rel="tag">Black Conductor
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music

Reader : 'Drawing Reeks of Disdain and Contempt'

A reader has submitted a comment on minstrelsy by E-mail:

I totally agree with you, Bill. The insidiousness of racial parody and stereotypes does a special type of violence that picks up where the lynch rope ends. It is a blow to a person's innate dignity as a human being and his intelligence as a divine creation.

Beyond the violence, the bloodshed, the almost Biblical excesses of the Civil War, the religious justifications for enslavement, parody and minstrelsy are like a Pleistocenic bacteria that combines hatred and racism into an acceptable marriage.

The drawing reeks of disdain and contempt. The upshot of this depiction is that, no matter what else a Black man achieves, he cannot shed his primordially clownish nature.

I will certainly disperse the link.

Best wishes,
E.D.

racial+parody" rel="tag">racial parody
racial+contempt" rel="tag">racial contempt
Black+achievement" rel="tag">Black achievement
demeaning+depiction" rel="tag">demeaning depiction


Minstrelsy, Racist To Its Core, Is Morally Repugnant

(Correction: Fellow blogger Terry Howcott, of http://terryhowcott.com/, has pointed out a significant error in the first post.)

Two recent posts on Eddie Campbell's blog, The Fate of The Artist have sparked renewed interest in the Calliope cover art of the Afro-French composer Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), who is profiled at great length at AfriClassical.com Six comments have been posted, and the links to my posts have been followed more than 200 times. The CD in question is Monsieur de Saint-George: 4 Concertos pour violon, Calliope 9373 (2007), released in June. On Oct. 2 Eddie Campbell showed the cover art from the CD he had just purchased to add to his collection of Saint-Georges, summarized the revival of interest in the composer, and ended with the observation:

“Getting a comic strip artist to draw the cover of the Cd booklet strikes me as an odd move.”

On Oct. 4 the blog had a post entitled “polka dots or not.” It linked to my July 20 post on the cover art, and to the July 26 post which included a reply made on behalf of the record label, with my rebuttal. I am grateful for the renewed interest in the issue. However, I must respond to the persons who posted comments rejecting my concerns about references which recall the racist imagery of minstrelsy. Someone has aptly described minstrelsy as “racist to its core”. In both the U.S. and the U.K., minstrelsy was wildly popular among certain White people from the early 19^th century to the early 20^th century. It was a form of entertainment which reveled in fantasies of White superiority and African American inferiority. An excellent overview of the style is found in the PBS website for the program American Experience:

“Blackface Minstrelsy
Learn more about the history and legacy of the blackface minstrel show in these excerpts of interviews with historians Dale Cockrell, Eric Lott, Deane Root, Fath Ruffins, and Josephine Wright, writers Ken Emerson and Mel Watkins, and performers Nanci Griffith and Thomas Hampson.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/sfeature/sf_minstrelsy.html

Here is writer Mel Watkins answering the question “How were the minstrel shows racist?”

Mel Watkins:
Minstrelsy is much under-rated historically in terms of its influence on American society. [Consider] the stereotype of Uncle Tom, for instance, the black man who is without backbone and who is really the white man's black man. That characterization of Uncle Tom did not come from the book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. It came from the images portrayed in minstrelsy. In the book Uncle Tom was relatively intelligent, although not educated, and an example of Christian morality, in one sense. On stage in the minstrel show he became the shuffling toady. He became the sniveling black man who was really a coward and was ignorant and somewhat comical in his connection to the slave masters. So that image came totally from minstrelsy, and if we could go down the line and point out other ways in which those images pervaded the society at that time, those were the images, that was the sense of what black people were like. I think it becomes much clearer when one looks at black minstrelsy again because when black minstrels started to take to the stage, they were advertised as the real thing. In fact, one group was called "The Real Nigs." And this was -- they were advertised as "Come to the theatre and get a real look into what plantation life was like." So this was not advertised as a stage show. It was advertised as a peephole view of what black people were really like. To that extent, it affected all of society because those people who didn't know blacks, and there were many places where there were very few blacks, assumed that those characterizations, those depictions, those foolish characters on stage, were real black people. And so it had an immense effect on the way mainstream society thought about blacks. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/sfeature/sf_minstrelsy_5.html

The Arion CD 68093 (1990) uses the portrait made by the American painter Mather Brown, done in London in 1787. My concerns about references which reminded me of minstrelsy were shared by many others, including several who also wrote to Calliope or its U.S. Distributor, Harmonia Mundi USA. We must not compound the racist legacy of minstrelsy by allowing ourselves to forget what it was.



racial+inferiority" rel="tag">racial inferiority
White+superiority" rel="tag">White superiority
demeaning+stereotypes" rel="tag">demeaning stereotypes
Uncle+Tom" rel="tag">Uncle Tom
minstrel+shows" rel="tag">minstrel shows
morally+repugnant" rel="tag">morally repugnant

Minstrelsy, Racist To Its Core, Is Morally Repugnant

Two recent posts on Eddie Campbell's blog, The Fate of The Artist have sparked renewed interest in the Calliope cover art of the Afro-French composer Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), who is profiled at great length at AfriClassical.com Six comments have been posted, and the links to my posts have been followed more than 200 times. The CD in question is Monsieur de Saint-George: 4 Concertos pour violon, Calliope 9373 (2007), released in June. On Oct. 2 Eddie Campbell showed the cover art from the CD he had just purchased to add to his collection of Saint-Georges, summarized the revival of interest in the composer, and ended with the observation:

“Getting a comic strip artist to draw the cover of the Cd booklet strikes me as an odd move.”

On Oct. 4 the blog had a post entitled “polka dots or not.” It linked to my July 20 post on the cover art, and to the July 26 post which included a reply made on behalf of the record label, with my rebuttal. I am grateful for the renewed interest in the issue. However, I must respond to the persons who posted comments rejecting my concerns about references which recall the racist imagery of minstrelsy. Someone has aptly described minstrelsy as “racist to its core”. In both the U.S. and the U.K., racism was wildly popular among certain White people from the early 19^th century to the early 20^th century. It was a form of entertainment which reveled in fantasies of White superiority and African American inferiority. An excellent overview of the style is found in the PBS website for the program American Experience:

“Blackface Minstrelsy
Learn more about the history and legacy of the blackface minstrel show in these excerpts of interviews with historians Dale Cockrell, Eric Lott, Deane Root, Fath Ruffins, and Josephine Wright, writers Ken Emerson and Mel Watkins, and performers Nanci Griffith and Thomas Hampson.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/sfeature/sf_minstrelsy.html

Here is writer Mel Watkins answering the question “How were the minstrel shows racist?”

Mel Watkins:
Minstrelsy is much under-rated historically in terms of its influence on American society. [Consider] the stereotype of Uncle Tom, for instance, the black man who is without backbone and who is really the white man's black man. That characterization of Uncle Tom did not come from the book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. It came from the images portrayed in minstrelsy. In the book Uncle Tom was relatively intelligent, although not educated, and an example of Christian morality, in one sense. On stage in the minstrel show he became the shuffling toady. He became the sniveling black man who was really a coward and was ignorant and somewhat comical in his connection to the slave masters. So that image came totally from minstrelsy, and if we could go down the line and point out other ways in which those images pervaded the society at that time, those were the images, that was the sense of what black people were like. I think it becomes much clearer when one looks at black minstrelsy again because when black minstrels started to take to the stage, they were advertised as the real thing. In fact, one group was called "The Real Nigs." And this was -- they were advertised as "Come to the theatre and get a real look into what plantation life was like." So this was not advertised as a stage show. It was advertised as a peephole view of what black people were really like. To that extent, it affected all of society because those people who didn't know blacks, and there were many places where there were very few blacks, assumed that those characterizations, those depictions, those foolish characters on stage, were real black people. And so it had an immense effect on the way mainstream society thought about blacks. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/sfeature/sf_minstrelsy_5.html

The Arion CD 68093 (1990) uses the portrait made by the American painter Mather Brown, done in London in 1787. My concerns about references which reminded me of minstrelsy were shared by many others, including several who also wrote to Calliope or its U.S. Distributor, Harmonia Mundi USA. We must not compound the racist legacy of minstrelsy by allowing ourselves to forget what it was.

Blackface Minstrelsy
racist caricature
Black Composer
>African Descent
African American
racist minstrelsy

Sphinx Organization Seeks Director of Education & Youth Development

[Melissa White, 2001 1st place Jr. Division Laureate of the Sphinx Competition, performs as guest artist with the Sphinx Symphony, led by guest conductor Kay George Roberts]

The Sphinx Organization, whose mission is “Building Diversity in Classical Music”, announces a job posting for Director of Education & Youth Development:

The Sphinx Organization seeks qualified candidates for its Director of Education & Youth Development. School outreach and arts education programs are core responsibilities to this position. Successful candidate will be comfortable managing details while operating at a rapid pace. The position demands expertise with both computers and people while offering the satisfaction of helping youths and promoting diversity in classical music. If you enjoy challenge, a broad scope of responsibilities and the opportunity to play a critical role in an organization that offers relationships of mutual respect, please fax resume and salary requirements to 313-887-0164 or e-mail to julie@sphinxmusic.org

Sphinx+Organization" rel="tag">Sphinx Organization
promoting+diversity" rel="tag">promoting diversity
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music
Education+Director" rel="tag">Education Director
Black+Musicians" rel="tag">Black Musicians
Latino+Musicians" rel="tag">Latino Musicians

The Sowetan Nation Building Massed Choir Festival

Aggrey Klaaste, Late Founder of the Sowetan Nation Building Massed Choir Festival

THE SOWETAN NATION BUILDING MASSED CHOIR FESTIVAL

by Mokale Koapeng (Choirs from outside South Africa are invited to be part of the celebration.)

The first Massed Choir Festival was held in Johannesburg in 1989. It was a period when South Africa was engulfed in escalating political violence.

The late Aggrey Klaaste, the then editor of the ‘Sowetan’ newspaper, looked for ways to alleviate the situation and foster reconciliation. Community singing was seen as a rallying point for reconciliation. Since then, The Nation Building Massed Choir Festival became a beacon of hope and a symbol for social reconstruction.

The festival has since served as a springboard for young singers. Singers like Sibongile Khumalo, Sibongile Mngoma, Raphael Vilakazi, Given Mabena and Agos Moahi of the famous AfroTenors have been part of the festival.

The massed choir is made up of 1000 voices and an eighty piece orchestra. Every year 4 soloists are auditioned and given the opportunity to display their talent in front of more than 3500 people and to be watched by millions on national television.

When the festival started, Mzilikazi Khumalo and Richard Cock were music directors. On their retirement, Mokale Koapeng and Lududmo Magangane took over as music directors.

The music performed at the festival includes compositions by major South African composers. Choral compositions by Mzilikazi Khumalo, Phelelani Mnomiya, Michael Moerane, Joseph Mohapeloa and many more have been sung in the festival. Arrangements of traditional music and extracts from major choral works by Western composers are also included in the programme.

The management committee of the festival plans to make the 20^th edition of this august festival a memorable one. Choirs from outside South Africa are invited to be part of the celebration.

[Editor's Note: Mzilikazi Khumalo and Michael Moerane are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Sowetan+Festival" rel="tag">Sowetan Festival
Nation+Building" rel="tag">Nation Building
South+Africa" rel="tag">South Africa
Aggrey+Klaaste" rel="tag">Aggrey Klaaste
Mokale+Koapeng" rel="tag">Mokale Koapeng
African+Composers" rel="tag">African Composers

Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Premier Performer of Afrocentric Choral Music

[Carry Me Home: The Story & Music of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale; DVD, Marquis Music (2005)]

The African American composer and choral director R. Nathaniel Dett, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com, was born Oct. 11, 1882. His rich legacy will be the focus of the Robert Nathaniel Dett 125^th Anniversary Celebration and American Music Festival at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Wednesday, Oct. 10 to Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007. We are honored to feature the resume of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, the Toronto vocal ensemble founded in his honor:

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale
One of the foremost professional choral groups dedicated to Afrocentric music of all styles. These 21 classically trained, outstanding vocalists have shared the stage with internationally recognized artists such as Juno Award-winning jazz pianist Joe Sealy; opera star Kathleen Battle and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; the Signal Hill Alumni Choir of Tobago, West Indies, and the Concert Choir of Hampton University, Virginia. The Chorale has also performed at events honouring world leaders Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Muhammad Ali. These multifaceted vocalists, whose talent stretches beyond the traditional expectations of a classical chamber choir, seek to broaden their vision to include all styles and genres of music, from classical to jazz, folk, blues and popular music as appropriate to the traditions of the African Diaspora. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s vision is to build bridges of understanding, appreciation, and acceptance between communities of people, both Afrocentric and other, through the medium of music. The Chorale seeks to dissolve the barriers of stereotype, to empower humans in general, and those of African descent in particular. The Chorale’s mission is to be a premier performer of Afrocentric composers — past, present and future — and to be a touchstone for the education of audiences and communities regarding the full spectrum of Afrocentric choral music. Founder Brainerd Blyden-Taylor named The Chorale after internationally renowned African-Canadian composer R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943), who performed at prestigious concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and Boston Symphony Hall. Blyden-Taylor established The Chorale to draw attention not only to Dett’s legacy, but also to the wealth of Afrocentric choral music. Since its inception in 1998, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale has honoured the memory of its namesake, performing a jubilant and uplifting repertoire extensively around the world. In November 2002, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale proudly released its first CD, Listen to the Lambs, an historic first commercial recording of choral works of R. Nathaniel Dett. February 2003 saw the release of Gemini Award Winning Carry Me Home: The Story & Music of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, a documentary celebrating this unique ensemble and their place in Canada’s musical spectrum which, along with a concert film based on The Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s An Indigo Christmas concert, were released on DVD in 2004. A live CD of An Indigo Christmas was previously released in 2003. In addition to their own concert series at the Toronto Center for the Arts, during the 2006-2007 season the Choral performed at the Algoma Festival in Sault-Saint Marie Ontario and in the United States at Calvin College, The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul Detroit, Central Michigan University, Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist Cleveland, Saint Bart’s New York, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The University of Michigan, Bucknell University, Albion College, Howard University and The Library of Congress in Washington DC.

Nathaniel+Dett" rel="tag">Nathaniel Dett
Dett+Chorale" rel="tag">Dett Chorale
Brainerd+Blyden-Taylor" rel="tag">Brainerd Blyden-Taylor
Afrocentric+songs" rel="tag">Afrocentric songs
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
Classical+Music" rel="tag">Classical Music

Robert Nathaniel Dett 125th Anniversary Celebration and American Music Festival

[Listen to the Lambs: The Music of R. Nathaniel Dett; Nathaniel Dett Chorale; Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Artistic Director; Marquis Classics / EMI Music Canada CDC 81293-2]

Beginning Oct. 10, 2007, Chattanooga, Tennessee will be the scene of a series of musical programs celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the birth of R. (Robert) Nathaniel Dett, as well as an American Music Festival. R. Nathaniel Dett was an African American composer, pianist and choral director, born in what is now Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Oct. 11, 1882. He moved to the U.S. with his family as a child.

Dett, who served as Choral Director at Hampton Institute from 1913-1932, is profiled at AfriClassical.com The 125th Anniversary Celebration and American Music Festival will take place at several venues from Wednesday, Oct. 10 – Saturday, Nov. 3. Among the performing ensembles will be one formed to carry on the choral legacy of R. Nathaniel Dett, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale of Toronto. The following information is from Reverberations, the Newsletter of The National Association of Negro Musicians, whose website is www.nanm.org:

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 5:30-6:30 P.M., Reception for Leon Bates, Pianist; Vilma Fields Atrium, Chattanooga African American Museum
Thursday, Oct. 11, 1:40 P.M., Lecture-Recital: In the Bottoms Suite (Dett); Charles Pettaway, Jr., Pianist; Roland Hayes Recital Hall, UT-Chattanooga
Thursday, Oct. 11, 8:00 P.M., Chattanooga Symphony American Music Concert; Robert Bernhard, Conductor; Leon Bates, Guest Pianist; Tivoli Theater
Friday, Oct. 12, 8:00 P.M., Dett Choral Festival; Roland Hayes Concert Hall, UTC; UTC Women's Chorus, Dr. Lee Harris, Conductor; UTC Chamber Singers, Dr. Kevin Ford, Conductor; UTC Men's Chorus and the Chattanooga Society for the Preservation of African American Song, Dr. Roland M. Carter, Conductor; Wendell P. Whalum Community Chorus (Atlanta, GA), Dr. David Morrow, Conductor; For further information, please call 423-266-7728
Thursday, Nov. 1, 7:00 P.M., Lecture-Recital: “Vocal Music of R. N. Dett”; Marilyn Thompson, Soprano; Bessie Smith Hall

Friday, Nov. 2, Nathaniel Dett Chorale (Toronto, Canada); High School Choral Clinic

Saturday, Nov. 3, 5:00 P.M., Festival Concert; Nathaniel Dett Chorale
(Toronto, Canada), Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Conductor; First Baptist Church
(Golden Gate)

Dett Chorale
Chattanooga Tennessee
Black Composer
Classical Music
African American
Brainerd Blyden-Taylor

French Language Post on AfriClassical

[Saint-George/Mozart Quatuors à cordes (String Quartets), Quatuor Antarès, Integral Classic 221.125 (2003)]

The post immediately prior to this one was a French version of the biographical essay on Samuel Ekpe Akpabot, who was born Oct. 3, 1932. To avoid any confusion, we would like to assure our regular readers and subscribers that the primary language of AfriClassical remains English. The website AfriClassical.com is bilingual, in English and French, because Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a major composer of African descent, was born on the French West Indies island of Guadeloupe, and because a large number of French-speaking people in Africa, Europe and the Americas are interested in Black classical composers and musicians.

French Language
African descent
Black Composer
Classical Music
bilingual website
English Language

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot : Compositeur nigérian né le 3 octobre 1932

[

[« Trois Danses Nigérianes » (8:34) ; Orchestre National Symphonique de la South African Broadcasting Corporation ; Direction : Richard Cock ; Marco Polo 8.223832 (1995)]

Héritage africain de la musique classique : AfriClassical.com

Daniel Marciano, Traducteur

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot est un compositeur africain, né à Uyo le 3 octobre 1932 dans l'état de Akwa Ibom au Nigéria. L'une des sources documentaires sur sa vie et sa carrière est Nigerian Art Music, un livre écrit par le Docteur Bode Omojola et publié dans 1995 par l'Institute of African Studies à Ibadan, University au Nigeria.
A l'âge de 11 ans, Akpabot arrive à Lagos pour ses études au King's College, une école à laquelle on se réfère souvent comme étant le
« Eton » du Nigéria et où l'on enseigne la musique européenne. C'ést toutefois essentiellement à l'Eglise que Samuel Akpabot découvre la musique européenne. Il fait partie du choeur à la Christ Cathedral Church à Lagos sous la direction de Phillips.

Pour illustrer le rôle de l'église pour initier Samuel aux chefs d'œuvre religieux européens, Omojola cite une conversation personnelle qu'il a eue avec Akpabot en janvier 1985 :
« Je les ai tous chantés avant d'aller en Angleterre et cela a représenté un avantage majeur pour moi. »

Parmi les œuvres qu'il a chantées à la chorale, on peut citer Le Messie de Haendel et Elijah de Mendelssohn. L'auteur rapporte que Mendelssohn a été le compositeur préféré d'Akpabot bien longtemps après bien que son influence fût rarement évidente dans les compositions d'Akpabot.
Omojola ajoute :
Tout en étant choriste, il trouve aussi le temps de jouer dans les orchestres, le plus populaire étant connu sous le nom de
« Chocolate Dandies », formé et dirigé par Soji Lijadu. En 1949, quand Akpabot renonce à chanter, sa voix s'étant cassée, et il crée sa propre orchestree, « The Akpabot Players », appelé communément T.A.P.

Parallèlement, tout en dirigeant un orchestre, il joue de l'orgue à St. Saviour's Church à Lagos. Il joue durant deux services de suite après avoir souvent passé une grande partie de la nuit du samedi à jouer de la musique dans des boîtes de nuit.

Akpabot obtient une bourse d'études et peut ainsi aller en Angleterre en 1954 et s'instruire au Royal College of Music de Londres. Il y étudie l'orgue et la trompette. Parmi ses professeurs, on peut citer John Addison, Osborn Pisgow et Herbert Howells.

En 1959, Akpabot retourne au Nigéria et devient journaliste de radio à la Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. Parallèlement, il écrit ses premières œuvres, influencées par la style « Highllife » de son pays, musique de danse mêlant des rythmes africains à des mélodies occidentales. Omojola ajoute :
Sa première composition, Nigeriana, pour orchestre (1959) est écrite à l'origine comme un exercice de composition pour John Addison, son professeur.
Après des modifications mineures, elle sera renommée Overture
for a Nigerian Ballet. Conçu selon la tradition de l'ouverture d'un concert européen au XIXe siècle, cette pièce se caractérise par des citations littérales et allusives de mélodies « Highlife » réunies d'une manière rhapsodique.

Akpabot cesse de travailler pour la radio en 1962 afin de prendre un poste à Nsukka, la nouvelle faculté de musique de l'Université du Nigeria. Omojola souligne que l'ambiance y est favorable à la composition :
L'Université, fondée la même année que celle de l'accession du pays à l'indépendance, est généralement considérée comme un symbole du Nigéria moderne indépendant.

On considère que c'est l'une des fondations les plus importantes pour affirmer une tradition artistique susceptible de refléter les aspirations du pays. Entre 1962 et 1967, Akpabot compose quatre œuvres qui reflètent pleinement le climat euphorique nationaliste de l'époque. Ces œuvres sont les suivantes : Scènes du Nigéria pour orchestre (1962) ; Trois Danses Nigérianes pour orchestre à cordes et percussions (1962) ; Ofala, un poème symphonique pour instruments à vents et cinq instruments africains (1963) ; et Les Lamentations de Cynthia, poème symphonique pour soliste, instruments à vents et six instruments africains (1965).

Les Lamentations de Cynthia est, selon Omojola, un poème symphonique dont il a révélé les sources d'une interview en janvier 1985 :

'Cynthia Avery a seize ans et c'est la fille du Vice-Président américain Blanc de l'American Symphony Orchestra d'instruments à vent de Pittsburgh chez qui j'ai vécu lors d'une visite en 1963 pour la première d'Ofala. Après la représentation, nous sommes allés au Conrad Hilton pour prendre une tasse de café avec M. Boudreau. Des serveurs particulièrement bornés évitèrent délibérément de nous servir. Mlle Avery et moi-même étions assis ensemble non loin des parents de la fille et de M. Boudreau, qui eux avaient été servis.
Cette attitude déprima tant Mlle Avery qu'elle s'emporta en se rendant au vestibule en sanglotant avant de dire : "Je ne sais pas ce qui arrive à mes compatriotes !"
Je décidais alors d'écrire un œuvre courte pour elle et lors ma commande suivante deux années plus tard, je composais Les Lamentations de Cynthia.'

Un poème symphonique ultérieur a pour titre Nigeria in Conflict, une composition de 1973 qui se rapporte à l'horrible guerre civile du pays. Omojola fait les remarques suivantes :
Akpabot est un compositeur nigérian qui a écrit presque entièrement pour l'orchestre. A la fin de la guerre civile en 1970, Akpabot obtient un poste de professeur-chercheur à l'Institut d'Etudes Africaines de l'Université d'Ife, appelé maintenant Obafemi Awolowo University, et les deux
œuvres qu'il a écrites là reflètent toujours cette touche nationaliste des œuvres d'avant-guerre. Ce sont Two Nigerian Folk Tunes pour choeur et piano, (1974) et Jaja of Opobo, un opéra folklorique, chanté et parlé en efik, en anglais et en Ibo (1972).

Cette pièce Trois Danses Nigérianes (8:34) a été enregistrée par le National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation sous la direction de Richard Cock, chef d'orchestre. Brett Pyper écrit dans ses notes de fin de page :
Plusieurs des compositions d'Akpabot mêlent des instruments africains et européens, tandi que d'autres comme, Trois Danses Nigerianes, n'utilisent que des instruments africains (des cordes et des timbales dans ce cas).

Brett Pyper explique qu'Akpabot interrompt sa carrière académique au Nigeria pour entreprendre des études ethno-musicologiques aux Etats-Unis :
Il poursuit ses études à l'Université de Chicago et à Michigan State University où il obtient un doctorat. Ses publications dans ce domaine lui valent une réputation d'érudit dans le domaine de la musique indigène d'Afrique de l'Ouest.
A l'Universite de Chicago, il obtient un diplôme de maîtrise de musicologie. Sa thèse de doctorat à Michigan State University a pour titre Musique Fonctionnelle du Peuple Ibibio du Nigéria.

Akpabot a aussi obtenu un poste de professeur associé de musique africaine à Michigan State University. Il continue d'écrire sur la musique nigériane et africaine en général. Il est retourné à l'Université d'Uyo dans les années 90 pour y enseigner la musique. Son livre Foundation of Nigerian Traditional Music a été publié en 1986 par Spectrum Ibadan. Il a également écrit un livre intitulé Form, Function and Style in African Music, publié en 1998 par MacMillan Nigeria Ibadan.

En évaluant le style qui caractérise les compositions d'Akpabot, Omojola établit des comparaisons avec les œuvres de deux autres compositeurs nigérians, Fela Sowande (1905-1987) et Akin Euba (né en 1935). Omojola conclut en ces termes :

Si on le compare au style de Sowande, celui de Samuel Akpabot
est relativement homogène. Toutes ces œuvres sont typiques avec une approche récurrente de musique à laquelle des éléments de « Highlife Music » s'intègrent à des éléments de culture traditionnelle Ibibio et de tradition européenne. Rejetant souvent l'expressionnisme, même le style avant-gardiste de Euba et l'héritage européen du XIXe siècle de Sowande, la forte dépendance d'Akpabot à la traditions Highlife et Ibibio est symptomatique d'une vision personnelle du rôle que les compositeurs nigérians et africains modernes devraient jouer dans la société.

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot est mort le 7 août 2000 à Uyo, Nigéria. Il était un conférencier à l'institut des études culturelles à l'Université d'Uyo quand il est mort. Tout comme son compatriote nigérian Fela Sowande, ce fut un compositeur accompli qui, de son vivant, n'a pu faire enregistrer que quelques unes de ses œuvres.

Samuel+Akpabot" rel="tag">Samuel Akpabot
Compositeur+nigérian" rel="tag">compositeur nigérian
Compositeur+africain" rel="tag">Compositeur africain
Musique+Classique" rel="tag">Musique Classique
Compositeur+Noir" rel="tag">Compositeur Noir
global+Highlife" rel="tag">Highlife

Pianist Roy Eaton Plays “7 Gershwin Preludes” On Roosevelt Island Oct. 6

[24/7+7: The Complete Preludes of Chopin, Gershwin & Still; Roy Eaton, piano; Summit (2002)]

New York City's Roosevelt Island, in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, celebrates its annual “Fall For Arts Festival” on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007. Information is available at the website www.rioc.com Artists, actors, singers, dancers and musicians who live on the island will give free performances at a series of indoor and outdoor events. A highlight of the day will be an evening concert by African American pianist Roy F. Eaton in the chapel of the Church of the Good Shepherd. Eaton says:

“I will be playing a short program featuring the 7 Gershwin Preludes at about 8 PM in the chapel. They've rented a beautiful Steinway B for me so the sound should be good.”

The pianist commented on the role of George Gershwin in the development of American music:

“Gershwin broke the categories that separate Classical, Jazz, Pop and Broadway in creating a unique musical sound heavily influenced by African-American roots. He was truly an American original.”

The pianist's website, www.RoyEaton.net, gives this overview of his career:

Roy Eaton, winner of the first Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award in June 1950, made his American debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Chopin's F minor Concerto under George Schick in 1951. He was re-engaged to perform Beethoven's 4th concerto the following season, and also made his New York Town Hall debut in 1952. His career was "temporarily" interrupted by 2 years of service in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict, then approximately 30 years in advertising at Young & Rubicam, then as V.P. Music Director of Benton & Bowles, then running his own production company. He is currently on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to Chopin, his performances of the music of Scott Joplin have been particularly noteworhy. "My mission has been to restore Joplin's works to the domain that it was his intention that they live--as classical works in the tradition of the great European masters that constituted an important inspirational resource for him."

One of Roy Eaton's recordings from the Sony Essential Classics series is featured at the Scott Joplin (1868-1917) page of AfriClassical.com: Piano Rags, Sony SBK 833 (1995). More recently, Eaton has also released Scott Joplin's Piano Rags, Sony SBK 89886 (2002).

In the same year, Eaton released 24/7+7: The Complete Preludes of Chopin, Gershwin & Still Summit (2002).

A February 2007 release is Keyboard Classics for Children, Summit on which Roy Eaton performs works of Bach, Mozart, Eaton, Debussy, Pinto, Schumann, Joplin and Golson. Amazon.com gives this description of the recording:

“Music inspired by the experience of childhood! Cover illustrations by Roy Eaton's sons, drawn when they were two years old. They have reopened the world of discovery for him, and this recording will do the same for parents and children everywhere. Eaton won his first piano competition in Carnegie Hall at the age of seven.”

Roy Eaton
Black Pianist
Gershwin Preludes
classical music
African American
Keyboard Classics

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot, Nigerian Composer Born Oct. 3, 1932

[Three Nigerian Dances [Audio Sample] (8:34); National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation; Richard Cock, conductor; Marco Polo 8.223832 (1995)]

October 3 is the anniversary of the birth of the Nigerian composer Samuel Ekpe Akpabot.

In the year before Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Nigerian composer Samuel Ekpe Akpabot and Cynthia Boudreau, the 16-year-old White woman with whom he was sitting, were denied service at the restaurant of the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh, on the basis of his race. The young woman expressed her outrage and fled the scene in tears. The incident was not an uncommon occurrence in the U.S. at the time, and would in most cases have passed unnoticed by the rest of the world. The composer resolved on the spot, however, to memorialize it, and later did so in a tone poem which came to be called Cynthia's Lament.

Samuel Ekpe Akpabot was born in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria on October 3, 1932. One of the principal documentary sources on his life and career is Nigerian Art Music, a book written by Olabode Omojola, Ph.D. and published in 1995 by the Institute of African Studies at Ibadan University in Nigeria. The author points out that Akpabot was the only Nigerian composer of his time whose works were almost exclusively orchestral.

Dr. Omojola writes of the composer's youth:

At the age of eleven he came to Lagos for his education at King's College, a school often referred to as the "Eton of Nigeria" and where European music was taught. It was, however, in the Church that Samuel Akpabot received the most significant introduction to European music. He was a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Lagos, under Phillips.

To illustrate the role of the church in teaching young Samuel about European religious masterpieces, Dr. Omojola quotes Akpabot from a personal conversation the two had in January 1985: “I sang all of them before going to England and that turned out to be a very great advantage.” Omojola continues:

“As well as being a chorister he also found time to play in bands, the most popular of which was the Chocolate Dandies, formed and led by Soji Lijadu. In 1949 when Akpabot left the choir, his voice having broken, he formed his own band, The Akpabot Players; T.A.P. as it was popularly called.”

At the same time as he led a band, Akpabot served as organist at St. Saviour's Church in Lagos, Olabode Omojola relates:

“I would come back very late in the night from night clubs and steal into the Bishop's court where I lived (with Bishop Vining, then, of Lagos) and the following morning go to play for both the Holy Communion Service and the Sunday Mattins!”

A scholarship enabled Akpabot to travel to England in 1954 and enroll in the Royal College of Music in London. There he studied organ and trumpet. His teachers included John Addison, Osborn Pisgow and Herbert Howells. Akpabot subsequently left to study music at Trinity College. In 1959 Akpabot returned to Nigeria and became a broadcaster with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. At the same time he produced his earliest compositions, which were influenced by his country's Highlife idiom. Dr. Omojola continues:

“His first work, Nigeriana, for orchestra (1959) was originally written as an exercise for his composition teacher, John Addison. After minor revisions it was later renamed Overture for a Nigerian Ballet. Conceived along the tradition of the nineteenth century European concert overture, the work is characterized by literal and allusive quotations of Highlife tunes strung together in a rhapsodic manner.”

Akpabot left his position in broadcasting in 1962 to join the fledgling music faculty of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Omojola describes the environment as favorable for composing:

“Between 1962 and 1967, Akpabot wrote four works which clearly reflected the prevailing nationalist euphoria of that time. The works are Scenes from Nigeria, for orchestra (1962); Three Nigerian Dances, for string orchestra and percussion (1962); Ofala, a tone poem for wind orchestra and five African instruments (1963); and Cynthia's Lament, tone poem for soloist, wind orchestra and six African instruments (1965).”

Dr. Omojola explains that Ofala and Cynthia's Lament were both commissioned by Robert Austin Boudreau, Director of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. He had visited Nigeria in 1962 at the invitation of the Nigerian Arts Council. The two works were premiered in Pittsburgh; Ofala in 1963 and Cynthia's Lament in 1965. The author discusses the African influence on each of the four works listed above:

“While Scenes from Nigeria and Three Nigerian Dances belong essentially to the same category as Overture for a Nigerian Ballet; Ofala and Cynthia's Lament reveal a greater emphasis on African (Ibibio) elements not only in the use of instruments but in the use of melodic and formal procedures.
...

Ofala, in 1972, won first prize in a competition for African composers organized by the Africa Centre of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); forty-one African countries were represented. The prize-winning work was a tone poem based on the annual 'yam eating festival' of the Onitsha people of Anambra State.”

A later tone poem is Nigeria in Conflict, a 1973 composition which deals with the country's horrific civil war. Dr. Omojola observes:

“Akpabot is the one Nigerian composer who has written almost entirely for the orchestra. His choice of instrumentation is, however, also conditioned by the need to project the features of traditional African instruments, as exemplified in Nigeria in Conflict consisting of those which are typical of Ibibio music. They are the gong, woodblock, rattle, wooden drum and xylophone.
...
At the end of the civil war in 1970 Akpabot became a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, and the two works written there continued to reflect the nationalist element of the pre-war works. These were Two Nigerian Folk Tunes for choir and piano, (1974) and Jaja of Opobo, a folk opera, sung and spoken in Efik, English and Ibo (1972).

The composer's Three Nigerian Dances (8:34) has been recorded by the National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, under the direction of Richard Cock, conductor, on Marco Polo 8.223832 (1995). Brett Pyper writes in the liner notes:

“Several of Akpabot's compositions juxtapose African and European instruments, while others, like Three Nigerian Dances, use Western instruments only (strings and timpani in this case). The Dances do, however convey a genuine sense of West African musical characteristics with their use of 'call and response' patterns and idiomatic rhythmic motives.”

Brett Pyper explains that Akpabot interrupted his academic career in Nigeria for ethno-musicological studies in the United States:

“He then continued his ethno-musicological studies in the United States at the University of Chicago and Michigan State University, where he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree. His publications on the subject have gained him a reputation as a major scholar of West African indigenous music.”

Akpabot's studies at the University of Chicago led to his receipt of an M.A. in Musicology. His Ph.D. dissertation at Michigan State University, published in 1975 by Michigan State University Press, was Functional Music of the Ibibio People of Nigeria. Dr. Omojola writes that Akpabot put aside his nationalist tendencies for two sacred works he composed in the 1970s:

“Akpabot's nationalist zeal has, however, been curtailed in his two most recent works: Te Deum Laudamus, (Church anthem, choir and organ, 1975) and Verba Christi, (a cantata for three soloists, chorus and orchestra) commissioned by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation for the World Black Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) which took place in Lagos in 1977. The two works brought back echoes of the Church, the foundation of his musical training. The Verba Christi is his largest work to date and is notable for its use of musical materials from diverse European styles ranging from Victorian choral tradition to twentieth century atonality. “

Akpabot also served as a Visiting Scholar in African Music at Michigan State University. He continued to write about Nigerian and African music, and returned to teach Music at the University of Uyo in Nigeria in the 1990s. His book Foundation of Nigerian Traditional Music was published in 1986 by Spectrum Ibadan. He also wrote a book entitled Form, Function and Style in African Music. It was published in 1998 by MacMillan Nigeria Ibadan.

In appraising the style which characterizes the works of Akpabot, Dr. Omojola draws comparisons with the compositions of two other Nigerian composers, Fela Sowande (1905-87) and Akin Euba (b. 1935). For biographical essays on Sowande and Euba see their pages at AfriClassical.com. Samuel Ekpe Akpabot was a lecturer at the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Uyo until his death in Uyo on August 7, 2000.

Samuel+Akpabot" rel="tag">Samuel Akpabot
Olabode+Omojola" rel="tag">Olabode Omojola
Cynthia's+Lament" rel="tag">Cynthia's Lament
Nigerian+Composer" rel="tag">Nigerian Composer
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer
classical+music" rel="tag">classical music

'On An Overgrown Path' Honors Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide

(The above photo of Nigerian Pianist Sodi Braide is from the website PianoBleu.com)

AfriClassical, the blog companion to the website AfriClassical.com, is delighted that the influential classical music blog On An Overgrown Path began the month of October by paying tribute to the achievements of the Nigerian pianist Sodi Braide in a post entitled 'Classical - music of the Whites':

October is Black History Month here in the UK when we celebrate African and Caribbean contributions to our society with amonth long programme of events. We have celebrated classical musicians of colour On An Overgrown Path recently with features on the Guyanese clarinettist and conductor Rudolph Dunbar and the Afro-French composer Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, and with contributions from John McLaughlin Williams. Today, to mark the start of Black History Month, here is the story of 32 year old Nigerian pianist Sodi Braide, with thanks to the excellent AfriClassical and Le Piano Bleu websites.

+History" rel="tag">Black History
+Braide" rel="tag">Sodi Braide
+Pianist" rel="tag">African Pianist
+Pianist" rel="tag">Black Pianist
+music" rel="tag">classical music
+Musician" rel="tag">African Musician






















Songs of African American Composers, UC Berkeley Oct. 3

(Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork, African American Composer and Professor, born 1941, is profiled at the website AfriClassical.com)

The University of California Berkeley's 55^th Annual Noon Concert Series, sponsored by the Department of Music, presents a free concert of African American Vocal Music on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 from 12:15-1:00 P.M. at the Hertz Concert Hall. Soprano Candace Johnson will perform a program called “Streams of Conscience: Songs by African American Composers". The composers are Olly Wilson, Adolphus Hailstork, Noel da Costa, Undine Smith Moore, Jacqueline Hairston and Hall Johnson.

Candace Johnson earned her Doctorate in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan and is a Chancellor's post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Music of UC Berkeley. Event Contact: 510-642-4864

Candace Johnson
Olly Wilson
Undine Moore
Jacqueline Hairston
Hall Johnson
Black Composer