Monday, April 28, 2008

The Angeles Players, An African American String Ensemble



[Top: The Original Angeles Players; Bottom: The Angeles Players Today. Photos courtesy of Joseph R. Taylor]

On April 26 AfriClassical posted: “Music Without Borders Concert: Works of William Grant Still and Carlos Chavez June 29”. The performers will be The Angeles Players and the African American opera singer Hope Foye. Today we post photos and history of The Angeles Players, provided to us by the concert's producer,John Malveaux/Music Untold, Jmalveaux@gmail.com “The Angeles Players began in 1982 in the garage studio of Mark
Cargill (violin) with Valencia Williams (violin), Joseph R. Taylor (viola) and Clavis Ballard (cello). They were then known as the 'Original' Angeles String Quartet. Over the years, the personnel has changed or augmented, keeping with three of the originals, Val, Joseph and Clavis. For almost 20 years, the Angeles Players have performed throughout the Los Angeles region as a quartet up to a small chamber orchestra, performing for the Shambrey Chorale, numerous church functions, conventions, weddings and chamber music concerts. The present ensemble consists of Joseph R. Taylor (violin), Vernon Humphries II (violin), Darrel Sims (viola) and Clavis Ballard (cello). The above black and white photo shows the Angeles Players with John Sims (violin), Valencia Williams-Mitchell (violin), Joseph R. Taylor (viola) and Clavis Ballard (cello) in a 1984 Shambrey Chorale concert with Jester Harrison.”











1 comment:

namuhamu said...

Mr. Clavis Ballard is the one and only music teacher that will always be the ever-widening ripple in my life. Thank you for everything, Mr. Ballard. I don't know how my life could have deviated from the path were you not always there, a special part of my growing life, to provide that unwavering spark to guide me out of the dark. Thank you, Mr. Ballard. Thank you.