André Watts At Gilmore Keyboard Festival May 8, 9 & 10

The African American pianist André Watts will take part in three events during the Gilmore Keyboard Festival in West Michigan, beginning with a Master Class at 9:30 am Thursday, May 8 in the Little Theatre on the Western Michigan University East Campus in Kalamazoo. The event is free and open to the public. André will join the Grand Rapids Symphony and David Lockington, Conductor, for two concerts in the De Vos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, at 8:00 pm Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10, 2008. For tickets, which range from $16 to $60, call 616.454.9451, ext. 4. Both concerts feature Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole; Grieg: Piano Concerto; and Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2.

André Watts was the son of an African American soldier and a Hungarian woman. His parents raised him in Europe until the age of 8. Here is an excerpt from his Biography, from The Gilmore Festival:
“André Watts burst upon the music world at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in their Young People's Concerts, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Only two weeks later, Bernstein asked him to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt's E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career in storybook fashion. More than 45 years later, André Watts remains one of today's most celebrated and beloved superstars. His performances each year with the world's great orchestras and conductors and his sold-out recitals and appearances at the most prestigious international festivals bring him to every corner of the globe.

During the 06/07 season, Mr. Watts celebrated his 60th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his debut (with the Philadelphia Orchestra). In honor of this milestone and his numerous achievements and contributions to the world of classical music, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in June 2006. During that special season, Mr. Watts performed with many of the American orchestras with which he has had close relationships for many years including the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Atlanta, St. Louis, National, Indianapolis, Seattle and Milwaukee symphonies. During the 07/08 season, he makes an eleven city tour of the East Coast with the Bergen Philharmonic which includes a concert at Carnegie Hall and a recital tour to Japan. Full Biography

André Watts
African American Pianist
Gilmore Keyboard Festival
West Michigan Piano Festival
Grand Rapids Symphony
Conductor David Livington

“The Complete Symphonies Concertantes” of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges Released

André L. Adler, President of the Avenira Foundation in Lucerne, Switzerland, informs AfriClassical of the release of a world premiere recording, Le Chevalier de Saint-George: The Complete Symphonies Concertantes On 2 CDs; CD1 276017 and CD2 276018; Avenira (2008). The U.S. Distributor is Qualiton Imports, Ltd., Qualiton.com The liner notes for both CDs are by Michelle Garnier-Panafieu, whom André says “...is one of the most esteemed personalities and experts regarding classical music of the second half of the 18th century in France.“

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where 12 audio samples of his music can be heard. The new CDs have been recorded by the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, under conductors Jiří Malát and František Preisler. The violin soloists are Miroslav Vilímec (b. 1958), Jiří Žilák (b. 1948), and Michal Pospíšil (b. 1960).

Symphonies Concertantes of Saint-Georges
World Premiere Recording
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Afro-French Composer
Black Composer's CD
Classical CD Release

Biography of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges Enters Second Printing

[The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow; Gabriel Banat; Pendragon Press; Hillsdale, New York (2006)]

Joseph de Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), was the Afro-French composer, violinist and conductor who won fame as France's finest fencer before launching his career in classical music. He is profiled extensively at AfriClassical.com, where a dozen audio samples of his music can be heard.

The most authoritative biography of Saint-Georges in English is: The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow; Pendragon Press (2006) by the noted violinist Gabriel Banat. The book has continued to receive very favorable reviews from numerous publications, and is held in high regard by the Saint-Georges specialists upon whom we rely. It is the first English biography we consult when questions about the composer arise.

The New York Times published an article entitled “A Swashbuckling Violinist, Fresh From The 1700s”, by Roberta Hershenson, on January 6, 2008: “Mr. Banat, who had an acclaimed solo career before becoming a 23-year member of the New York Philharmonic, considers Saint-Georges the first significant black classical composer. Now retired, Mr. Banat, 81, has spent years researching and writing about Saint-Georges, who made music in the court of Marie Antoinette and went on to lead a regiment of black soldiers in the French Revolution.”

Consequently, we were pleased to receive this news from the author today: “I am happy to be able to tell you that having sold out the first, a second printing with all the mistakes corrected at last, will be ready in a couple of weeks.” AfriClassical congratulates Gabriel Banat on the well-deserved success of his scholarly account of the life and music of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. It is readily available from major book dealers, including Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

The Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Gabriel Banat
Biography In Second Printing
New York Philharmonic Violinist
Afro-French Composer
Biography of Classical Composer

William Grant Still in American Composers Unit

[Afro-American Symphony; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Karl Kruger, conductor; Bridge 9086 (1999)]

In Crystal, Minnesota, Barb Jones is introducing students at St. Raphael's Catholic School to works of American composers, including the Afro-American Symphony of William Grant Still (1895-1978), who is profiled at AfriClassical.com: Listening Lessons: Mrs. Jones' Blog. Students in K-8 have been listening to several American Composers. Ask them about Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown,” or “Variations on America” by Charles Ives. Do they remember “Scherzo” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story? How about “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson? William Grant Still’s “Afro-American Symphony” was full of call and response, and we finished our unit by listening to one of the great female American composers - Amy Beach, who wrote “Piano Concerto.” Students in grades 5-8 had a listening test over these composers (hopefully they took good notes) as well as some general music theory that they reviewed in Jeopardy.

Works of American Composers
Afro-American Symphony in Listening Lessons
African American Composers
Studying William Grant Still
Teacher Includes Black Composer
Classical Music for Primary Students

Comment on Jonathan Cambry, African American Pianist (b. 1982)

On April 24, 2008 AfriClassical posted “Jonathan Cambry (b. 1982), African American Pianist in Chicago, Performs on YouTube”. Today we received this appreciative comment from Jay: “Jonathan Cambry is one of the best classical pianist minds that I've ever seen in person. Anyone who has seen his YouTube videos has to be surprised with what they see, not just as an African American, but as an accomplished pianist. Thanks for covering him!”

Duke Ellington, African American Composer, Pianist and Bandleader, Born April 29, 1899

[The Definitive Duke Ellington; Sony 61444 (2000)]

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was an African American composer, pianist and jazz band leader. He was born into a middle-class family in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1899. Although best known for composing, leading and performing about 2,000 "big band" jazz pieces, Ellington also composed orchestral, chamber and solo piano works in the classical genre. His classical music has gradually gained new listeners in recent years due to recordings on CD.

Africana Encyclopedia recounts Ellington's association with the Cotton Club in Harlem: “In the fall of 1927 the Ellington orchestra secured a long-term gig at the Cotton Club, New York City's most prestigious nightclub, which was wired to permit 'live' remote radio broadcasts that gave
Ellington nationwide recognition.” In keeping with the times, the Cotton Club was racially segregated. Only whites were admitted as patrons; all of the waiters and most of the entertainers were African American. During the engagement at the Cotton Club the band was called the Cotton Club Orchestra.

In 1943 Ellington and his orchestra performed at New York's legendary Carnegie Hall. The program included a ground-breaking 44-minute work entitled Black, Brown, and Beige: A Tone Parallel to the History of the American Negro. The work did not fit the conventions of either jazz or classical music, and the response of music critics was so disappointing that Ellington never again performed the entire piece in public. However, Africana Encyclopedia notes: “Neither Ellington nor Strayhorn were dissuaded from creating other large-scale jazz suites, including the Liberian Suite (1947); Harlem (1951); the Festival Suite (1956); Such Sweet Thunder (1957), a musical tribute to Shakespeare; Suite Thursday ( 1960), which paid tribute to author John Steinbeck; and the Far East Suite (1966).

Ellington also composed film scores for Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Paris Blues (1961). Ellington's Piano Concerto was premiered in 1955 by Don Shirley and the NBC Symphony of the Air, at Carnegie Hall. Ellington began exploring spiritual themes with his Concert of Sacred Music in 1965. Africana Encyclopedia says of the work: “In the Beginning, God, Ellington's opening movement, won a 1966 Grammy Award for best original jazz composition. In 1968 Ellington composed a Second Sacred Concert. At the time of his death he was preparing a third.

Ellington participated in the Civil Rights movement from the 1940s on. In 1941 he wrote the score for the musical Jump for Joy, a show intended to debunk common movie stereotypes of African American popular culture. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, led by Neeme Järvi, Conductor, has recorded three of Ellington's works for symphony orchestra on CDs released by the British label Chandos. Harlem, Suite from "The River" and Solitude are found on Chandos 9909 (2001). Suite from "The River" also appears on an earlier disc, Chandos 9154 (1993). Harlem is also found on Chandos 9226 (1993). Full Biography

Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington
African American Composer
Jazz and Classical Music
Harlem Suite
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Jazz and Classical Composer

Akin Euba, Nigerian Composer Born April 28, 1935

[Chaka: An opera in two chants; City of Birmingham Touring Opera; Simon Halsey, Conductor;
Music Research Institute MRI-0001CD (1999)]

Akin Euba was born in Lagos, Nigeria on April 28, 1935 and spent his early years there. He is a member of the Yoruba ethnic group and is profiled at AfriClassical.com His biography is Akin Euba: An Introduction to the Life and Music of a Nigerian Composer by Joshua Uzoigwe. It is a 1992 publication of the Bayreuth African Studies Series, edited by Prof. Eckhard Breitinger.

Akin Euba received his first piano lessons from his father, beginning in 1943. His father clearly expected him to make music his profession. Euba's second piano teacher was Major J.G.C. Allen, a British civil servant with whom he began instruction in 1948. Euba won first prize at the First Nigerian Festival of the Arts in 1950.

After two years of study at Trinity College of Music, Euba changed his program to allow himself to concentrate on courses he considered of more value to his future career. His biographer recounts: “These subjects included piano, composition, harmony and counterpoint, orchestration, organ and score-reading.”

In four years at Trinity College of Music, Akin Euba earned three degrees in piano performance and teacher training. Uzoigwe tells us Akin Euba regarded his first major composition to be a 1956 work, Introduction and Allegro for Orchestra. He earned Fellowship diplomas at the College in 1957 in Composition and Piano Performance. Euba submitted a string quartet for the Composition Fellowship. He went back to Nigeria in 1957 and served as a Senior Programme Assistant (Music) at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation until his promotion to Head of Music in 1960. The author continues: “Two works which were written as a result of his experiences at this time are Six Yoruba Songs for voice and piano, and Two Yoruba Folk Songs for unaccompanied choir. They were both completed in 1959. In the same year that he was promoted as Head of Music (1960), Akin Euba wrote another work entitled The Wanderer for violoncello and piano.”

Akin Euba's curriculum vitae observes that his creative concepts have no better representation than the opera Chaka, MRI 0001CD (1999): “Briefly stated, Chaka is a fusion of 20th century techniques of composition with stylistic elements derived from African traditional music, particularly the music of the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. Moreover, the orchestra is a combination of African and Western instruments.” Full Biography

Akin Euba
Nigerian Composer
African Pianism
Opera Chaka
Mellon Professor of Music
African Composer

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.”

Music Without Borders Concert
The Angeles Players
William Grant Still
African American Composer
Carlos Chavez
African American String Players

Music Without Borders Concert: Works of William Grant Still and Carlos Chavez June 29

AfriClassical is pleased to publish this poster for the Music Without Borders Concert. Works of the African American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) and the Mexican composer Carlos Chavez (1899-1978) will be performed by The Angeles Players and Hope Foye on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 3 pm at the Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, California. The concert is produced by John Malveaux/Music Untold, Jmalveaux@gmail.com [William Grant Still is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Music Without Borders Concert
William Grant Still
African American Composer
Carlos Chavez
Mexican Composer
Classical Music Concert

Comment: Origin of H. T. Burleigh's “Goin' Home” is Controversial

[Deep River: Songs and Spirituals; Oral Moses, bass-baritone; Ann Sears, piano; Troy 332 (1999)]

On April 20 AfriClassical posted a National Public Radio essay by Maestro Marin Alsop, who explained that Henry T. Burleigh's song Goin' Home was adapted from Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony. We have received a comment by E-mail from Mike S. Wright, Chair, International Society for African to American Music: “This is controversial and some say 'Goin' Home' came before the New World symphony. Having said that, there is less controversy over the fact that the spiritual Lord, how come me here Lord is in the American Quartet.” [The African American composer, arranger and bass soloist Henry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Henry Thacker Burleigh
Burleigh's Goin' Home
African American Composer
Dvorak's New World Symphony
Arranger of Spirituals
Lord How Come Me Here?

Nokuthula Ngwenyama With The Performers of Westchester May 2, 8:00 PM

“Friday evening, May 2, at 8:00 PM:
ANDY SIMIONESCU, violin
NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA, viola
MATT HAIMOVITZ, cello
It is our good fortune that Matt Haimovitz, one of the leading cellists of his generation, returns for his 5th consecutive Performers season, teaming up with our own Andy Simionescu and virtuoso violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama with an unusual and compelling program. Françaix’s Trio, while a 20th century work, is brimming with neo-classical charm. Dohnanyi’s Brahms-influenced Serenade is enlivened by Hungarian folk song and dance. And Mozart’s Divertimento, although for only three instruments, is a truly monumental work reflecting the composer’s Enlightenment humanistic ideals. (It is featured on Mr. Haimovitz’s CD release "Mozart the Mason" on his own Oxingale label.)”

Nokuthula Ngwenyama (b. 1976) is an acclaimed American violist and violinist of Zimbabwean-Japanese heritage. She is also a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Notre Dame University. She records on the EDI Records label. Her website is: Ngwenyama.com/new/home.html

Nokuthula Ngwenyama
The Performers Of Westchester
Zimbabwean-Japanese Heritage
May 2 8PM
African American Violist
Chamber Music

Black Symphonists Concert in Los Angeles, May 4, 2008, 5:00 pm

[Portrait of José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) by José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Jr.]

Experience the grandeur and sophistication of musical gems penned by eminent symphonists of the African diaspora dating from 1600 to the present. Glenn Graub, cellist; Marissa McLeod and Jeff Corwin violinists join the Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra in a performance of Symphonie Concertante, Op. 6, No. 1, of Joseph de Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Other works featured include: African Suite by Fela Sowande; Overture by José Mauricio Nunes Garcia. $20 admission. Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Contact: 310-677-8155.

The Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra was founded in 1988 by Janise White, Musical Director, Harpsichord. Celinda Searle Levno, Flute. Tom Jones, Conductor. [José Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Joseph de Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges and Fela Sowande are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra
Black Symphonists Concert LA
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
José Mauricio Nunes Garcia
Fela Sowande
Chamber Music

Jonathan Cambry (b. 1982), African American Pianist in Chicago, Performs on YouTube

Jonathan Cambry (b. 1982) is an African American classical pianist in Chicago who has posted 37 YouTube videos of his playing of piano works of composers including Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. He is CEO of PianoFever.com, “The Ultimate Piano Community”. He writes JonathanCambry.com, a blog where he tells of his piano studies from the of age 3. Immediately after high school, he studied and performed in Italy during an 8-week program based in Milan. “In 1997, Jonathan was the recipient of a Silver Medal at the NAACP ACT-SO Competition for Music/Classical, and won Gold Medals in 1998 and 1999 in the categories of Music/Classical and Music/Contemporary.”

“While at Northern Illinois University, Jonathan studied privately with Dr. William Goldenberg, and was a recipient of the Jane Jenkins Lovering Memorial Scholarship (2005) and received a master class from world renowned pianist and professor Martin Canin of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Jonathan continues to study piano with professor Kuang-Hao Huang at the Chicago College of the Performing Arts.” Full Bio

Jonathan Paul Cambry
African American Classical Pianist
Piano Videos On YouTube
CEO PianoFever.com
Advanced Piano Studies
Classical Music

Budget-Price CDs of Works of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges

[Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos 2; Qian Zhou, violin; Toronto Camerata; Kevin Mallon, conductor; Naxos 8.557322 (2003)]

A recent AfriClassical post discussed a budget recording of works of William Grant Still and Ulysses Kay. Today we take a brief look at two budget CDs of violin concertos of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), who is profiled at AfriClassical.com: (1) Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos; Takako Nishizaki, violin; Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Helmut Müller-Brühl, conductor; Naxos 8.555040 (2000) (67:54). (2) Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos 2; Qian Zhou, violin; Toronto Camerata; Kevin Mallon, conductor; Naxos 8.557322 (2003) (65:30). We did not find any other new recordings of the works of Saint-Georges selling at budget price.

Among the websites which sell each of these recordings for $8.99 US are Amazon.com, ArkivMusic.com, and NaxosDirect.com HBDirect.com lists them at $7.99 US. The lowest prices we found in a quick search of websites on which we have come to rely were at Amazon.com Marketplace Merchants, a variety of third-party stores which sell CDs through the website of Amazon.com We priced only new recordings. Naxos 8.555040 sold for as little as $5.33 US, and Naxos 8.557322 was as low as $4.91 US. We found the CDs selling at Presto Classical, based in the U.K., for £4.99 each.

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Budget-Price Saint-Georges CDs
Afro-French Composer
Naxos 8.555040
Naxos 8.557322
Classical Music Recordings

Girma Yifrashewa's CD “Elilta” Is Now Available For Download

AfriClassical.com has been proud to present the amazing life and career of Girma Yifrashewa, the Ethiopian classical pianist and composer. He was born in Addis Ababa on October 15, 1967 and first saw a piano at age 16, yet he overcame many obstacles to earn a Master's Degree in piano performance in Sofia, Bulgaria. In October 2007 AfriClassical published a post with audio samples of all six tracks of his 2006 CD “Elilta” (“Cry of Joy”).

The CD “Elilta” is presently sold only in Ethiopia. Yet, listeners elsewhere need not wait for international distribution before enjoying Girma's compelling performance of his compositions. We were delighted to learn recently that his own website offers each of the six CD tracks for $0.99 US, and the complete CD for $5.99 US. The mp3 tracks and the audio of the complete recording are available at: http://girma.farbkonstrukt.de/index.php?id=music

Download Girma Yifrashewa's CD
Ethiopian Composer
Ethiopian Pianist
Girma Yifrashewa CD Elilta
African Composer
Classical Music Download

BlackBlogWatch.com Follows AfriClassical Closely

BlackBlogWatch.com, “Tracking the Best Black Blogs”, keeps a close eye on AfriClassical: “A website on African Heritage in Classical Music. AfriClassical is in the Lifestyle category. Our archive has 94 entries from the last 90 days and we last checked for a new entry _ minutes ago.” A very useful feature is “This Entry's Referrals”, consisting of “All embedded links in this entry that reference external sources.” We recently added BlackBlogWatch.com to our Favorite Blogs list.

Comment: H. T. Burleigh's “Goin' Home” Was Adapted From Dvorak's “New World Symphony”

On April 20 AfriClassical posted a National Public Radio essay by Maestro Marin Alsop, who explained that Henry T. Burleigh's song Goin' Home was adapted from Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony. Burleigh is profiled at AfriClassical.com We have received a comment by E-mail from David Robinson:

“Thanks for the write-up on "Going Home." I always tell my students that it was originally a Negro spiritual that Dvorak put into a symphony. Now I know it was written by Harry Burleigh. Also, I would like to get that set of music by William Grant Still and Ulysses Kay. Do you advertise any music stores that would have the recordings you advertise? I have passed along your information to my students so that they can study the black composers and know how to look for their music.
By all means, I hope that you are in touch with the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. (NANM), which I serve as a board member and youth orchestra director. They can be reached at www.nanm.org I am forwarding this note to NANM's president, Roland Carter.”

We appreciate the comment from David Robinson. The 2-CD set with William Grant Still's From the Black Belt and Darker America, and Ulysses Simpson Kay's Six Dances for String Orchestra, is The Incredible Flutist, VoxBox CDX 5157 (1996). While some music stores may have it in stock, it is widely available on the Internet. A Google search returned a string of websites offering it. They included Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, ArkivMusic.com, Barnes and Noble, CD Universe and Target.com AfriClassical is acquainted with Roland Carter and the NANM, whose program we posted for a convention last year. We hope other educators will also tell students about information found on AfriClassical or AfriClassical.com

H.T. Burleigh's Goin' Home
National Association of Negro Musicians
William Grant Still
African American Composers
Comment on Burleigh Post
Classical Music Recordings

Raymond Harvey Conducts At The Gilmore Keyboard Festival May 3 & 10

The African American conductor Raymond Harvey is Music Director and Conductor of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. He will conduct two concerts during The Gilmore Keyboard Festival, which calls itself: “The largest gathering of keyboard artists in North America...”. It will take place in West Michigan April 24-May 13, 2008. Maestro Harvey's website relates: “With an immediately noticeable style that has been described as 'elegant, but suffused with energy,' Raymond Harvey has garnered critical acclaim on symphonic podiums throughout the United States.

Now in his ninth season as Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Harvey was previously Music Director of the Springfield Symphony in Massachusetts and the Fresno Philharmonic in California. He has appeared as guest conductor with many of the country's leading orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, Utah, Indianapolis, Rochester, Buffalo, Detroit, Louisville, New Orleans and Minnesota, as well as the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts and the Boston Pops.

Equally at home in the world of opera, Mr. Harvey serves as Artistic Director of the El Paso Opera in Texas. Recognized as an outstanding pianist, choral conductor and teacher, Raymond Harvey holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music.”

Gilmore Festival Chamber Orchestra (Grand Rapids) Saturday May 3, 8:00 pm, Royce Auditorium, St. Cecilia Music Center - Grand Rapids
Poulenc: Aubade, Concerto chorégraphique
Messiaen: Coleurs de la cité céleste (Colors of the Celestial City)
Janácek: Capriccio
Copland: Appalachian Spring (original instrumentation)

Members of the Grand Rapids Symphony, David Lockington, conductor, and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Raymond Harvey, conductor, unite to form this fantastic chamber orchestra. Pianists performing are Lori Sims, Gilbert Kalish and Jeremy Denk. The Poulenc work is for solo piano and 18 instruments. The Janácek work is for piano left hand and winds.

Gala - Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra with Ingrid Fliter Saturday May 10, 8:00 pm, Chenery Auditorium
Liadov: Eight Russian Folk Songs, Op. 58
Mozart: Piano Concerto in A, No. 23, K. 488
Chopin: Piano Concerto in F Minor, No. 2, Op. 21

Gilmore Keyboard Festival
Maestro Raymond Harvey
Kalamazoo Symphony
African American Conductor
El Paso Opera Conductor
Piano Competition

Younger African American Composers Include Rollo Dilworth, Stephen Newby & Gary Nash

[Got the Saint Louis Blues: Classical Music in the Jazz Age; VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus with orchestra; Jearlyn Steele, soprano; Michael Forest, tenor; Paul Shaw, piano; Philip Brunelle, Conductor; Clarion CLR907CD (2004)]

VocalEssence is a remarkable choral and instrumental music program in Minnesota which was known as the Plymouth Music Series when it was founded in 1969 by Philip Brunelle, Artistic Director. VocalEssence.org notes: “The Series immediately established the marks of its future success: world, United States, and Midwest premieres; famous guest artists; commissions of new works (over 115 to date); and a reputation for surprise.” The VocalEssence Chorus is comprised of 120 singers; the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers number 32. Soloists and instrumentalists complement the two choruses.

In February, AfriClassical published a post on “WITNESS: The Duke Ellington Effect”, held Feb. 17, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The concert announcement online said “Duke Ellington’s adventurous spirit opened the way for the next generation of African American composers...”. We received an E-mail reply from Philip Brunelle: “Thanks. We had a marvelous WITNESS set of concerts this year with lots of new pieces by a younger group of African Americans including Rollo Dilworth, Stephen Newby, and Gary Nash.”

The printed program for “WITNESS: The Duke Ellington Effect” included this portrait of the Artistic Director of VocalEssence: “Philip Brunelle, artistic director and founder of VocalEssence, is an internationally renowned conductor, choral scholar and performer. Believing that listeners and musicians alike must experience music of many genres and styles, he has worked enthusiastically – and tirelessly – to expand audiences for rarely heard works of the past and worthwhile new music. His conducting engagements have taken him across the United States, South America and Europe. Recently he has conducted the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and at the Berkshire Choral Festival. He conducted at the Oregon Bach Festival in July 2007 and will return this summer.”

Rollo Dilworth
Stephen Newby
Gary Nash
Younger African American Composers
WITNESS Duke Ellington Effect
VocalEssence Ensemble

Music of William Grant Still & Ulysses S. Kay On 2-CD VoxBox Budget Recording

[The American Composers Series - The Incredible Flutist; Six American Dances for Strings; Westphalian Symphony Orchestra Recklinghausen; Paul Freeman, Conductor; From the Black Belt, Darker America; Music for Westchester Symphony Orchestra; Siegfried Landau, Conductor;
Vox Box 5157 (1996)]

“'I prefer music that suggests a program to either pure or program music in the strict sense,' [William Grant Still] said. What he meant is immediately apparent in the pair of works recorded here. From the Black Belt (11:13) was composed in 1926, scored originally for small orchestra and later published for full orchestra. The sections of the suite are: Li'l Scamp (:08); Honeysuckle (3:45); Dance (:31); Mah Bones is Creakin (:13); Blue (2:32); Brown Girl (2:43); Clap Yo' Han's (1:08).” “Darker America, a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra, was written in 1924 and won a publication prize from the Eastman School of Music. It depicts the triumph of a people over their sorrows through prayer.”

Ulysses S. Kay, Shirley Fleming writes, “...prefers to work in what one might call a broad European tradition. He has followed the classic guidelines, composing chamber music, concertos, cantatas, symphonies, and two one-act operas, one of them a Koussevitsky Foundation commission (The Boor, based on Chekhov) and the other The Juggler of Our Lady,written in [1955] and presented at Xavier University in Louisiana in 1962 and by Opera/South in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1972. His Six Dances, composed in 1954, reveal his affinity for tradition infused with a robust and unmistakeable American spirit. The dances are designated: 1) Schottische; 2) Waltz; 3) Round Dance; 4) Polka; 5) Promenade; 6) Galop.”

VoxBox sells most of its recordings in 2-CD sets which typically cost less than a single full-price CD. Titles tend to remain in the catalogue indefinitely. The works of William Grant Still and Ulysses Kay are found in The American Composers Series on The Incredible Flutist, VoxBox CDX 5157 (1996). Walter Piston, Peggy Stuart Coolidge and Daniel Gregory Mason are also included. Although released in 1996, this recording remains widely available at websites based in Britain, Canada and the U.S. William Grant Still and Ulysses Simpson Kay are profiled at AfriClassical.com

William Grant Still
Ulysses Kay
VoxBox CDX 5157
African American Composer
From the Black Belt
Still's Darker America

H. T. Burleigh's “Goin' Home” Was Adapted From Dvorak's “New World Symphony”

[Deep River: Songs and Spirituals; Oral Moses, bass-baritone; Ann Sears, piano; Troy 332 (1999)]

Maestro Marin Alsop wrote an essay for National Public Radio, April 18, 2008, noting that the African American composer Henry "Harry" Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) adapted a melody from Dvorak's New World Symphony for his song Goin' Home. Burleigh is profiled at AfriClassical.com Audio samples accompany Marin Alsop's essay for NPR:

“Symphony No. 9 is nicknamed New World because Dvorak wrote it during the time he spent in the U.S. in the 1890s. His experiences in America (including his discovery of African-American and Native-American melodies) and his longing for home color his music with mixed emotions.”
“The New World Symphony's best-known melody surfaces in the 'Largo' movement, with its aching English horn solo. It was later adapted into the song 'Goin' Home' by Harry Burleigh, a black composer whom Dvorak befriended while in New York. But I'm always moved by the church-like chords that come before that now-famous tune. In a stroke of innovative genius, Dvorak brings these opening chords back at the climax of the finale, where all the melodies from the symphony reappear, transformed by the journey.” [Full Post]

Dvorak's New World Symphony
H.T. Burleigh's Goin' Home
African American Symphonies
African American Baritone
Arranger of Spirituals
Classical Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Simon Le Duc, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges & Pierre-Montan Berton L'Ainé On CD

[Mozart in Paris;Yura Lee, violin; Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie; Reinhard Goebel, conductor; Oehms Classics OC 705 (2007)

In the Fall of 2007, the website of Oehms Classics posted this description of a new CD, Mozart in Paris, combining works of Mozart and four other composers which were influential during Mozart's time in Paris in 1778-1779:
“At this year’s Mozart Festival in Augsburg, Reinhard Goebel and the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie presented works from the 'Concert Spirituels' milieu in Paris. The Concerts Spirituels played an important role in 18th century Parisian musical life and were the venue for many premieres of symphonic works. Even Mozart wrote a work for this series: the 'Paris Symphony' K. 297. Composer, violinist and conductor Chevalier de Saint-George was also active in Paris at the same time. Later generations would characterize him as the 'Black Mozart' and stylize him in legendary terms. And indeed, Saint-George, born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was multi-talented, becoming one of the most scintillating figures of the age: he enjoyed the highest respect as a violin virtuoso, fencing master, conductor, composer and – ladies’ man. Soloist in his Violin Concerto in G Major op. 2/1 is Yura Lee, winner of the 2006 Leopold Mozart Violin Competition.”

The works on the CD are:
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782): Sinfonia in D Major, Op. 18, No.6 (1779)
Simon Le Duc (1742-1777): Symphony in E-flat Major (1777)
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799): Concerto in G Major, Op. 2, No. 1 (1772)
Pierre-Montan Berton L'Ainé (1727-1780): Nouvelle Chaconne in E Minor (1762)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): “Parisian” Symphony in D Major, KV 297 (1778)

Richard Eckstein explains in the liner notes:
“The program on this CD was never played per se at a 'Concert spirituel'. The violin concerto by Chevalier de Saint-George, possibly the most significant violinist during the development of the classical violin technique, was no longer performed at the time of Mozart's Paris stay in 1778/1779. In addition, an absolutely authentic presentation of the works of one 'Concert spirituel' would last at least three hours. The concerts were extremely long and contained an exotic mixture of works: the repertoire ranged from French and Italian arias to sonatas and then on to symphonies and solo concertos. In contrast, this recording represents the compositional achievements that the 22-year-old Mozart found in Paris.”

Mozart in Paris CD
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Afro-French Composer
Possibly Most Significant Violinist
Saint-Georges Concerto in G
Concert des Amateurs

MSU Presents World Premiere of Adolphus Hailstork Commission April 26

Serenade “To Hearts Which Near Each Other Move,” by Adolphus Hailstork, to honor Whartons

Michigan State University College of Music, April 1, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. – On Saturday, April 26, Wharton Center will make history when the MSU Symphony Orchestra, University Chorale, and State Singers pay tribute to Clifton and Dolores Wharton with a world premiere commission by Michigan State University alumnus and award-winning composer Adolphus Hailstork.

This musical piece, Serenade “To Hearts Which Near Each Other Move,” was commissioned by the Michigan State University College of Music and Wharton Center for Performing Arts. The centerpiece for the text was “Love’s Philosophy,” a poem by Percy B. Shelley, which was suggested by Dolores Wharton. Hailstork selected additional poems by Shelley to complete the work.

“Serenade was written in direct response to Mrs. Wharton's statement that she wished the love story could be told,” said the piece’s composer Adolphus Hailstork, a 1971 alumnus of the MSU College of Music. “After our initial meeting in New York City, Mrs. Wharton sent the text to “Love's Philosophy” and my research into Shelley began. I hope I have written a love song worthy of what she wanted to express.” Full Post [The African American composer Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Adolphus C. Hailstork
World Premiere Hailstork Serenade
MSU Commissions Hailstork's Serenade
Wharton Center April 26
African American Composer
Classical Music

Pianist Roy Eaton on TV in Manhattan April 26, 9:30 pm

The African American classical pianist Roy F. Eaton, RoyEaton.net, is well known for performing and recording the works of the African American ragtime and classical composer Scott Joplin, and for interpreting the piano works of other composers, including Chopin and William Grant Still. Roy Eaton tells AfriClassical he will be appearing on the program “Active Aging” Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 9:00 PM. It can be seen on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Time Warner Cable Channel 34 abd RCN Cable Channel 83. The website is MNN.org

Shirley Joel, program host, adds: “Our programs focus on vibrant older people, who are doing interesting and productive activities although past the typical age of retirement. They feature individuals like Roy (having revived a career as a concert pianist despite a hiatus of 50 years)...who help dispell the myth and counter the image that all older people are sick or non-productive, and prove that there is a second and even third act in life.”

Roy F. Eaton
African American Pianist
Active Aging TV Program
Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Scott Joplin
William Grant Still

Chamber Works of Three African Americans at Richmond Music Festival May 2

[Deep River: Songs and Spirituals; Henry Thacker Burleigh, composer; Oral Moses, bass-baritone; Ann Sears, piano; Troy 332 (1999)]

Henry T. Burleigh (1866-1949), R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) and William Grant Still (1895-1978) are African American composers who are profiled at AfriClassical.com Their works will be heard at Virginia's Richmond Music Festival, Friday, May 2 – 8 p.m.
Bon Air Presbyterian Church
Concert: American Mosaic
(Recital by 2008 Chamber Music Workshop participants – 7pm)

In the Southland, Henry T. Burleigh
Gamin, William Grant Still
El Bolero, Charles C. Perkins
In the Southland, Henry T. Burleigh

Cello Sonata (2007), John Hilliard
In the Bottoms, R. Nathaniel Dett
Las Sombras de los Apus, Gabriela Lena Frank
A Selection of Songs, George Gershwin

This concert was brought to our attention by Clarke Bustard, who writes Letter V: The Virginia Classical Music Blog. We were not familiar with Gamin, so we turned to “International Opus: Musical Diversity For A New Millenium”:
William Grant Still — Mother and Child/Gamin
Alexa Still’s arrangement of two movements from the Suite for Violin is a wonderful addition to the solo flute repertoire. Mother and Child is lyrical, sustained and expressive, employing the singing qualities of all of the flute’s ranges and is reminiscent of both spirituals and Debussy. Gamin is a rhythmic, humorous and jazzy piece which contrasts the previous movement and challenges the flutist technically. Recorded by Alexa Still on Koch International Classics [3-7192-2H1 (1994)].

Richmond Music Festival
William Grant Still Gamin
Dett's In the Bottoms
Burleigh's In the Southland
African American Composers
Black American Composers
Chamber Music Festival

Music of Henry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett & William Grant Still In Richmond, Virginia May 2

[The Collected Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett; Summy-Birchard (1973)]

Today AfriClassical linked to a post on William Grant Still's Symphony No. 2 (Song of a New Race) at Letter V: The Virginia Classical Music Blog. We also sent an E-mail to its author, Clarke Bustard, who was a classical music critic for the Richmond Times-Dispatch for decades. We expressed our approval of his selection of Still's Symphony No. 2 as a work whose neglect cannot rationally be explained, and told him of the forthcoming 2-CD set of Symphonies Concertantes of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges on the Avenira label, on which we posted recently. Clarke Bustard has replied by E-mail:

“Mr. Zick:

Glad you approve of my inclusion of the Still Second, and thanks for linking to Letter V. Folks in these parts are quite familiar with the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, whose music has appeared on Richmond Symphony's and others' programs since the 1970s. I'll keep an eye out for the new recording.

Here's a historical factoid that may interest you and your readers, from a piece I wrote for the Richmond Times-Dispatch (published Oct. 15, 2000): 'Oratorical, literary, dramatic and musical societies were organized by black Richmonders shortly after [the Civil War]. One such group presented the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta H.M.S. Pinafore in 1880, two years after its premiere in London.'

Regards,
Clarke Bustard
Letter V: the Virginia Classical Music Blog”

“Addendum: In my previous reply, I should have mentioned that the May 2 Richmond Festival of Music program includes Charles C. Perkins' 'Le Banjo,' H.T. Burleigh's 'In the Southland,' William Grant Still's 'Gamin' [correct me if I've mixed up composers and works - the presenter groups them as a mini-suite] and R. Nathaniel Dett's 'In the Bottoms.' I plan to post a review of that concert on Letter V." [AfriClassical thanks Clarke Bustard for the fascinating information on the Black Richmonders who presented H.M.S. Pinafore in 1880.]

Symphony No. 2 of William Grant Still: 'Neglect defies rational explanation'

[Afro-American Symphony; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Karl Kruger, conductor; Bridge 9086 (1999)]

(William Grant Still's Symphony No. 2 is one of five neglected works by various composers which are discussed in the full version of the following post)
Letter V, The Virginia Classical Music Blog
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Neglected music (1)
“In my review of the April 12 Richmond Festival of Music performance of Amy Beach’s Theme and Variations for flute and string quartet, I mentioned an eventual post on compositions whose neglect defies rational explanation.”

“William Grant Still: Symphony No. 2 in G minor ('Song of a New Race')

Still was the pioneer African-American symphonist and is customarily (predictably?) represented in the orchestral repertory by his First ('Afro-American') Symphony of 1930. His Second Symphony, introduced by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1937, is less 'folkish' in style, more abstract in content. Still got his start as a professional musician working with W.C. Handy, the master of blues and early jazz; and the Second Symphony, unlike the First, reflects the composer’s fluency in jazz.

Chalk up this symphony’s neglect to lack of curiosity on the part of orchestra programmers, and perhaps a preference for the work of living black composers. The practice of cramming most performances of art-music by African-American composers into a 'ghetto,' from Jan. 15 (birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.) through February (Black History Month), is surely another factor.

Recording: Detroit Symphony/Neeme Järvi (Chandos 9226).” [Full Post] [William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

William Grant Still
Symphony No. 2
Song of a New Race
African American Composer
Second Symphony Premiered 1937
Classical Music Repertoire

South Africa Plans 20th Yearly Massed Choir Competition in November 2008

[Mokale Koapeng is one of two music directors of the Massed Choir Competition]

Sowetan.co.za
Calling on all young choral composers
09 April 2008

A nation’s heritage evolves constantly and in heeding this reality Sowetan and several nation- building partners are encouraging young choral music composers to test their talents and contribute their creative legacies.

So in celebration of the 20th yearly Massed Choir Competition the South African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) Endowment for the National Arts – with the organisers of the Transnet Foundation, SABC and Sowetan Massed Choir Festival – is calling on all up-and-coming South African choral composers to enter their work for a commemorative choral composition competition. Twenty
choirs, making up a formidable 1000-voice chorus, are due to perform the winning composition in
Johannesburg in November. [Full Post] [In reply to our inquiry concerning his role, South African
composer and choral conductor Mokale Koapeng tells AfriClassical: "Yes I am one of the two music
directors of the festival."]

South Africa Choir Composition
Mokale Koapeng
Chroal Music Compositions Sought
20th Annual Massed Choir
Soweto Announces Choral Competition
South Africa Nation Building

Wilberforce University Alumnus Is Proud of William Grant Still, African American Composer

[William Grant Still; (Photo is the sole property of William Grant Still Music, and is used with permission.)]

Rhonda M. Cartwright's Weblog: Race Matters, Cultural Diversity and The African-American Experience
College Reunion 2008 April 16, 2008
A couple of weekends ago, I visited my Alma mater (Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio) to participate in our yearly college reunion called Dawn Dance. Dawn Dance is a weekend of special events and celebration; all of which honors our beloved W.U., its rich history and dedication to the advancement of African-Americans through education.

Wilberforce is the first HBCU (Historically Black College and Universities) owned and operated by African-Americans. The school was founded in 1856 by Daniel Payne (an African-American and Bishop with the African Methodist Episcopal Church) and was named after the 18th century abolitionist William Wilberforce. The school even played a significant role in assisting escaped slaves as the Underground Railroad made a “stop” at W.U.

Since its inception, many notable African-Americans have graduated from the university which only adds to the pride that I have as a former student: William Grant Still, the first African-American to conduct a major symphony orchestra, Floyd Flake, former US Congressman and current President of Wilberforce University and Regina M. Anderson, playwright in the Harlem Renaissance are just a fragment of Wilberforce’s history. [William Grant Still was Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in a concert of his own compositions, on July 23, 1936. He is profiled in depth, and his compositions are listed in a Works List compiled by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, at AfriClassical.com] Full Post

Wilberforce University Reunion 2008
William Grant Still
African American Classical Composer
Hollywood Bowl Guest Conductor
Conducted Los Angeles Philharmonic
Classical Music

“It was a real triumph”, H. Leslie Adams says of “Blake” Performance by Opera North

After an initial announcement, AfriClassical published a poster of the opera Blake, by the African American composer H. Leslie Adams, three days before its April 12 performance. The composer, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com, made this response today: "Thanks again for the nice poster coverage of BLAKE three days in advance. Your posting really must have brought 'good luck and response,' as the house was well attended and the audience most enthusiastic. For a new contemporary work, it was a remarkable listener involvement, to the point of 'participation.' They applauded at appropriate places (following set pieces) and stood at the end and gave a vigorous response to the lengthy curtain calls. It was a real triump, and a significant milestone in the history of this new work as it moves toward more major venues.

Thanks again,
Leslie" 

Opera North Performs Blake
H. Leslie Adams
African American Opera Composer
Blake A Real Triumph
Black Composer Of Opera
Classical Music

Adolphus C. Hailstork, African American Composer Born April 17, 1941

[Adolphus Hailstork: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3; Grand Rapids Symphony; David Lockington, conductor; Naxos 8.559295 (2007)]

Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork is an African American composer and professor who was born on April 17, 1941 in Rochester, New York and is profiled at AfriClassical.com He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Howard University in 1963. He subsequently attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition in 1965 and a Master of Music degree in Composition in 1966. During the Summer of 1963 Hailstork studied in France at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger.

He served in the U.S. Armed Forces in Germany from 1966-68, then attended Michigan State University, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1971. Hailstork has been on the faculties of Youngstown State University, Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University. Hailstork's musical The Race for Space was performed at Howard University in 1963, when he was in his senior year. Statement, Variations and Fugue was his master's thesis and was performed by the Baltimore Symphony in 1966, according to the Presser site. The composer has employed a wide range of forms and styles.

Adolphus Hailstork: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 was recorded by the Grand Rapids Symphony, led by David Lockington, conductor, as part of the series American Classics, Naxos 8.559295 (2007). Bob McQuiston reviewed the CD for Classical Lost and Found, February, 2007: “These two symphonies by American composer Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941) are well worth calling to your attention. Written in the last ten years, they're both in the standard four movements and fall into the late romantic category. They're full of those wonderful western sounding rhythms and themes so typical of American composers like Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland and Don Gillis.” Full Biography

Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork
African American Composer
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Black Classical Composer
Classical Music

Songs of Florence Price Can Be Traced To The Romantic Period

[Symphony No. 3; Mississippi River Suite; The Oak; The Women's Philharmonic; Apo Hsu, Conductor; Koch 3 75182H1 (2001)]

The author listens to “...six female composers on Lucille Field Sings Songs by American Women Composers”, Cambria 1037 (2006). Among them is Florence Beatrice Smith Price (1887-1953), an African American composer who was the first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra. The songs are Travel's End, To my Little Son, Night and To the Dark Virgin. She is profiled at AfriClassical.com

DoogieHowserHistory.blogspot.com/
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Listening Journal #1
I prefer a bit more clarity and order. That is exactly what is received in Florence B. Prices’s music. While listening to her “Four Songs,” I automatically assumed that the mood of these four pieces was light and happy because of the melody and harmonies that are used. The text has more direction than previous pieces and is centered on more delightful ideas. This is portrayed well through Price’s delicate writing style that stays within the key. I find it funny how music has the ability to move one’s mind into thinking certain thoughts or manipulating one’s hearts into having certain emotions whether the text is known or not. In expressionistic music, where ideas are exaggerated or sometimes even distorted through the music, one can pick up on the mood of the piece simply by listening. In “Travel’s End” the whole piece is outlined with blocked chords containing ornamentation every measure or so. The poetry reflects on memories from a time sweetly missed. The harmonies in this song sound pure with out even the slightest hint of uncertainty or urgency. It is interesting that Price was writing like this in a time where everyone seemed to be going against the norm. Out of all of the composers in this compilation, Price’s music is the easiest to trace back to the romantic period. I do not really sense a reaction to the previous period in her music.

I chose to listen to these pieces because I knew they offered variety through their modernism. I thought it would be easy to just describe them as a reaction to the Romantic period. However, I now know that music can not be summed up in such broad terms. I think there are elements of these composer’s writing style that definitely reacted and went against the romantic period. However, listening to someone like Florence B. Price makes me realize how much twentieth-century composers held onto from the romantic period. I think this compilation should be included in the canon because it shows significant development towards where we are musically in western culture today. Full Post

Florence Beatrice Price
African American Composer
To the Dark Virgin
Songs of Florence Price
Romantic Period
American Women Composers

New World Classics to Stage Scott Joplin's “Treemonisha” in February 2009

[New World Classics publicity photo of “Monisha” in Scott Joplin's “Treemonisha”]

NewWorldClassics.com announces a new production of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha will be presented by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, whose Founder and Director is Rick Benjamin:

“WHY A NEW VERSION OF TREEMONISHA?
By Rick Benjamin
The main difference between my reconstruction of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, and the earlier efforts by others is in the orchestration. The pioneering productions of the 1970s and 80s conceived of this work in a very European way, as heavy 'grand opera' using a very large orchestra. In contrast, I see Treemonisha as 'opera' in name only. It is much more an amalgamation of the well-established American traditions of vaudeville, tab-show, melodrama, and minstrelsy, all held together by Joplin's marvelous music. For this, the ideal accompaniment should be provided by the regulation twelve-piece theatre orchestra of that era.”

“Rick Benjamin, founder and director of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, leads a multifaceted career as a performer and scholar.” “Mr. Benjamin’s conducting engagements include the NationalSymphony Orchestra of Ireland, New Jersey Symphony, the Olympia Symphony in Washington State, the Aalborg Symphony (Denmark) and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. His articles on popular music have appeared in several periodicals, and his lecture tours take him to colleges and universities throughout the United States. Mr. Benjamin has completed the reconstruction of the lost orchestrations for Scott Joplin's opera 'Treemonisha,' and is continuing work on his book about the music of the Ragtime Era. Rick Benjamin is a member of the music faculty at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Benjamin attended the Juilliard School as a scholarship student.” [The African American Ragtime and Classical Composer Scott Joplin is profiled at AfriClassical.com] Full Post

Scott Joplin
Joplin's Treemonisha
African American Composer
African American Opera
Reconstruction of Treemonisha
Reorchestration of Treemonisha

Variety of Music of William Grant Still on YouTube

[Africa: Piano Music of William Grant Still; Denver Oldham, piano; Koch 3 7084 2H1 (1991)]

Two vocal works and two instrumental compositions are among a number of pieces by the African American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) which are sampled on YouTube.

Tenor Antoine Garth performs the songs Weeping Angels and Old Brer Rabbit by William Grant Still, with American Voices' pianist John Ferguson at the Saigon Conservatory in Vietnam.

Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine is accompanied by pianist Matthew Hagle in a rendition of Here's One (3:46) by William Grant Still.

The second movement of William Grant Still's Suite for Violin and Piano (6:57) is performed by
Uruguyan violinist Javier Orman and Peruvian pianist Henry Rodriguez.

William Grant Still
Weeping Angels
Old Brer Rabbit
Suite for Violin
African American Composer
YouTube Videos

Sphinx Organization Returns to Carnegie Hall October 21, 2008

The Sphinx Organization, celebrating 11 years of building diversity in classical music, returns to Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, October 21, 2008. Under the baton of Maestro Chelsea Tipton II, the concert will feature the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, the Harlem Quartet, and other top Sphinx Competition alumni performing as soloists.

This annual celebration of diversity and classical music embraces the Sphinx Organization’s artistic mission offering standard repertoire and masterpieces by Black and Latino composers. Please join us on October 21 as we celebrate the extraordinary talents of these young musicians of color.

"The performances were first rate in every way - polished, nuanced, rich in tone and thoughtfully shaped." - The New York Times

[The Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization is Aaron P. Dworkin, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Sphinx at Carnegie Hall
Maestro Chelsea Tipton II
Sphinx Chamber Orchestra
Harlem Quartet
Black and Latino Musicians
Classical Music

Ugandan Pianist Fred Kiggundu Musoke at French Ambassador's Residence in Kampala

AfriClassical has learned from Dr. William H. Chapman Nyaho that His Excellency Rene Forceville, Ambassador of France, and his wife Brigitte, will host a concert by Ugandan pianist Fred Kiggundu Musoke at their official residence in Kampala, on Ternan Avenue, Nakasero opposite Kampala Kindergarten. It will feature works by Mozart, Chopin and Liszt and will be held at 7:00 pm, Thursday, 17^th April, 2008. Tickets: Adults 15,000; Children 5,000; available at Kampala Music School and at the door. Please Phone 0772 647850 or 041 4233215 for further details.

Kampala Music School Newsletter, March, 2007:
Fred Kiggundu Musoke, the Head of Keyboard at KMS, has made several greatly appreciated visits to Nairobi, Kenya, which have helped forge deeper links. These have included workshops and master classes at Kenyatta University and the Conservatoire as well as major piano recitals. By request, he is going back to do more of all of these, and has also been invited onto the panel of judges for the annual Kenya Music Competition in March (baby Musoke permitting!).

Fred Kiggundu Musoke
Ugandan Classical Pianist
William H. Chapman Nyaho
Kampala Music School
Head of Keyboard
Classical Music

Nokuthula Ngwenyama Performs in Brooklyn at Bargemusic May 3

Bargemusic.org presents a floating concert by a quartet featuring the African American violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama (b. 1976):
May 3 • Saturday, 8 pm

Jean Francaix: Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello in C Major (1933)

Ernst von Dohnányi: Serenade for String Trio in C Major, Op. 10

Antonin Dvořák: Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 87

Andy Simionescu, Violin

Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Viola

Matt Haimovitz, Cello

Benjamin Hochman, Piano

“Since 1977, Bargemusic has presented chamber music in an unlikely and startlingly beautiful venue—a floating barge at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Both established and emerging musicians perform at Bargemusic on a small stage with the dramatic backdrop of the East River and lower Manhattan skyline.”

Nokuthula Ngwenyama (b. 1976) is an acclaimed American violist and violinist of Zimbabwean-Japanese heritage. She is also a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Notre Dame University. She records on the EDI Records label. Her website is: http://www.Ngwenyama.com/new/home.html She is also profiled at AfriClassical.com

Nokuthula Ngwenyama at Bargemusic
African American violist
Afro-Asian Heritage
Zimbabwean-Japanese Descent
Notre Dame Visiting Professor
EDI Records

Nash Ensemble Plays Clarinet Quintet of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor at BBC Proms 2008

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Clarinet Quintet (35:39); Koch 3 7056 2H1 (1992)]

BBC Proms 2008 – a Festival Spirit - Full Event Listing

April 10, 2008

The BBC Proms, one of the world’s greatest music festivals, celebrates key anniversaries of four major composers in 2008 – 50 years since the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams, the centenaries of both Olivier Messiaen and Elliott Carter and the 80th anniversary of Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Proms Chamber Music
Other highlights include early music groups I Fagiolini and Les Talens Lyriques, bass viol/viola da gamba player Jordi Savall, as well as a performance by one of Britain’s leading chamber groups, the Nash Ensemble, of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Clarinet Quintet and Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock Edge. Full Post

[The Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Afro-British Composer
Clarinet Quintet
Nash Ensemble
Chamber Music
BBC Proms 2008

“African Suite” by Fela Sowande Digitally Remastered From 1952 Decca LP

[Fela Sowande: African Suite for Strings; The New Symphony Strings; Trevor Harvey, conductor; Decca LM 4547 (1952)]

The life of the Nigerian composer Olufela Sowande (1905-1987) is chronicled by Bode Omojola, Ph.D., in the 1995 book, Nigerian Art Music, in which he observes: “Fela Sowande is undoubtedly the father of modern Nigerian Art Music and perhaps the most distinguished and internationally known African composer.” This quotation is taken from the composer's page at AfriClassical.com

The Decca recording has been digitally remastered by Mike S. Wright, Chair, International Society for African to American Music (ISAAM). A one-minute audio sample of the last movement may be heard by clicking on its title, Akinla

Mike Wright informs AfriClassical that he plans to release the digitally remastered version of the recording on CD within the next few months. He adds: “I would also like you to put on a further appeal for others who may have other material that I could remaster. I believe that to get this all into circulation will help raise profile and encourage people to... do some new recordings of this unjustly neglected music. I would also be very pleased to receive any good recordings by other past African composers that have got out of circulation or were never circulated in the first place. I believe that there are many.” Mike S. Wright may be reached by E-mail at mike@isaamnet.org

The following titles and “A Note By The Composer” are from the original liner notes of Decca LM 4547 (1952):

Fela Sowande: ‘AFRICAN SUITE FOR STRINGS’

i) Joyful Day
ii) Nostalgia
iii) Onipe
iv) Lullaby
v) Akinla

A Note By The Composer

This Suite consists of five pieces for String Orchestra and Harp, representing five varying moods. Two of the themes used in the Suite, "Joyful Day" and "Onipe," are melodies from the pen of Mr. E. Amu, of Achimota College, Gold Coast, West Africa, to whom the composer is indebted for permission to use them. "Lullaby" and "Akinia" are folk-melodies from Southern Nigeria, while "Nostalgia" is based on an original theme, and represents the nostalgic memories of "an African in England."

African Suite for Strings
Fela Sowande
Nigerian Art Music
African Composer
Classical Music
Orchestral Music

AfriClassical Ranks 6th In Classical Music at Blogged.com

On Feb. 18, 2008 AfriClassical announced it had received a rating of 8.0 (Great) from the blog directory Blogged.com Today it has again been rated 8.0, and it has been ranked 6^th among 45 Classical Music Blogs:

“Our editors recently reviewed your blog and have given it an 8.0 score out of (10) in the Entertainment/Music category of Blogged.com. This is quite an achievement!

We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style. After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 8.0 score

Please accept my congratulations on a blog well-done!!

Sincerely,
Amy Liu
Editorial Department”

Top 20 Classical Music Blogs at Blogged.com (of 45 total)
1 Jessica Duchen's Classical Music Blog 8.6
2 Jim Hirsch's Blog 8.3
3 Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog 8.3
4 The Well Tempered Blog 8.2
5 Sandow 8.2
6 AfriClassical 8.0
7 Classical Music 8.0 (Janelle Gelfand)
8 Classical Music 8.0 (A Living Composer)
9 Planet Hugill 8.0
10 The Rambler 8.0
11 Northwest Reverb 7.9
12 Letter V 7.9
13 Prima la Musica 7.8
14 Intermezzo 7.6
15 Musical Perceptions 7.6
16 Classical Convert 7.6
17 Musical Assumptions 7.6
18 Podium Speak 7.5
19 Sequenza21/ 7.4
20 The Chopin Project

Blogged.com 8.0 Rating
Blogged.com Rank 6th
Classical Music Blogs Ranked
Jessica Duchen's Blog 1st
Jim Hirsch's Blog 2nd
Jason Heath's Blog 3rd

James Ingram Fox (1909-2005), Guyanese Classical Composer Who Settled in Harlem

James Ingram Fox: ‘A treasured composer’
By Dr. Vibert C. Cambridge
Stabroek News
March 13, 2005

When James Ingram Fox passed away on February 8, 2005, at the age of 96, he was probably Guyana’s most prolific composer of classical music. He left an impressive collection of five symphonies, an opera, concerti, piano sonatas, choral works, and 60 songs. Many superlatives have been used to describe Fox. In 1987, Bridget Hart-Doman referred to him as “one of the most talented classical pianists, symphonic and operatic composers, writers and lecturers.” In 1998, Talise D Moorer described him as a “treasured composer.” His obituary summarized his life as a “true ambassador for music all over the world.”

James Ingram Fox was the first son of James Christopher and Clara Fox and was born on February 18, 1909 in Georgetown, British Guiana. His father was a dentist, and the family hoped that James would study medicine. Like his relative Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson, he responded to the muse of music.

Fox grew up in a musical environment and developed his love for music in Guyana. He left during his teens for London via New York, but never reached his intended final destination. During a concert at Carnegie Hall, he was seduced by the works of Beethoven and Wagner, and this led to his decision to stay in New York and pursue music. It was a decision that did not find favour with his father, who cut off his allowances. To make ends meet, Fox took a job as an elevator operator for the princely sum of $17.68 per week. “Can’t forget the 68 cents,” said Fox in an interview with Hart-Doman. “In those days, black students and professionals had to do menial jobs or else starve to death.”

In 1932, Fox enrolled at the New York College of Music and studied with Dr August Fraemcke and Gottfried Kritzler. After earning his BA at the New York School of Music, Fox completed an MA in Music from Columbia University in 1938.

After graduation, because of the virulence of the racism that existed in American society, Fox was unable to find a job as a full-time music teacher. He kept his job as an elevator operator and worked occasionally with Morton Gould arranging music for Broadway shows. He would maintain this relationship with Gould for many years and work with him on musical compositions for radio.

Fox completed The Academic, the first of his five symphonies, in 1939. It attracted the attention of Dean Dixon (1915-1976), the African American Director of Music at The Julliard School, who became a promoter of Fox’s music. In 1940, Albert Coates conducted the London Symphony Orchestra’s performance of The Academic at the Royal Albert Hall. Fox’s other symphonies are The Choral (on the Ode to Nativity by Milton), The Hinterland (dedicated to the people of Guyana), The Emancipation, and Southland. Full Post

James Ingram Fox
Guyanese Classical Composer
Black South American Composer
Classical Music
Composer Biography
African American Composer

Webcast of José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's “Missa de Santa Cecelia”

The Department of Music of the University of Texas at Austin provides this information on listening to the webcast of the Chamber Singers performance of José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's “Missa de Santa Cecelia” from 8-10 pm Central time, Friday, April 11:

Our webcasts are accessed from the main page of the UT Butler Music School: http://www.music.utexas.edu/

Performances are listed on the right. Webcasts are marked with an icon. When you click on the event you go to a webpage for the event. There is a link to live streams on each event page.

See http://www.music.utexas.edu/calendar/Streaming_info.aspx for information regarding the best way to receive our live streams.

[The Afro-Brazilian composer José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1930) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia
Afro-Brazilian Composer
Chamber Singers Webcast
April 11 Webcast
Black Classical Composer
Black Composer Webcast

“Rachel Barton Pine: Young Violinists Play Black Composers” on YouTube

[American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell; Deep River, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Matthew Hagle, piano; Cedille Records 90000 097 (2007)]

Some Musicians You Should Know (3:14)
Added: February 26, 2008

Violinist Rachel Barton Pine presents repertoire from the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation's curriculum project, The String Student's Library of Music by Black Composers, on ABC News Chicago, February 26, 2008. Rachel plays "Deep River" by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), 10-year-old Ade Williams plays "Deserted Garden" by Florence Price (1887-1953), and 14-year-old Clayton Penrose-Whitmore plays "Here's One" by William Grant Still (1895-1978).

For more information about the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, please visit http://www.rebf.org [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence B. Price and William Grant Still are profiled at AfriClassical.com, where audio samples of their music can be heard.]

Young Violinists
Youths Play Black Composers
Rachel Barton Pine
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Florence B. Price
William Grant Still

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's “Missa de Santa Cecelia” At UT Austin April 11

The University of Texas at Austin On Campus Calendar Announces
April 11, 2008 8-10 p.m.
School of Music presents the Chamber Singers in Concert
The UT Butler School of Music presents the Chamber Singers -- the premiere vocal ensemble in the School -- in concert. Dr. James Morrow conducts the ensemble in Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia's Missa de Santa Cecelia. Location: Bates Recital Hall. Contact: Kathryn A. Van Zandt, 512-471-1139. Sponsor: School of Music. Admission: Tickets at the door, $10 public, $5 students. Webcast: Broadcast will begin a few minutes before the performance. [The Afro-Brazilian composer José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1930) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia
Afro-Brazilian Composer
Missa de Santa Cecelia
Chamber Singers
UT Austin April 11

“Danzas de Panama” of William Grant Still at Detroit's Scarab Club June 1

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

Detroit public radio station WRCJ, 90.9 FM, announced at its website yesterday:
Chamber Music at the Scarab Club
Sunday, June 1 at 7 p.m.
“Still, Beach, and Kuhlau”
Our 10th season comes to an exciting close with Danzas de Panama for string quartet by William Grant Still, Quintet No. 1 in D Major for flute and strings by Friedrich Kuhlau, and Theme and Variations for flute and string quartet by Amy Beach.

Musicians include: Laura Larson - flute, Velda Kelly and Andrew Wu - violins, John Madison and Scott Stefanko - violas, Nadine Deleury – cello. For more info visit http://www.ScarabClub.org/chambermusic. The Scarab Club is located at 217 Farnsworth in Detroit, right behind the Detroit Institute of Arts. [The African American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

William Grant Still
Danzas de Panama
African American Composer
Chamber Music
Black Classical Composer
American Classical Music

“Opera In The Schools” Benefits Minority Students

Yesterday AfriClassical posted: “Keeping Older Students of Color in School Orchestras”. Today we highlight two companies which bring opera to students. Opera North, OperaNorth.com, says: “Through the Opera In The Schools Program, professional artists each year introduce the wonders of opera to over 3,200 children in our inner city public and parochial schools who otherwise would receive little or no exposure to classical music.” Many other opera companies around the country also bring performances to students. A number of them have Internet presences, allowing educators to quickly locate them.

The Rogue Opera Company, RogueOpera.org, was founded to present Opera In The Schools in Oregon. Its show entitled “OperAntics” will be presented over 100 times this school year, to 20,000 students: “With scenes from eight operas and constant audience interaction and participation, this promises to be one of our best Opera in the Schools shows in our 21 year history of educating youth in southern Oregon!”

Opera In The Schools
Minority Students
Teaching Resources
Arts In Education
Music In Schools
Opera And Theater

“Blake” by H. Leslie Adams is Staged by African American Opera Company

AfriClassical recently announced a production of the 4-act opera Blake by H. Leslie Adams, to be conducted by Kay George Roberts on Saturday, April 12, 2008 at Trinity Center for Urban Life, 2212 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For tickets and information contact Opera North, Inc. at 215-884-5840 or visit OperaNorth.com

The vision for Opera North began with Sister Mary Elise of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who fought zealously to break the color barriers that denied performance opportunities to gifted African-American vocal artists, musicians, and conductors on major opera and concert stages in America. For the past 30 years, Opera North, Pennsylvania's only African-American opera company, has continued to fulfill this vision by presenting opera productions, recitals, concerts, and Black History programs that feature celebrated and rising African-American artists, as well as providing an impressive array of education and outreach programs.

[H. Leslie Adams is profiled at AfriClassical.com] To see the complete Philadelphia area calendar of Black Classical Musicians and Concerts, click Here

H. Leslie Adams
Opera Blake April 12
Opera North
African American Opera Company
Kay George Roberts
Sister Mary Elise

Tuskegee University Remembers William Levi Dawson, African American Composer

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


Tuskegee University
Annual lecture, concert celebrate legacy of famed composer Dawson
Tuskegee, Ala. (April 6, 2008) - The 17^th Annual William Levi Dawson Lecture was held on April 4 in the University Chapel. The lecture was given by Clyde Owen Jackson, a former choir student of the legendary composer Dawson and former choir director, himself.

"In all my years of giving lectures and workshop across the U.S., I usually talk about Dawson's works and genius arrangements of the Negro Folk Songs," Jackson said to an audience of students, faculty and alumni. "This year, I want to focus on the man and his students."

Jackson's lecture, "Embrace the Light," covered the years of Dawson's tenure as director of the world-renowned Golden Voices Choir at Tuskegee (1931-1970). According to Jackson, the composer was very dedicated to the education of his many students, something that Jackson was able to recognize right away. Full Post

[The African American composer and choral director William Levi Dawson (1899-1990) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

William Levi Dawson
African American Composer
Negro Folk Symphony
African American Choral Director
Tuskegee Institute
Black Classical Composer

Music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor & Scott Joplin at Brighton Festival Fringe 10 May

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; Cedille 90000 055 (2000)]

Brighton Festival Fringe, 10 May 2008, 7:30 PM
"Classical Music
Satie's Mercury and some consequences
SOUNDkiosk
Friends' Meeting House, Ship Street

Jamie Crofts returns for a 3rd year with piano music based around Erik Satie. Including his Mercure and music by Nancarrow, Coleridge-Taylor, David Bowie, Howard Skempton and Aphex Twin. Website: http://www.thisisj.me.uk"

Brighton Festival Fringe reports that the Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) will be represented by Deep River, and music of the African American composer and pianist Scott Joplin (1868-1917) will also be performed. [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Scott Joplin are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Afro-British Composer
Scott Joplin
Ragtime and Classical Composer
Brighton Festival Fringe
Deep River

Mason Double Reeds: We've Been Linked

[Afro-American Symphony; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Karl Kruger, conductor; Bridge 9086 (1999)]

Mason Double Reeds: We've Been Linked
By Mandy Loerch
A very interesting blog, AfriClassical, mentioned my post on Joe Diliberti performing William Grant Still's "Incantation and Dance." Dedicated to current issues involving Black composers and musicians, the blog is a new companion to AfriClassical.com. Their composer page on Still is packed with terrific information.

Did you know that, in addition to being a trained violin, he taught himself how to play the clarinet, saxophone, OBOE, double bass, cello, and and viola?! I guess that wouldn't be kind to share with our Music Education students, who need a least a semester to grasp the basics for each family of instruments.

William Grant Still
Incantation and Dance
African American Composer
Black Classical Composer
Classical Music
Chamber Music

Keeping Older Students of Color in School Orchestras

[The Harlem Quartet and Sphinx Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, September 2007]

E-mail From Music Teacher Asks For Ideas
I am interested in any information at all that can help to maintain students of color in our orchestra program. The district I work in has historically been divided into two areas, one that was economically advantaged and the other not (more like inner city). The orchestra program starts out with high numbers in the beginners on both sides of the district, only to dwindle on the inner city side as the kids enter junior high. We are now being mixed throughout the district and the schools will have a more diverse group. I want to see if we can maintain those economically challenged students (students of color in this group mostly). At this point, my concert orchestra has 60 students with only two Black, 7 Hispanic, and several Asian students. In the coming years, if we maintain the current elementary students, we should see an increase in the diversity of this group. I need ideas to help this happen. It is important to me that our orchestra reflects the student body proportionately, that all students have the opportunity to be a part of this organization. Thank you for any information, ideas you can pass on.

Suggestions
Aaron P. Dworkin (b. 1970) is a violinist who had one African American parent and one White parent. His isolation as a violin student of color in largely White classes led him to found the Sphinx Organization in 1996 while still a graduate student at the University of Michigan. AfriClassical.com honors Aaron Dworkin with a biographical profile.

The principal website of the Sphinx Organization is SphinxMusic.org, but your young students may also benefit from the interactive resources at its children's site, SphinxKids.org The Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and the Harlem Quartet will be making an historic performance tour of the United States this year. If your students could attend a performance, they might be inspired to fulfill their own potential as classical music performers.

I suggest you introduce your students to some of the 52 biographies and more than 100 music samples at AfriClassical.com, which celebrates 500 years of achievements by Black composers and musicians. A brief but compelling story is the biography of John Blanke, a 16th century Black trumpeter for England's Kings Henry VII and VIII. His picture can be seen in a detail from an illuminated manuscript documenting the Tournament of Westminster of 1511, in which John Blanke performed on horseback.

I believe your students would benefit from exposure to many of the figures presented at the website, especially Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799). AfriClassical posts often lead to audio files or videos of classical works written or performed by people of color.

Another resource on classical musicians of color is The Myrtle Hart Society, whose Executive Director is Rashida N. Black, an African American harpist and music researcher. Her website is MyrtleHart.org I very much hope some of these suggestions will be of use to you in your most important task.

School Orchestra Diversity
Aaron Dworkin
Harlem Quartet
Sphinx Chamber Orchestra
Myrtle Hart Society
Black And Latino Musicians

Florence B. Price, African American Composer Born April 9, 1887

[Symphony No. 3; Mississippi River Suite; The Oak; The Women's Philharmonic; Apo Hsu, Conductor; Koch 3 75182H1 (2001)

Professor Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University has generously made his research on Florence Beatrice Smith Price available to AfriClassical.com Price was the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra. Marian Anderson was among many singers who used her arrangements of Negro spirituals. Price was born and raised in Little Rock, where her mother, Florence Gulliver Smith, owned a restaurant, and her father, James H. Smith, was the city's only Black dentist. The child's first piano teacher was her mother.

Dr. De Lerma writes: “In elementary school she was a student of Charlotte Andrews Stephens. Her first work was published when she was 11.” He continues: “In 1903, having graduated from Capitol High School, she entered the New England Conservatory (B.M., 1906, organ and piano performance) studying with Frederick S. Converse and George Whitefield Chadwick (music theory), and Henry M. Dunham (organ), starting to think seriously about composition.”

Price taught for a year at Cotton Plant-Arkadelphia in Arkansas, and served on the faculties of Shorter College (1906-1910) and Atlanta's Clark University (1910-1912), before returning to Little Rock to teach music privately and compose. “In 1912 Florence B. Price married Thomas J. Price, an attorney in Little Rock. Prof. De Lerma tells us: Little Rock had been a comfortable city for Black residents, but racial problems began to develop and she moved with her husband, attorney Thomas J. Price, and their two daughters to Chicago in 1927 or 1928.” The marriage did not endure, and Price and her children found themselves in difficult financial circumstances for several years.

Fantasie Nègre (8:56) is a work which is found on the CD Leonarda 339 (1995). It is performed by Helen Walker-Hill, piano, and Gregory Walker, violin. Walker-Hill describes it: “Composed in 1929, it is her first ambitious work for piano, and combines Negro melodic and rhythmic idioms with classical European forms and techniques, presenting ternary and variation forms in florid fantasia-style. The theme is the spiritual Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass.”

The composer turned to competitions as a way to achieve recognition. After numerous submissions her efforts were finally rewarded in 1932 with multiple Wanamaker prizes. Rosalyn Story writes: "In the widely revered Wanamaker Competition in 1932, she won four prizes, including the top prize for a symphonic composition. (It was a banner year for Black women composers: Bonds, Price's student, also competed and won a prize.) Frederick Stock, then conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, presented Price's Symphony in E Minor for the Chicago World's Fair (Century of Progress Exposition) in 1933. It was the first time a symphony written by a Black woman has been performed by a major symphony orchestra." Critics raved unanimously. Full Biography

Florence B. Price
African American Composer
First Black Woman Symphonist
Fantasie Nègre
Symphony in E Minor
Classical Composer Birthday

Sound and Light Show of William Grant Still's 'And They Lynched Him On A Tree'

[Piano Music By William Grant Still And Other Black Composers; Monica Gaylord, piano; Music & Arts CD 737 (1993)]

Indiana Daily Student
Luminescence Project gives ‘multi- sensory’ show
Performance conveyed lynching with light, audio
Allison Tyra 4/7/2008

A hush came over the crowd as the lights dimmed and the choir, barefoot and clad entirely in black, padded onto the stage in the center of the audience. The singers’ only accessories were small lights in red, white, blue, green or orange hanging on black cord from their necks and the black binders of music they carried.

The IU Luminescence Project’s multi-sensory performance Friday and Saturday in the Musical Arts Center transported the audience into a world where a young black man is lynched by a white mob.

The show began with Harald Svennson’s “I-A-O,” a series of syllables accompanied by a small instrumental section and overlaid with speech sound bytes from Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

“We shall overcome,” King’s well-known voice resonated throughout the room, part of a speech he gave June 17, 1966. “Deep in my heart, I believe we shall overcome.”

The music transitioned into the centerpiece of the show, “And They Lynched Him on a Tree,” a song written by black composer William Grant Still and white poet Katherine Garrison Chapin.
Full Post [William Grant Still is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

William Grant Still
And They Lynched Him on a Tree
African American Composer
Performance conveyed lynching
Classical Composition
IU Luminescence Project

José Loyola Fernández (b. 1941), Afro-Cuban Composer

AmericanComposers.org/cubabios.htm:
Composer, musicologist, and flutist José Loyola Fernández was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba in 1941. Loyola graduated as a flutist in 1967 from the Escuela Nacional de Arte de La Habana, under the supervision of teachers Roberto Ondina and Emigdio Mayo. In 1973 he received his master's degree in composition from the Warsaw Music Academy, where he studied with Witold Rudzinski. In 1985 he received a doctorate with a specialty in music theory from the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw.

His compositions have been performed in Cuba, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Argentina, Mexico, and El Salvador. In 1992 he received the Cuban Premio Anual de Composición given by the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba. He has been a participant in conferences at universities and cultural institutions in Latin America, Europe, and Africa. Loyola is the author of En ritmo de bolero and has published articles in journals in Cuba, Latin America, and Spain. He is the editor of the journal Música Cubana, a publication of the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba.

Currently Loyola is professor of composition, orchestration and counterpoint at the Instituto Superior de Arte de La Habana. He also serves as member of the board of trustees of several important artistic organizations in Cuba.

José Loyola Fernández
Afro-Cuban Composer
Afro-Cuban Musicologist
Afro-Cuban Flutist
Classical Music
African American Flutist

4th Annual Haiku Festival Awards Program At Chicago's Woodson Library April 5

AfriClassical has received the following announcement from the African American composer and author Regina Harris Baiocchi of Chicago:

Please attend 4^th Annual Haiku Festival Awards Program
WHO: Poets age 8-14 and Liberty Temple Children's Choir
WHAT: An enchanting hour of original poetry and music
WHEN: Saturday, 5 April 2008 @ 12:00 Noon; Dessert reception @ 1:00 PM
WHERE: Woodson Library Auditorium, 9525 South Halsted (312-747-6900)
HOW MUCH: Admission is FREE and open to the public
RSVP: Via this email address: RHBAIOCCHI@aol.com or voice mail 312-458-9898
INFO: Please visit HaikuFest.com

Peace,
Regina Harris Baiocchi
Founder, Haiku Festival

On 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). Kidstuff is a children's CD produced by Regina Harris Baiocchi and Michael Adams in 2007.

Regina Harris Baiocchi
African American Composer
Etude No. 2 Leonarda 339
Kidstuff 2007
Black Classical Composer
Haiku Festival

“Reverie” Of William Grant Still Played On 101-year-old Skinner Organ

[Skyward My People Rose: Music of William Grant Still; Reverie (3:56); Philip Brunelle, organ; Clarion 905 (2004)]

Flickr.com:
Prof. Ken Cowan and the magnificent 101-yr-old Skinner organ at Old Cabell Hall, UVA. The "Skinner Organ Centennial Concert" by Prof. Cowan featured mostly pieces from the late 1800/early 1900s, by Widor (Allegro Vivace), Karg-Elert Harmonies Du Soir), Vierne (Naiades), Liszt (Mephisto Waltz), Bossi (Ave Maria, Giga), and Guilmant (Sonata No. 1). One somewhat more recently composed, by William Grant Still -- "Reverie" was a great contrast. The organ is "E.M.Skinner opus 127", dedicated March 18-29, 1907. 27 ranks, 35 stops, 1585 pipes.

Skyward My People Rose: Music of William Grant Still was released on Clarion 905 (2004). William Grant Still's Reverie (3:56) was performed on the CD by Philip Brunelle, organ, followed by William Grant Still's Elegy (5:25), also played by organist Philip Brunelle, Founder and Director of VocalEssence.org The recording was reviewed by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma in an AfriClassical post on August 5, 2007. William Grant Still is profiled at AfriClassical.com

William Grant Still
African American Composer
Still's Reverie for Organ
Philip Brunelle
VocalEssence Ensemble
African American Art Music

Chelsea Tipton Yields Baton For A March at Toledo Symphony Anniversary Concert April 12

Toledo Blade April 3, 2008
News Of Music And Dance
Symphony auctioning a chance to conduct at April 12 concert

The Toledo Symphony wants to put you on the conductor’s podium for its 65th Anniversary Celebration Concert on April 12 in the Stranahan Theater. And to give every interested would-be maestro an equal chance, the orchestra has listed the opportunity on eBay.

The eBay gimmick is the latest lively addition to the symphony’s plans to celebrate 65 consecutive years of music-making in the area. Already the community has been voting on the music for the program. Some 7,400 votes had been cast as of late last month, according to an orchestra spokesman, and voting continues at http://www.toledosymphony.com.

So far, in the Red, White, and Blue category, the top vote-getter has been John Phillip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever march. Top bidder will have one rehearsal with the orchestra before the concert. Resident conductor Chelsea Tipton II will yield the baton for that piece.

An anonymous former Toledoan has kicked off the bidding with a $5,000 opener. Raises must be in increments of $500. Bidding started last Friday and will end tomorrow.

Maestro Chelsea Tipton II
African American Conductor
Toledo Symphony
Classical Music
Black Conductor
65th Anniversary Concert

African American Trombonist Weston Sprott Performs With Alan Alda

Weston Sprott, African American trombonist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, tells Rashida Black of The Myrtle Hart Society, MyrtleHart.org/: “I will also be performing Stravinksy's Soldier's Tale in recital with Alan Alda narrating at the 92nd St Y here in NYC on April 29th and 30th.” The website of the 92^nd Street Y announces: “Chamber Music at the Y with Alan Alda”, and explains “Alan Alda unites his two passions, music and theater, in dramatic presentations of two colorful chamber works.” The program begins at 8:00 P.M. Each evening.

SAINT-SAËNS: Le carnaval des animaux
STRAVINSKY: L'Histoire du soldat

Weston Sprott
African American Trombonist
92nd Street Y
Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale
Black Classical Instrumentalist
Black Orchestra Member

Music of R. Nathaniel Dett At Washington, D.C. Papal Mass April 17

[The Collected Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett; Summy-Birchard (1973)]

Sarah Karush of the Associated Press writes “Choir Gets Down to Work for Pope's Visit”, an April 3, 2008 article. Reporting from Hyattsville, Maryland, she says a specially-selected 250-member choir has begun rehearsals for a Papal Mass at Washington's Nationals Park baseball stadium on April 17. The visit to Washington is part of an official visit to the U.S. by Pope Benedict XVI. Sarah Karush writes: “The rehearsals are intense. There are no breaks, except for brief opportunities to stretch while announcements are made. At the first one, the group rehearsed a Gregorian chant, the spiritual Plenty Good Room and works by contemporary British composer David Ogden and the 20th century black composer R. Nathaniel Dett.” Born in Ontario, Canada, R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) immigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child. He is profiled at http://www.AfriClassical.com Audio samples on the page include one of Ave Maria from the CD Got the Saint Louis Blues, sung by the VocalEssence Ensemble under the direction of Philip Brunelle, Conductor on Clarion CLR907CD (2004). The recording also contains R. Nathaniel Dett's Listen to the Lambs and The Chariot Jubilee.

R. Nathaniel Dett
Black Composer
April 17 Papal Mass
VocalEssence Ensemble
Dett's Ave Maria
African American Composer

“Incantation and Dance” of William Grant Still on YouTube.com

[Africa: Piano Music of William Grant Still; Denver Oldham, piano; Koch 3 7084 2H1 (1991)]

Mason Double Reeds, Oboe and Bassoon Studios at George Mason University, has posted:

Joboe Recites
By: Mandy Loerch
“Last Sunday, oboist Joe Diliberti showcased his virtuosity in his Junior Performance Recital at 3 p.m. in Mason’s Grand Tier. Assisted by percussionist Matt Levine, piano accompanist Roy Hakes, and his supportive oboe sisters, the double-reed selections were more than double the fun!”

“Joe Diliberti is a student of Lorrie Berkshire Brown, and regularly performs as an oboist and English hornist with the Mason Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band. Joe has worked under several renowned conductors, such as National Symphony director Leonard Slatkin, and has performed in several world class concert halls, including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, where he was invited to perform with the Washington Youth Foundation Orchestra last summer. He maintains a small private studio of oboe students and coaches at several area high schools, as well as previously being an oboe mentor and counselor at Colgate University for the Eastern U.S. Music Camp in New York. Joe has been fortunate to attend master classes and receive coaching from Joseph Robinson, former principal oboist of the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony's John Ferillo.” Full Post

Oboists Katie Kane and Janice Shin accompanied the soloist. William Grant Still (1895-1978), was an African American composer, arranger, conductor and oboist. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com The recital included works of Telemann, Poulenc, Beethoven and Wilder, in addition to “Incantation and Dance” (4:55) of William Grant Still, which can be seen on YouTube.com

William Grant Still
Incantation and Dance
African American Composer
Oboe and Piano
YouTube.com Video
Chamber Music

Weston Sprott, Trombone, Is Guest Soloist With Curtis Brass Ensemble April 15

Rashida Black of the Myrtle Hart Society, MyrtleHart.org, has alerted AfriClassical to an upcoming performance by the African American trombonist Weston Sprott, a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, who writes: “On April 15^th, I will be a guest soloist (along with David Bilger, principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra) with the Curtis Brass Ensemble. The concert is at 8 PM at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1625 Locust Street, Philadelphia.”

Weston Sprott is an Artist/Clinician for the Edwards Instrument Company. Its website provides this bio for him: “Weston Sprott was appointed to the position of second trombone of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the spring of 2005. He began his musical training in his hometown of Spring, Texas. Mr. Sprott attended Indiana University before completing his Bachelor of Music degree at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His primary teachers include Michael Warny (Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras), Carl Lenthe (former Principal Trombone, Bavarian State Opera and Bamberg Symphony) and Nitzan Haroz (Principal Trombone-Philadelphia Orchestra). While a student at Curtis, Mr. Sprott held the positions of Principal Trombone in the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra (Philadelphia) and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He was the founding member of the Texas Trombone Octet, a group that won the Emory Remington competition and was featured in concert at the International Trombone Festival in Helsinki, Finland. Mr. Sprott has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Hot Springs Music Festival, The American Wind Symphony Orchestra, and The Sphinx Symphony (Detroit).” Full Bio

Weston Sprott
African American Trombonist
Classical Music
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Black Classical Trombonist
African American Orchestra Member

Dr. Mellasenah Y. Morris Accepts Position of Dean of Peabody Conservatory of Music

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin as well as principal adviser for AfriClassical.com He tells AfriClassical that Dr. Mellasenah Y. Morris, an African American pianist, has accepted the position of Dean of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. She will leave her current position as Director and Professor of the School of Music at The Ohio State University in July.

Mellasenah Y. Morris, a native of Norfolk, earned her undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music where she studied with Julio Esteban. She has performed in masterclasses with such renowned artists as Leon Fleisher, Irvin Freundlich, Fernando Laires, and David Burge. Also, she has received coachings from Ann Schein and William Bolcom. Dr. Morris gave a debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1979. Since that time, her performances have included solo recitals in Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, England; lecture-recitals in Delaware, Mississippi, and Alabama; and numerous appearances as an accompanist and chamber music performer, specializing in contemporary music.

She has appeared as soloist with the Atlanta University Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Maryland Women's Symphony Orchestra, and the James Madison University Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra. She appears frequently in recitals with her daughter, Dr. Mellasenah Edwards, a concert violinist. Along with a varied performing career, Dr. Morris has enjoyed several academic appointments. She has served on the Peabody Preparatory Department and the Peabody Conservatory.

She also has held administrative positions, serving as Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs at Peabody, Dean of the School of Music and Professor of Piano at Alabama State University, and Director of the School of Music and Professor of Piano at James Madison University. Currently, she is Director of the School of Music and Professor of Piano at The Ohio State University. In addition, Dr. Morris is active in the National Association of Schools of Music, the accrediting agency for university programs in the United States, currently serving as a member of the Commission for Accreditation. Her most recent scholarly pursuit was the completion of a biographical sketch on American composer Florence Price for Carlson Publications. [Florence B. Price is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Dr. Mellasenah Morris
African American Pianist
Peabody Conservatory Dean
African American Music Dean
Black Professor
Classical Music

Comment: Shea Scruggs is Principal Oboe for San Francisco Opera Orchestra

AfriClassical has received a comment on yesterday's post “African Americans in Orchestra: An Evening With Five Master Musicians In Albuquerque”: “If my records are correct, Mr. Scruggs is with San Francisco Opera orchestra, not the symphony. Just an FYI." pattyoboe@mac.com The reader is correct; the website of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra lists Shea Scruggs on its roster as Principal Oboe, and includes this bio:

“Principal Oboist Shea Scruggs joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2007. Originally from Miami, Florida, Shea attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with Richard Woodhams. He also holds a degree in English Literature from Swarthmore College. Shea has performed with many orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and Atlanta Symphony. He joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra following a season as Acting Principal Oboe of the Cincinnati Symphony.”

Our thanks to the alert reader who was kind enough to bring this error to our attention!

Shea Scruggs
African-American Oboist
San Francisco Opera Orchestra
Opera Oboist
Black Oboist
African-American Orchestra Member

African Americans in Orchestra: An Evening With Five Master Musicians In Albuquerque

[Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Members Weston Sprott, trombone, at top; Anthony McGill, clarinet, at bottom]

Press Release
African American Performing Arts Center
310 San Pedro Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 222-0777
March 24, 2008
Pamelya Herndon, Chairperson, Board of Directors; Donald A. Jordan, Executive Director

African Americans in Orchestra: An Evening With Five Master Musicians

On Thursday, April 24, 2008, the African American Performing Arts Foundation will host an evening of orchestral music featuring African American Master Musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at the African American Performing Arts Center and Exhibit Hall, 310 San Pedro, NE, Albuquerque. The program begins at 7:00 PM.

Visiting artists include Billy Ray Hunter on Trumpet, Anthony McGill on Clarinet, and Weston Sprott on Trombone, from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Shea Scruggs on Oboe, from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; and Richard A. White on Tuba from the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. All are highly accomplished musicians and musical prodigies in their own right. To say their credentials are impressive understates their preparation and performance experiences.

The concert will benefit the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are now on sale at the African American Performing Arts Center box office. Gold Circle tickets are $75 and $100 for preferred seating and include a reception with the performers, prior to the concert. General admission tickets are $50. For more information call Don Jordan at 222-0777. This will be an unforgettable evening of music in New Mexico.

African-American Symphony Members
Anthony McGill
Weston Sprott
Billy Ray Hunter
Shea Scruggs
Richard A. White

Cobb Symphony Performs “Afro-American Symphony” of William Grant Still April 19 & 20

[William Grant Still (Photo is the sole property of William Grant Still Music, and is used with permission.)]

Masterworks #4 - Freedom’s Song
April 19, 2008 • 8 PM
April 20, 2008 • 3 PM
“Join the Cobb Symphony Orchestra, the CSO Chorus and soloists for a spectacular season finale and the triumphant sounds of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and the Afro-American Symphony by William Grant Still. From $15 to $35.” Michael Alexander is Music Director of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra; Bryan Black is CSO Chorus Director. The concert location is the Dozier Centre, 2250 Stilesboro Rd NW, Kennesaw, Georgia.

William Grant Still (1895-1978), was an African American composer, arranger, conductor and oboist. He was born in Woodville, Mississippi but was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas from the age of three months. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where he discusses his approach to composing the Afro-American Symphony:

Michael Fleming quotes the composer in the liner notes for Chandos 9154 (1993): “I knew I wanted to write a symphony; I knew that it had to be an American work; and I wanted to demonstrate how the blues, so often considered a lowly expression, could be elevated to the
highest musical level.” The first performances of the Afro-American Symphony were given by the Rochester Philharmonic, with Howard Hanson conducting, on Oct. 28 and 29, 1931.

Afro-American Symphony
William Grant Still
Classical Music
African-American Composer
Black Symphonist
Cobb Symphony

New York Sun: Atlanta Symphony's Robert Shaw Commissioned Ulysses S. Kay

[Ulysses Kay: Works for Chamber Orchestra; Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra; Kevin Scott, Conductor; Troy 961 (2007)]

The New York Sun
A Contemporary Tradition
Classical Music

By Fred Kirshnit
April 1, 2008

“Although the traditional and the contemporary are often at odds in today's classical music world, Robert Spano will offer a compromise when he brings his Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall on Saturday evening: a tradition of presenting the contemporary.

The work in question is the New York premiere of the Here and Now by Christopher Theofanidis.”

“While the work is an unusual composition, it is not surprising that the Atlanta Symphony is its vehicle; the symphony has been a leader in the introduction of contemporary works. When Robert Shaw took over the ensemble in the 1960s, he did much more than simply elevate its musical standards.”

“Shaw was a tireless champion of the modern. He programmed Penderecki, Schoenberg, Lutoslawski, Ligeti, and Schuller, and also commissioned a work by Ulysses Kay, significantly for that time and place, a black composer. After his board complained, Shaw scheduled 10 uncompromising works by Charles Ives. The board asked for Shaw's resignation, but public outcry saved his position.” Full Article [Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. (1917-1995) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Ulysses Kay
Black Composer
Classical Music
Shaw Commission
African-American Composer
Atlanta Symphony