Thursday, February 3, 2011

Bay State Banner: Opera Boston & 'Mssng Lnks' in 'Emancipation Chronicles,' Workshop on Scott Joplin's 'Treemonisha'

[Scott Joplin's Treemonisha; Original Cast Recording; Polygram 435709 (1992)]

BayStateBanner.com
Sandra Larson
“Middle schoolers at Mildred Avenue K-8 School in Mattapan have wrapped up a two-month grant-funded program of musical and historical enrichment. About 40 students participated in 'Emancipation Chronicles,' a workshop series led jointly by Opera Boston and Mssng Lnks, a Boston nonprofit that provides vocal training to underserved youth. The program was made possible by the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Arts Expansion Initiative, developed by BPS and managed by EdVestors, a Boston organization that channels private investment into schools. The initiative, which supplements the $16 million already in the BPS budget for arts, is serving an estimated 5,000 students in some 40 schools this year.

“For the Mildred Avenue School students, the extra funds paved the way for a series of workshops covering the music, themes and historical context of African American composer Scott Joplin’s opera 'Treemonisha.' Mssng Lnks Founder Sam Martinborough and professional musicians from Opera Boston came to the school each week in December and January to work with seventh- and eighth-graders enrolled in teacher Sheryl Pedone’s music classes.

“'Treemonisha' is set in the time of slave emancipation. Its message celebrates the value of education for blacks in the late-1800s South. Using the opera as a springboard, Martinborough created a curriculum combining vocal music with lessons on the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, the constitutional amendments that abolished slavery in 1865, granted former slaves citizenship in 1868 and gave black males the right to vote in 1870.” [Scott Joplin (1868-1917) was a Ragtime and Classical composer and pianist of African descent who is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

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