Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Accordionist Robert Young McMahan Tells of William Grant Still's 'Lilt' & Ronald Roxbury's 'Four Preludes'

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


“Dear Mr. Zick,
Excited to hear of your picking up my most recent rendering of the Aria. Still was also commissioned by the AAA to write a second piece, Lilt, for accordion. I made an audio recording of that as well. I'll try to find a way to get that on YouTube, too, if it's possible (I'm new to uploading to YouTube). You may find these sites of interest regarding Still as well:
http://www.ksanti.net/free-reed/reviews/freereedjournal.html

“Another significant work is Four Preludes by a very talented but short lived composer, Ronald Roxbury. He and I started out as classmates at Peabody Conservatory in 1964. I premiered these pieces there around 1967. I recorded that, too, and would like to get that out to the public. Roxbury was an African-American from Salisbury, MD.
Best regards,
Bob McMahan”
[William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a complete Works Lists by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma is featured.]

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