Sunday, September 30, 2007

African American Soprano Martina Arroyo on Radio from Berlin

Once a month, streaming audio on the Internet brings a Berlin radio broadcast of the organization Classic in Black to the computer users of the world.

On Monday, Oct. 1, 2007 at 8:00 P.M. Berlin Time (2:00 P.M. EDT in the U.S.), Classic in Black presents a portrait of the African-American Soprano Martina Arroyo, accompanied by a selection of her recordings. Harry Louiserre is Producer and Moderator; Rolf Gänsrich is Technician. The program originates in Germany but is broadcast in English. Harry Louiserre is Managing Director of the company Classic in Black, Paris/Berlin/New York. He is a singer and music producer who has long been located in Berlin, according to his group's website, Classicinblack.de/ Mr. Louiserre is associated with Berlin Fountainhead Dance Theatre, as well as many other organizations, including the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago, Black International Cinema Berlin and Afrikahaus Berlin.

The radio program can be heard live once each month; audio streaming is available at the website of Offener Kanal Berlin: OKB.de/ Look for the heading “Radio - live stream” in the upper right corner of the page, and select "RealOne" or "WinAmp". Classic in Black is also included periodically on “The Collegium Television Program”.

Classic In Black presents extensive photo and text resources on Black Classical Music at another website. The page is entitled “A Dialogue of Civilizations: African Culture and Classical Music”. The artists featured are Composers, Conductors, Musicians, Singers and Ballet Dancers, but the overwhelming majority are vocalists.

The contralto Marian Anderson is profiled first in a lengthy biographical essay by Randye L. Jones. Next is Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933), of whom Classic in Black says:

“She sang for kings, died in poverty
Sissieretta Jones was a pioneer of black operatic singing, and she paved the way for a long list of black opera singers to follow, including Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, Leontyne Price, and Grace Bumbry, among others.”

The Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is next, followed by Grace Bumbry, the distinguished African American conductor James DePreist, the African American composer and pianist Margaret Allison Bonds, the pioneering African American conductor Dean Dixon and a great many others.







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