Karen Parks Sings “Nobody Knows - Songs Of Harry T. Burleigh”

[Nobody Knows - Songs Of Harry T. Burleigh; Karen Parks, soprano; Wayne Sanders, piano; Thirty Tigers 765324 (2008)]

David Macias of the music label Thirty Tigers has informed AfriClassical of his role in
producing the recording Nobody Knows – Songs of Harry T. Burleigh, a composer who is
profiled at AfriClassical.com:

“It is an album of Harry Burleigh's music by a soprano named Karen Parks from Atlanta.  The
album came out early this month and we actually debuted at #2 on the Billboard's Traditional
Classical chart, which I believe is the highest chart position ever for an album of music by an
African-American classical composer.”

“Karen Parks, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, was chosen out of her school chorus at the age of 10 for special training. Her music education eventually resulted in her being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for Voice, which enabled her to study with Maestro Gabriele Pisani at the prestigious La Scala in Milan, Italy. From there, she was asked to join the San Francisco Opera, where she sang the role of Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen. Her roles with various companies have included Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Harriet Tubman in two different operas (Harriet and Frederick Douglass, and the title role in Anita, an opera about the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.

Parks made her London debut as Cindy Lou (Micaela) in the West End production of Carmen Jones, Oscar Hammerstein’s reworking of Bizet’s opera Carmen. Her performance in that production resulted in a nomination for an Olivier Award. She is also a renowned vocal coach, having earned her Masters Degree in Music from the University of Texas, and has owned and operated the Studio For Vocal Refinement since 2002.

Accompanying Ms. Parks is pianist Wayne Sanders, the Musical Director of Opera Ebony in New York City, as well as Nashville’s ALIAS Chamber Ensemble. The album was recorded at Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and engineered by the legendary Bob Ohlsson.

Macias won the 2005 Grammy in the Traditional Folk category for his co-production of Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster. He also recently co-produced Song of America, a recording that follows the history of the United States through a 50-song cycle (to which Ms. Parks contributes 'Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing').”

Karen Parks
Harry Burleigh
Henry Burleigh
Wayne Sanders
African-American Spirituals
Black Soprano