The Niagara Falls Review: 'Nathaniel Dett Chorale founder celebrates historic times'

[Nathaniel Dett Chorale and Brainerd Blyden-Taylor]

The Niagara Falls Review, Ontario, Canada

Nathaniel Dett Chorale founder celebrates historic times

Gospel workshop in the Falls, then off to Obama's inauguration

January 8, 2009
Posted by John Law

The next ten days will be eventful for conductor Brainerd Blyden-Taylor: He’ll start with Niagara, and finish with Obama. First up, the world-renowned artistic director of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale is in town Saturday to participate in The Gospel Train Workshop at St. Andrew’s United Church on Morrison Street, hosted by Niagara chamber choir Choralis Camerata. Then, he’s off to Washington for festivities surrounding the U.S. presidential inauguration. On Feb. 19, the night before Barack Obama is sworn in, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale will perform at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on Martin Luther King Day.

On Inauguration Day, the group will perform at the Embassy of Canada’s headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s an invite that has brought the group international attention this week. Gospel Train Workshop organizer Laura Thomas is relieved she booked Blyden-Taylor before word got out. “I think what I said was, “As long as you’re still available on (January) 10th ... that’s great!’” Named after the black composer from Niagara Falls, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale was formed in 1998 as Canada’s first professional choir dedicated to Afrocentric music of all genres. It has won worldwide acclaim the past decade, marking its 10th anniversary with a tour of the southern U.S. [R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]