Ulysses Kay's 'Epigrams and Hymn' To Be Heard June 14 in Sisters Chapel of Spelman College

[Ulysses Kay: Works for Chamber Orchestra; Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra; Kevin Scott, Conductor; Troy 961 (2007)]

ArtsCriticalATL.com
06/12/2009
Historic 'Atlanta Music Festival' coming to Spelman College
By PIERRE RUHE
“In 1910, downtown Atlanta's First Congregational Church of Christ launched what was then called the Atlanta Colored Music Festival, a program involving black and white composers and performers that helped 'discourage violence and advance respect between white and black Atlantans.' The concerts were a sensation, drawing a diverse crowd in an era of boiling racial tension, just four years after the Atlanta race riots.

“The original festival didn't last long. Last year, First Congregational's minister Dwight Andrews, an elegant and impassioned composer, revived the festival as part of his congregation's legacy. He made the point that the original event seemed like a 'cultural moment,' but added 'every cultural moment seems like a first time, going back 100 years.' This Sunday at Spelman's Sisters Chapel, Andrews, conductor Steven Darcey, Spelman organist Joyce Johnson and the Meridian Chorale will go at it a second time. The free concert, at 4 pm, features tenor Timothy B. Miller, among other solo singers, and includes Ulysses Kay's adventurous anthem 'Epigrams and Hymn' and Andrews' 'Benediction.'" Dr. Joyce Finch Johnson is also a Professor of Music.

Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. was an African American composer, conductor and professor who was born on January 7, 1917 in Tucson, Arizona. He died in Englewood, New Jersey on May 20, 1995. Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin has generously made his research entry on Kay available to AfriClassical.com, where his complete Works List for the composer can be found. Here is the entry for the work in question: “Epigrams and hymn, W126, for SATB & organ (1975). New York: Carl Fischer, 1975. 20p. Text: John Greenleaf Whittier, Rev. John Murray, and Samuel Longfellow. Commission: Prebysterian Theological Seminary, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, and Brick Presbyterian Church, for the American Bicentennial. Première: 1976/V/15; New York; Brick Presbyterian Church Choir; T. Charles Lee, conductor. Duration: 6:00.” [Full Biography]