New York City Housing Symphony Orchestra in 'Black History Month Concert' at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall Mon., Feb. 21

[Maestro Kay George Roberts]

Kay George Roberts of the University of Massachusetts Lowell was featured by AfriClassical last year in a fascinating series based on a cover article, For Kay Roberts, Strings Are the Thing; UMass Lowell Magazine, Spring 2009. Professor Roberts informs us that she conducted the Black History Month concert of The New York City Housing Symphony Orchestra on Monday, February 21, 2011:

“The New York City Housing Symphony Orchestra, now in its 40th Anniversary Season, celebrated Black History Month at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall at 8:00 PM, Monday, February 21, 2011. This Gala Benefit concert featured classical and jazz music by composers of African heritage— Duke Ellington, William Grant Still, Tunde Jegede (British), Adolphus Hailstork, William Foster McDaniel and Jack Jeffers. Eugene Moye, principal cellist of American Symphony Orchestra, was the featured soloist in Jegede’s Lamentation for cello and orchestra, a New York premiere, Kay George Roberts conducted.

“Long before the Sphinx Organization started to build diversity in classical music, there was Janet Wolfe. The 96-year old Wolfe, a long-time patron of minority musicians in New York City, founded New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Symphony Orchestra in 1971.” [Duke Ellington (1899-1974), Adolphus C. Hailstork (b. 1941) and William Grant Still (1895-1978) are profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List for William Grant Still by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma]