www.ErrollynWallen.com
Comment by email:
Many many thanks, as always Bill, It's such a shame you haven't got the coverage of the Paralympic Games that we have over here! All best wishes,
Errollyn [Errollyn Wallen]
Friday, August 31, 2012
'Resurrecting Spirit, Reclaiming Community' Gala in Chicago, 7 PM Saturday, September 8, 2012
Dear CMA and NANM Members and
Friends:
Please join us as eta Creative Arts Foundation honors Chicago Music
Association along with four other distinguished honorees.
eta Creative
Arts Foundation has been committed to providing
performances featuring African American artists,
directors, playwrights and technicians for 41 years.
eta also provides training and
education in the performing and technical arts for
both youth and adults. With a shared legacy of
supporting aspiring and professional African
American artists, eta's Gala Committee
is pleased to honor the Chicago Music
Association, Branch #1, the founding branch of the
National Association of Negro Musicians,
this year.
Please visit
the eta's website at
for more
information about the Foundation and the 2012
Annual Gala.
To R.S.V.P.
and ticket purchase please contact Nichelle
Weathers eta at 773-752-3955 or email irisjcd@yahoo.com
Please
respond by Wednesday, September 5,
2012
Barbara Wright-Pryor
PRESIDENT
Chicago Music Association,
Branch No. 1, NANM Inc. (since 1919)
(A 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization)
(773) 721-3210, office phone and fax
VICE PRESIDENTAdvisory Council, South Shore Cultural Center
(A 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization)
7059 South Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60649
PRESIDENT
Chicago Music Association,
Branch No. 1, NANM Inc. (since 1919)
(A 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization)
(773) 721-3210, office phone and fax
VICE PRESIDENTAdvisory Council, South Shore Cultural Center
(A 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization)
7059 South Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60649
Sha.co.zw: 'Samuel Coleridge Taylor Sonata' Performed Sept. 2, 2012 in Harare, Zimbabwe
[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)]
September 1, 2012 is the Centennial of the death of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor on September 1, 1912. On the following day, a work of his will be performed in Zimbabwe:
Sep 02 at 04:00 PM - Sep 02 at 05:30 PM
Location
Harare International School Theatre, Mt. Pleasant, Harare
Harare International School Theatre, Mt. Pleasant, Harare
Tickets
are $10 for those who are not Celebs members, and are now available at
The Spotlight booking office in the Reps Theatre foyer, or at the door
from 3.30pm on the day of the concert. Many regulars will remember the
excellent concert Andrew gave last time visited Zimbabwe, to adjudicate
at the Eisteddfod in April last year.
Andrew
has returned again this time to conduct the National Musicamp, as well
as to perform for us. Their programme will be as follows: Mozart Sonata
no 37 K379 in G, Samuel Coleridge Taylor Sonata, Copland – Hoe Down
from Rodeo, D'Erlanger – Tarantella, Kreisler – the Doll's Waltz,
Poliakin – the Canary.
[Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com,
which features a comprehensive Works List and a Bibliography by Prof.
Dominique-René de Lerma, www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com.
We
are collaborating with the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation of the
U.K., www.SCTF.org.uk]
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Chairman of the NEA Featured Guest at the 2012 Sphinx Virtuosi Gala at Carnegie Hall
This year
marks a landmark year for the Sphinx Organization as we celebrate the
conclusion of our 15th anniversary and we are thrilled to welcome the
Sphinx Virtuosi back to Carnegie Hall for a spectacular evening
performance and celebration.
The 2012 Sphinx Virtuosi Gala at Carnegie Hall, co-presented by Bloomberg and the Sander and Norma K. Buchman Fund, will take place on Tuesday, October 9th at 6 p.m
at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall as part of the 5th
annual Sphinx Virtuosi national tour. Sphinx is excited to announce that
Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts will attend, signifying the national importance of our mission and work.
"The Sphinx Organization serves as a much-needed, powerful voice for diversity and excellence in the arts," said Landesman.
This
year's Honorary Chair, word-renowned cellist and virtuoso, Yo-Yo Ma,
shared "I am just in awe of what Sphinx has accomplished, but even more
excited about its future."
Thank you so much, Bill! We know this will be a remarkable evening and thank you for sharing with your followers. Happy Labor Day weekend! Warmest regards, Alison [Alison Piech, Sphinx Organization]
Soprano Jammieca Mott to sing Paul Laurence Dunbar's 'Love's Apotheosis' to music composed by Richard Thompson at 150th Anniversary Concert
[Dr. Jammieca Mott]
John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:
Soprano Jammieca Mottt is no longer teaching at Southeastern Oklahoma
State University and has joined the faculty at Sam Houston State
University. Ms. Mott's closing song during the 150th Anniversary
Emancipation Proclamation Concert is Paul Laurence Dunbar's LOVE'S
APOTHEOSIS accompanied by the poem's music composer Richard Thompson on
piano. see text http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/12816/
HuffingtonPost.co.uk: 'Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), Britain's Foremost Black Classical Composer: The Centenary Legacy'
[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) (Photo Emil Hoppe)]
Having collaborated with Hilary Burrage for the past year, AfriClassical is pleased to present her commemoration of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), as it appears on HuffingtonPost.co.uk, in honor of the Centennial of his death on September 1, 1912.
A consultant, board director, teacher, writer and sociologist with
particular interests in knowledge ecology, sustainability, social policy
and inclusion
Huffpost Culture
United Kingdom
Just a few days after this year's Slavery Remembrance Day,
on 23 August, we will mark also the centenary legacy of the black
British music composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who died one hundred
years ago, on 1 September 1912.
Only 37 years old at his death, Coleridge-Taylor was at the height of
his career, in the midst of plans to visit musicians he admired in
Europe (he was learning German) alongside his never-ending duties as a
teacher, conductor, festival adjudicator and composer. He had already travelled to the USA three times; he had twelve years previously, aged only 25, become a founder-supporter
in 1900 of the new London-based Pan-African Conference (later,
Congress); and already he had some 100 full musical works, many of them
substantial, to his credit.
To modern observers, taking antibiotics for granted, it feels
particularly sad that the cause of Coleridge-Taylor's death was simply a
chest infection: he was always over-worked, and it's said a heavy
smoker, and he caught a chill awaiting a train in his hometown of
Croydon. With better health this unique man of music might well have
lived into contemporary living memory. It would have been fascinating
to see how his thinking developed, both in music and in respect of
equality, the other field in which in his short life Coleridge-Taylor
made an outstanding and compassionate contribution.
Nonetheless, to most followers of classical music Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is known only as the creator of the Song of Hiawatha trilogy,
that ever-present element of the annual calendar of the Royal Albert
Hall and many other concert venues around Britain in the 1920s and 30s
and well beyond. The image of native American squaws and head-dressed
chieftains is embedded in our perception of Coleridge-Taylor the
composer; and yet, whilst Hiawatha is indeed a fine addition to the
repertoire, it is by no means his only potential contribution to the
classical canon.
As we demonstrate on the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation website - where a full list of works and recordings,
generously donated by Dr Dominique Rene de Lerma, may be found - there
is beyond Hiawatha some significant early chamber music, a whole range
of vocal scores (some of them substantial) and even a violin concerto
and some full symphonic works: impressive by any standards as the output
for someone still in his thirties when he died.
But there are also other aspects of the life of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
which make him special and deserve much greater acknowledgement.
Born in London in 1875, illegitimate and of mixed race, the boy Samuel
took courage to make the most of every opportunity to take his
formidable talents forward. His complex extended family supported him
as best they could and by his early teens Coleridge-Taylor's musical
gifts were recognised by others too. He gained sponsorship to attend
the newly-established Royal College of Music
aged only 17, and, produced his first few opus-listed works the
following year. (How withering to repute is time; received to acclaim
when initially presented, we discovered Coleridge-Taylor's Opus 1 Piano Quintet, probably unperformed since 1895, buried deep in the RCM archive a full century later.)
But to return to the chronology. Just before the end of Victoria's
reign, Coleridge-Taylor's concern for fairness and decency led him to
engage in the increasingly urgent calls for racial equality. Whilst
Victorian London was more varied of skin colour than some imagine,
Coleridge-Taylor nonetheless knew at first hand both of discrimination
by 'race', and of the shared objective by others of a more even playing
field for all; and he had by then formed a friendship with the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, who became a major influence on the composer's thinking. Hence also Coleridge-Taylor's involvement in the Pan-African Conference of 1900,
held in Westminster Town Hall, London from July 23rd to the 25th, and
timed to take place just before the Paris Exposition in order to allow
tourists of African descent to attend both events, and focused on
persuading world power governments to introduce legislation to abolish
racial discrimination.
It was also at the Pan-African Conference of 1900 that Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (and his friend John Archer of Liverpool, who became the first black Mayor of Battersea) met the writer W.E.B. DuBois,
who was during the next few years to prove a great influence on Samuel
as his contacts with the United States developed. How, had
Coleridge-Taylor lived longer, this collaboration would have influenced
the later Pan-African Congresses we can only surmise.
And so, one hundred years after his death, the story and legacy of
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the British child of mixed heritage born with
little initial privilege but so much to offer, now unfolds.
There is much still to tell, as the AfriClassical website and other e-media report. This is a story told at all levels: local (Croydon and London), national (the UK), the USA and truly internationally.
A considerable amount of Coleridge-Taylor's repertoire has recently
become available, but much remains still to be explored. The legacy of
his support for a fairer world will doubtless likewise continue to be a
matter of interest for scholars and activists alike for decades to come.
For our part, having worked since the 1990s to bring unknown music by
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to public performance, the establishment two
years ago of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation
(a Community Interest Company of which I am the founding Executive
Chair) has offered a new way forward. We have ensured there is room for
exchange and debate
between musicians, historians and scholars across the world, we seek
always to achieve wider community engagement, and we have positioned to
look forward as well as back - most recently by commissioning a new Nonet from the composer Richard Gordon-Smith
(himself a son of Croydon) which embraces both the instrumentation and
something of the essence of the work of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
What comes next remains to be seen. September 1st 2012 will pass as a
day to reflect and remember, but it is also a milestone in the journey
to a better understanding of a young man who died a century ago but
leaves still the gifts of talents and ambitions pursued, decency and
hope. That is why, as well as looking backwards to the past, we must
look forward to the future.
More information...
Twitter: SColeridgeTaylorFdn
Facebook: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Orlando Wells is violist in The Antara Ensemble and in the Broadway show 'Crybaby' among other roles
[Orlando Wells, Viola]
On August 25, 2012 AfriClassical posted: "Antara Ensemble Presents an Evening of Mozart 8 PM Oct. 2, 2012, Saint Peter's Church, NYC." The post noted that Orlando Wells would perform on viola at the concert. We first learned of Orlando Wells as a violinist in the Ritz Chamber Players, but he is also active as a violist. On Broadway, he currently plays viola in Crybaby. He has been concertmaster with the Soulful Symphony and other groups, and has performed with the Emerald Trio, the Sweet Plantain String Quartet and numerous other musical ensembles.
Orlando Wells Bio at Ritz Chamber PlayersViolin
A native of Orange, NJ, Orlando Wells began studying the violin at
the age of 9. While attending LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts,
he picked up the viola. Mostly self taught in High School, he graduated
winning the Behrens Foundation and B’nai Brith scholarships. Mr. Wells
attended S.U.N.Y. Purchase and Mason Gross School of the Arts at
Rutgers. His primary teachers have included Yuval Waldman and Michael
Tree. Equally proficient on both the violin and the viola, he has held
the principal viola chair with the Antara Chamber Orchestra and the
concertmaster chair with the Soulful Symphony in Baltimore, the
Orchestra of the Bronx and the Bronx Opera. He has appeared as a soloist
with Antara, the Manhattan Virtuosi and the St. Peter by the Sea
Orchestra. Mr. Wells also performs with The Northeastern Pennsylvania
Philharmonic, SONYC Chamber Orchestra, The Ritz Chamber Players,
Allentown Symphony, Sweet Plantain String Quartet, The Emerald Trio and
the Radio City Christmas Show Orchestra. Performing frequently on
Broadway, he has played regularly with Phantom of the Opera, The
Producers, Spamalot, Wicked and was the violist on the first national
tour of the Broadway show, Little Women. Currently he is the violist on
the new Broadway show Crybaby. He has collaborated with musicians of
many different genres and styles. Some of the artists he has worked with
are John Legend, Mariah Carrey, Rihanna, Kanye West, Marvin Hamlish,
the Akua Dixon Swing Quartet and Sojourner Strings.
Surucua Art Productions on 'Frêvo Bajado': 'It's NOT an arrangement. Celso composed it!'
[Celso Machado and cover of his sheet music Frêvo Bajado; Editions Henry Lemoine, Paris]
On August 26, 2012 AfriClassical posted: "'Frevo' (arr. by Celso Machado) - Diablo Valley College Guitar Ensemble on YouTube." The narration of the video states that the work is Brazilian folk music arranged by Celso Machado. Jessica Machado of Surucua Art Productions writes:
Hi Bill
It's NOT an arrangement. Celso composed it! Thanks for sending this on Celso has been trying to contact the performer.
Jessica
Monday, August 27, 2012
'That Africans could and would have had written history should have been obvious.'
On August 26, 2012 AfriClassical posted: "John Malveaux: 'EUROPEANS TAUGHT FOR CENTURIES that Africa had no written history, literature or philosophy.'"
Sisko24 commented this afternoon:
Thank you for this reminder of the spectacular find at Timbuktu. That
Africans could and would have had written history should have been
obvious. But I did have a teacher or two who said Africans didn't leave
written history. Being that I was in junior high school at the time and
unable to disprove them, I felt cowed into silence. But now I'm pleased
to see that wrongful history corrected.
Thank you.
Kelly Hall-Tompkins: 'Garth Newel Piano Quartet at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen'
Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins recounts Music Kitchen's 59th Performance, Garth Newel Piano Quartet at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen:
This morning I was delighted to present the Garth Newel Piano
Quartet for a Music Kitchen performance at the Holy Apostles Soup
Kitchen. I originally met the quartet when they attended my performance
at the 2010 Chamber Music America conference. They have since
invited me to play several concerts with them at the beautiful Garth
Newel Music Center in Virginia, so it was my absolute pleasure to
present them in a Music Kitchen concert while they are in New York for
this year's CMA conference. They are the embodiment of everything
Music Kitchen seeks to accomplish: The artists are friendly and
approachable and their performance is at once spirited, warm,
virtuosic, polished. Even before they started playing, there were
clients eagerly waiting- several people asking when the performance
would begin. "I don't want to miss it; I want to be sure to be here!"
We had arrived early and there continued to be a steady stream of
clients in eager anticipation, so I decided to have them just start 10
minutes early! I quickly did my rounds to nearby tables, introducing
myself and welcoming people to the concert. One woman surprised me
by recognizing me from the Olivieri Center for Homeless Women, where,
due to their program shift, I have not presented a performance for 3
or 4 years. From my photographer Greg Routt's marvelous photos of a
past Music Kitchen performance, I recognized a gentleman who eagerly
sat down nearby, glued to the artists before they played a note. As
they dove into their first piece, the Schonfield Café Music, he smiled
knowingly and said to me, “The roaring 20s!” Though the piece was
written in 1987 in Minnesota, he was absolutely right about the spirit
of the work’s character. Further, it was a perfectly chosen work for
this environment- intended for a lively bustling environment of
diners. This was an amazing performance in every way and it captured
many around the room in a more individual, though no less profound
way. I suddenly noticed another gentleman, this time a soup kitchen
volunteer who had stopped his tasks to come closer to listen. He was
positively taken with the performance, his face in a dumbfounded stare
until he finally turned to me, saying slowly and deliberately, voice
dripping with awe- “Where- did-you-find-them??” After I told
him that the artists hail from Virginia, he melted onto the floor,
drinking in the charms of the performance. After that, he continued, “I don’t even believe in God, but now, after this, I believe. There must be a God!”
All four players were in now, playing the Brahms Piano Quartet,
sure to charm any lover of chamber music. Brahms is my favorite
composer for chamber music and even if you don’t know the work
specifically, his rich compositional style and voice-leading are
unmistakable. The same volunteer turned to me once again and said,
“Pretty soon we are going to have to pay to volunteer!!”
Listeners sometimes identify with individual artists as they watch and
listen, and this was one of those times. A man got my attention to
say, motioning to the violinist Teresa Ling, “I could stand here and
listen to her play all day!”
For some, it’s not at all what they say with their words, but it’s
their body language that tells all. During a emotionally wrenching,
sentimental and nostalgic passage in the Tchaikovsky Trio, a new client
was entering the area with his meal tray. He was so taken, so
touched by the music, his face filled with awe and raw emotion as he
stared from one player with the soaring melody to the next, he forgot
himself and his tray tipped more and more towards the floor. He kept
walking closer, not believing his eyes and ears, his grip on the food
tray slackening with each step. He had obviously come for food, but
something different now pulled at him. Though his eyes looked as if he
were weeping, they were filled with joy. Fortunately he did not drop
the tray, but I was not too concerned about that- I too was taken with
seeing his reaction. I will not soon forget that man and the effect
the music had on him nor the soaring performance by the Garth Newel
Piano Quartet and the effect it had on me!
Following are the notes from the listeners:
GREAT Never before have I heard this live, and seen it live, my first time.
Thank you. – Derrick
Liked it very much. The concert was impeccable - from Guest
I like classical music and I like the music this group is playing.
A-OK, GREAT – Old Man
Thank you for your support of Music Kitchen Concerts!
Sincerely,
Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Sunday, August 26, 2012
John Malveaux: 'EUROPEANS TAUGHT FOR CENTURIES that Africa had no written history, literature or philosophy'
John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com sends the above picture and this link:
EUROPEANS TAUGHT FOR CENTURIES that Africa had no written history,
literature or philosophy (claiming Egypt was other than African). When
roughly 1 MILLION manuscripts were found in Timbuktu/Mali covering,
according to Reuters "all the fields of human knowledge: law, the
sciences, medicine," IT DID NOT MAKE MAINSTREAM NEWS"
The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu 1 of 5 - BBC Travel Documentary
Uploaded by RuniTravel
on Jan 30, 2011
The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu 1 of 5 - BBC Travel Documentary, recorded 17.04.2010
Aminatta Forna tells the story of legendary Timbuktu and its long
hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts. With its
university founded around the same time as Oxford, Timbuktu is proof
that the reading and writing of books have long been as important to
Africans as to Europeans.
'Frevo' (arr. by Celso Machado) - Diablo Valley College Guitar Ensemble on YouTube
[Celso Machado]
Celso Machado (b. 1953) is an Afro-Brazilian classical guitarist and composer who
makes his home in Canada. His website is:
http://www.CelsoMachado.com.
He is also featured at AfriClassical.com:
Frevo (arr. by Celso Machado) (2:42)
Diablo Valley College Guitar Ensemble
Pleasant Hill, CA
'Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Jamaica' - Mandeville 7:30 PM Sept. 13 & Kingston 7:30 PM Sept. 15
Featuring
Guest Composers: Peter Ashbourne & Shirley Thompson
Solo Violinists: Steven Woodham & Naomi Reitzin
Guest Composers: Peter Ashbourne & Shirley Thompson
Solo Violinists: Steven Woodham & Naomi Reitzin
Mandeville, September 13
Northern Caribbean University, 7:30 PM
Northern Caribbean University, 7:30 PM
Kingston, September 15
Holy Trinity Cathedral, 7:30 PM
Holy Trinity Cathedral, 7:30 PM
Sergio Mims of WHPK-FM in Chicago forwards a message from Shirley Thompson on The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Jamaica:
Hope all's well. Will be wonderful to see you at the concert if you can make it.
Look forward to seeing you there.
Warmest regards,
Shirley
The Gleaner
Jamaica, West Indies
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in Jamaica
Published: Sunday | July 1, 2012
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), one of the world's most prestigious orchestras, will perform in Jamaica under the distinguished patronage of Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, ON, GCMG, CD, on September 13 at the Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, and on September 15 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kingston.
The RPO's visit and concerts are being organised by the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica (NYOJ), a
non-profit, non-governmental organisation, with all proceeds in aid of
its music for social change programme, providing free classical music lessons for
at-risk youths, positively impacting self-esteem, values and
aspirations.
The RPO will perform works by Mozart, Bach and Holst,
as well as works by special guest composers Peter Ashbourne, the
Jamaican classical visionary, and Shirley Thompson, the groundbreaking
United Kingdom-based Jamaican composer, who will each conduct the RPO in
their original scores. In addition, foremost Jamaican classical
violinist Steven Woodham will lead the RPO as a solo violinist and
partner with young Jamaican violin sensation Naomi Reitzin.
During
their weeklong visit to Jamaica, members of the RPO will hold creative
classical workshops at high schools, private music centres and NYOJ
training centres, as well as master classes at the Edna Manley College
of the Visual and Performing Arts.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Violinist Ashley Horne Performs With Antara Ensemble of NYC Oct. 2; Is Heard Often on WQXR Radio
[Ashley Horne]
Violinist Ashley Horne has many professional associations and performances to his credit. On October 2, 2012 he will perform as a member of the Antara Ensemble, which Presents an Evening of
Mozart on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 8:00
p.m. at Saint Peter’s
Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street,
New York City.
Ashley Horne is Associate Director, Violin, My Music Garden, which presents his Bio:
Ashley Horne, a native of Los Angeles, has appeared as a soloist and
chamber musician around the world. A graduate of the Juilliard School,
he is known for his "bright tone and fine overall sense of style"
(Dennis Rooney of Strad Magazine). He performs regularly with American
Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Bard Festival Orchestra,
Westchester Symphony, West-Park Chamber Society, Gateways Music
Festival, Dance Theater of Harlem Orchestra and New York City Opera, as
well as on Broadway's The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Wild Party, Carousel,
the smash hit The Producers, and Young Frankenstein.
He has been the featured soloist and concertmaster of numerous
ensembles, including The New Black Repertory Ensemble, The Antara
Ensemble of NY, Cascade Festival Orchestra, and Aspen Young Artists
Orchestra. His recording of Henry Cowell's Fiddler's Jig with the
Manhattan Chamber Orchestra can be heard on Koch International.
Mr. Horne has been a recitalist at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
Solo and chamber music performances have taken him to many interesting
parts of the globe, such as Spain, Portugal, the Azores Islands,
Odessa and Istanbul. Filmgoers can see Mr. Horne in Le Mozart Noir, the
PBS documentary of violinist and composer Chevalier de Saint George,
as well as in Eddie Murphy's Coming to America.
WQXR Radio, New York City, has played three of Ashley Horne's recorded works since July 15, 2012. The composers are Simon Shaheen, William Grant Still and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson:
Ashley Horne
Last played Monday, August 20 2012 at 10:11 PM
Fantasie for Oud and String Quartet
Simon Shaheen
- Simon Shaheen, oud
- Mark Pisconoff, violin
- Ashley Horne, violin
- Midhat Serbaji, viola
- Tomas Ulrich, cello
- Jamie Haddad, mangolian frame drum
Ark21 Records
186850022
length: 06:55
length: 06:55
Last played Friday, August 17 2012 at 11:47 AM
Mother and Child
William Grant Still
- Ashley Horne, violin
- Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
- Richard Auldon Clark, conductor
Newport
85596
length: 07:19
length: 07:19
Last played Thursday, July 15 2010 at 08:58 PM
Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk)
Coleridge Taylor Perkinson
- Ashley Horne, violin
Cedille
087
length: 02:49
length: 02:49
.
Antara Ensemble Presents an Evening of Mozart 8 PM Oct. 2, 2012, Saint Peter's Church, NYC
Antara Ensemble
Presents an Evening of
Mozart
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 8:00
p.m.
Saint Peter’s
Church
619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street,
NYC
The
14-member Antara Ensemble will present an evening of works by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, on Tuesday, October 2 at 8:00 p.m., at Saint Peter’s Church at Citicorp,
619 Lexington Avenue and 54th Street, New York City. The program, led by Antara’s music
director, conductor/flutist Harold Jones, will include the Concerto for
Flute and Harp (Harold Jones, flute; Yeon Hwa Chung, harp); Sinfonia
concertante in E flat for violin and viola (Ashley Horne, violin; Orlando
Wells, viola); Concerto in A Major (Erasmia Voukelatos, piano); and
Three Divertimenti for string orchestra.
Tickets are
$25; seniors
(62 and over) and students $20. For information and reservations: (212)
866-2545.
The ANTARA
ENSEMBLE, now in its 19th season, was formed by Harold Jones to bring
quality classical music at affordable prices to the culturally diverse
neighborhoods of New York. The
group performs a repertoire spanning centuries and including works by American,
African-American, European and Third World composers.
A native of Chicago and a graduate of Juilliard, HAROLD
JONES has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Tully Hall, CAMI Hall and other New York
venues, Jordan Hall in Boston, and throughout the U.S., Europe and Taiwan. He has performed as flute soloist with
The Bach Aria Orchestra, American Symphony, New York Sinfonietta, Brooklyn
Philharmonia, National Orchestral Association, and is on the faculties of the
Westchester Conservatory of Music and Manhattanville College. His recordings on the Antara label include two
LPs and three CDs: “Let Us Break Bread Together”, “Just As I Am” and “Lil’ Lite
O’ Mine”.
'Plenary Session Speakers 97th Annual ASALH Conference ~ September 26-30, 2012'
Please join us at what promises to
be another hugely successful conference this September 26-30 in
celebration of the 2012 national Black history theme of "Black Women in
American Culture and History". There, some of the most renowned scholars
and artists will be presenting at the 97th Annual Conference plenary
sessions.
Thursday 9/27
We Need Your Hurricane Voices
- Bernice Johnson Reagon, historian/activist
- Sonia Sanchez, poet/professor
Friday 9/28
Mightier than the Sword: Conversations on the Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells-Barnett
- Mia Bay, Rutgers University
- Crystal Feimster, Yale University
- Paula J. Giddings, Smith College
- Barbara D. Savage, University of Pennsylvania.
- Patricia Schechter, Portland State University
Saturday 9/29
Changing the Odds for Others:
The Legacy of Derrick Bell
- Anita Allen, University of Pennsylvania Law
- Mary Frances Berry, University of Pennsylvania
- William Carter Jr., University of Pittsburgh Law
- Kimberle Crenshaw, UCLA & Columbia School of Law
For more information CLICK HERE.
Registration is available now! Register online HERE.
See you in Pittsburgh!
Stephanie Evans
Academic Program Chair
Natanya Duncan
Cheryl Hicks
Academic Program, Co-Chairs
'The Start of Slavery in North America' From Lisa Vox, former About.com Guide
[Femi Lewis]
About.com African-American History Guide Femi Lewis sends us this article by former Guide Lisa Vox:
The Arrival of the First Slaves
Historians normally date the start of slavery in the North American colonies to 1619. That year, a Dutch
ship carrying African slaves docked at Point Comfort, which served as
Jamestown's checkpoint for ships wanting to trade with the colonists. The crew of the Dutch ship was starving, and as John Rolfe noted in a
letter to the Virginia Company's treasurer Edwin Sandys, the Dutch
traded 20 African slaves for food and supplies.
Indentured Servitude and Slavery
In fact, African slaves may have been present in England's North
American colonies earlier than 1619, but Rolfe's letter is the earliest
hard evidence of the presence of slaves. The British were reluctant to
institute slavery in their new American colonies. They largely relied on
indentured servants in the 17th century.
In 1625, there were only 23 Africans present in the colony of
Virginia, according to historian Betty Wood. Thirty-five years later,
this number had only increased to 950, or around three to four percent
of the colony's population. The colony had many more indentured
servants, and historians like Edmund Morgan argue that the living
conditions and treatment of indentured servants were largely
indistinguishable from that of slaves.
During this period, slaves of African descent and white indentured
servants often worked, socialized and even ran away from their masters
together. But by the end of the 17th century, the colony became more
reliant on slave labor as the number of British and Europeans willing to
indenture themselves declined and as the leaders of the colony feared
uprisings among the poor, landless whites.
The Entrenchment of Slavery
The solution to the constant threat of rebellion from the landless
poor? Raise the status of the poorest whites in the colony by
instituting a system of racial slavery. Morgan sees the turning point in
the rise of slavery in Virginia as coming in 1676 during Bacon's
Rebellion, when Nathaniel Bacon led both white and black men against the
leaders of the Virginia colony. Fearing this display of unity among
poor whites and blacks, Virginia became a colony wholly dependent on
slave labor and phased out indentured servitude.
Sources
- Boles, John. Black Southerners, 1619-1869. University Press of Kentucky, 1984.
- Morgan, Edmund. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.
- Wood, Betty. Slavery in Colonial America, 1619-1776. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
Friday, August 24, 2012
American Opera Project Presents Jorell Williams, Baritone, In September
[Jorell Williams]
Other prize-winners who made a strong impression were…baritone JORELL
WILLIAMS, who showed a solid vocal core and easy, natural production in
"Lieben, Hassen," from Ariadne auf Naxos;” - Opera News, GERDA LISSNER
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
During the 2009-2010 season, Jorell sang as a guest artist with the
Verein Opera in Zürich, performing in a Gala concert of Opera under the
direction of international Tenor Francisco Araiza. He created the role
of Tomás Cabral in the premiere of composer John David Earnest’s The
Theory of Everything with Encompass New Opera Theater, performed as a
guest artist at the Cathedral of St. John the Devine’s Concert for Peace
with soprano’s Lauren Flanigan and Amy Burton under the baton of
Maestro Glen Cortese, and created the role of the Presenter of the
Church in a workshop reading of composer Nico Muhly’s Two Boys, which
was a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Opera
Theatre. He also had the honor of performing with the Chorale Le
Chateau of New York in “A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA” in the Kennedy
Center’s Eisenhower Theater on the occasion of the Presidential
Inauguration of Barack Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday,
January 19, 2009.
He finishes the season with the Opera Company of Brooklyn as Dr. Falke
in Die Fledermaus at the American Ballet Theater, lead by award-winning
dancers Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte
at the Aaron Copland School of Music, a concert series with the Career
Bridges Foundation at the Gerhard Theater at the “Osterreicische
Gesellschaft für Musik” in Vienna, and will participate as a Young
Artist at the Caramoor International Music Festival performing the role
of de Fiesque in Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan.
Mr. Williams is a graduate from the Manhattan School of Music, where he
sang the roles of le Directeur in Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de
Tiresias, the title roles in Robert Sirota’s The Tailor of Gloucester
and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Tarquinnius in The Rape of Lucretia,
Gabriel von Eisenstein (Cover) in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus,
Milord Arespighn in Cimarosa's rare comic opera L'italiana in Londra,
Ronaldo Cabral in John Musto’s New York premiere of Later the same
evening, and Robert Garner in a preview of Richard Danielpour's New York
premiere of Margaret Garner with the production team of New York City
Opera.
American Opera Projects and Opera on Tap present
OPERAtion Brooklyn @ BEAT festival
Music by
Daniel Felsenfeld
One Ring Zero
Sidney Marquez Boquiren
Zach Redler
Yoon Jae Lee, conductor
Kayleigh Butcher, mezzo
Marcy Richardson, soprano
Delea Shand, soprano
Brandon Snook, tenor
Jorrell Williams, baritone
Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, piano
Mila Henry, piano
Tickets: $20
www.beatbrooklyn.com
More Info: beatbrooklyn.com/opera/
operationbrooklyn.com
American Opera Project
AOP will present two scenes rooted in contemporary conflicts - "Stop and Frisk" by composer Sidney Marquez Boquiren and librettist Daniel Neer and "Male Identity" by composer Zach Redler and librettist Sara Cooper - featuring performances by tenor Brandon Snook (Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Sarasota Opera) and baritone Jorell Williams
(New York City Center Encores!, Caramoor International Music Festival,
Ravinia Festival). Supporting on piano will be music directors Jeanne-Minette Cilliers and Mila Henry, with stage direction by Noah Himmelstein.
Schedule
Thursday Sept. 13 - 7:30PM
Flatbush Reformed Church
890 Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush
Wednesday, Sept. 19 - 7:30PM
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
58 7th Avenue, Park Slope
Saturday, Sept. 22 - 7:30 PM
The Irondale Center
85 S. Oxford Street, Ft Greene
MusiCB3 Blog: 'Where Coleridge-Taylor’s influence was greatest was in the United States.'
[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Public Domain)]
MusiCB3 is a blog about the music collections at the Cambridge University Library and Pendlebury Library, as well as about wider issues which are on the minds of the music librarians here.
To celebrate, to commemorate : Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (September 1st)
Like many music librarians I subscribe to the IAML (International
Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation centres)
lists.
...
While browsing through some recent emails after a series of rather uninspiring requests I suddenly came across Hiawatha’s wedding feast (available at the UL : item no. 3 in Mus.51.62) by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
“That’s unusual” I said to my colleagues, only to find another email
requesting the same thing, and then a third looking this time for
Coleridge-Taylor’s Sea drift (also in the UL : no. 1076 in
Novello’s Part-song book, second series – M289.b.41.25). Now I was
puzzled – why this sudden enthusiasm for Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, very
popular in his day, but now rarely performed? A quick bit of Googling
told me that 1st September was the centenary of Coleridge-Taylor’s
death, and some more research showed why we should all be celebrating
the life of this extraordinary man.
Born on August 15th, 1875 Coleridge-Taylor was the son of a doctor
from Sierra Leone. His father was unable to find work in London,
probably owing to the colour of his skin, so returned to Africa unaware
that his lover, Alice Hare Martin, was pregnant. Throughout his life
Coleridge-Taylor would meet with prejudice, but he overcame it
triumphantly.
He learned to play the violin (his mother’s family were musical), and studied at the Royal College of Music. Elgar’s friend, the influential editor and critic, August Jaeger,
was very impressed by the young man and told Elgar that
Coleridge-Taylor was a “genius”. Elgar agreed believing that the
composer was “far and away the cleverest fellow amongst the young men”
currently composing in England.
His most popular work was Hiawatha’s wedding feast composed in 1899. This was to be the first of a cycle of works setting Longfellow’s epic poem The song of Hiawatha. Malcolm Sargent loved the cycle and conducted the work annually in a semi-staged production
at the Royal Albert Hall between 1928-1939. (Annual productions had
started in 1924). Members of the public even travelled to the event
fully costumed as Native Americans!
Where Coleridge-Taylor’s influence was greatest was in the United
States. He became a focal point for black America in a period that still
lay deep in the shadow of the Civil War. The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society
set up in Washington D.C. consisted of 200 African-American singers,
who paid for Coleridge-Taylor’s visit to the States; while there he met President Theodore Roosevelt, a remarkable encounter for a person of colour in that period.
[Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com,
which features a comprehensive Works List and a Bibliography by Prof.
Dominique-René de Lerma, www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com.
We
are collaborating with the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation of the
U.K., www.SCTF.org.uk]