Dr. Hansonia Caldwell: 'Become a supporter of The Jester Hairston Documentary Project'

Dr. Hansonia Caldwell writes:

Greetings Dr. Zick -- Hope all is well with you.

So much for retirement! Our Jester Hairston project is going well. Please share this with fans and friends of the Spiritual! Every donation will help.

HELP KEEP AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSICAL HISTORY ALIVE!

It is our pleasure to invite you to become a supporter of the Jester Hairston Documentary Project - a wonderful film about an incredibly talented composer, arranger, conductor, actor and teacher that I have been working on for three years with my co-producer, Lillian Benson. We have launched an IndieGogo campaign to raise money to pay for the stock footage and music rights needed to tell the story of this magnificent man who lived a rich and long life: igg.me/at/hairston-doc

Jester Hairston was a man of many talents, and is probably best-known for his arrangement of the Spiritual “Amen” which is featured in Sidney Poitier’s Academy Award-winning film, Lilies of the Fields. (It is actually Jester Hairston's voice you hear in the film.) Many of us know Hairston from his work conducting the Spiritual in churches all over the country. But Hairston was also active in the early decades of Hollywood, teaming up with film composer Dimitri Tiomkin as a choral arranger and later as an actor on television. It has been fun doing this, and we are getting some great interviews from musicians, scholars and educators who knew Jester. We are producing a documentary that will inspire students, singers, teachers, and composers of today and tomorrow, and we need your help.

We need to raise funds to pay for the film rights for the excerpts we are including. Give as little as $10 and as much as $5,000. Your tax-deductible donation will make a difference!

Please visit our IndieGogo Site -- igg.me/at/hairston-doc and share it with your friends! Don't forget to “like” us on Facebook as well. Thank you very, very much.

Sincerely,

Hansonia Caldwell

Lillian Benson

The Jester Hairston Film Project

The African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians Program of California State University Dominguez Hills and its Georgia and Nolan Payton Archive is undertaking the development of a 60-minute film, Amen - the Life and Work of Jester Hairston.

Please visit our website to learn more:

http://www.jesterhairston.org

Comment by email:
Bill  --  Thank you so much.   This will be very helpful.   Hansonia  [Hansonia Caldwell]