Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir Opens Season in Summerville SC 6 PM Saturday Sept. 21 With 'Wind and Mockingbird'

Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir

David A. Richardson

CSO GOSPEL CHOIR presents

The Wind and the Mockingbird: How the Written Word Changed Society

2013-14 Season Opening Performance, Summerville Saturday, September 21

Charleston SC—August 29, 2013 −The Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Gospel Choir and the Berkeley County Chorus are pleased to present The Wind and the Mockingbird: How the Written Word Changed Society, a concert theme inspired by literary works Gone With the Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird on Saturday September 21, 2013, 6:00pm at Cane Bay High School, Summerville as part of a special CSO Gospel Choir/Berkeley County School District musical and educational partnership.

Through dramatic gospel music and historical narration, this performance is inspired by two best-selling literary novels that helped change the tone and course of U.S. race relations.

The CSO Gospel Choir’s 2013-2014 season opening performance highlights the work of two female authors each of whom only wrote one seminal work in their lifetime: Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone With the Wind, a sweeping depiction of the privileged South during the Civil War and Harper Lee’s 1960 To Kill A Mockingbird, a personal account of racial heroism set in the Deep South during the Depression.  Music and narration will honor these award-winning works that wielded enormous influence in changing America’s view of race relations, prejudice and injustice with their portrayal of strong African-American characters, both later brought to the big screen to massive public appeal.

“The opportunity to bring our students and community together through a world-class music and literature event with the CSO Gospel Choir is an amazing gift,” Archie Franchini, deputy superintendent for the Berkeley County School District, said.  “We are thrilled that music professionals are working with our students in this capacity and that we can host this event for the Cane Bay community.”

The performance will feature more traditional gospel selections including Walk Around Heaven All Day, May The Work I’ve Done Speak For Me, along with historical narration that illustrates the transformational power of literature and its ability to alter the attitudes of a nation gripped by a history of racial inequality.   

“The written word has often shown us how to do the right thing. Most people remember the southern depiction of domestic help as the traditional role afforded black Americans. Both literary settings were strong but one so sweeping it provided the platform for the first Academy Award for a black actor,” said Lee Pringle, producer and CSO Gospel Choir President.

This performance is dedicated to former Berkeley County District music teachers Mildred Brevard and Mary Quinney.

Generous sponsorship support provided by Cooper River Partners LLC and Gramling Brothers Real Estate & Development

Tickets and Information

CSO Gospel Choir: The Wind and the Mockingbird: How the Written Word Changed Society

Saturday September 21, 2013, 6:00pm

Cane Bay High School, 1624 State Road, Summerville SC

Tickets: $10 adults: $5 students

Online: www.csogospel.com

By phone (866) 811-4111 

At door: Cash or check only up to one hour before performance

About the CSO Gospel Choir

Now in its thirteenth year, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Gospel Choir, Charleston’s celebrated culturally diverse choir, performs gospel, spirituals and sacred music for annual concert events including a Palm Sunday performance, CSO Gospel Christmas, Piccolo Spoleto and regional events throughout the southeast and numerous engagements in Europe including Paris, London, Rome and Prague. The Choir also visited Ghana, West Africa in 2012. CSOGospel.com

About Music Director David A. Richardson

CSO Gospel Choir Music Director David A. Richardson is a recipient of the prestigious Charleston Southern University Horton School of Music Senior Excellence Award for his exceptional work in the area of Choral Music Education and is a noted baritone soloist who has garnered admiration of the choral community throughout the Carolinas.

As a professional vocalist he toured the United Kingdom, Scotland, Austria, and Prague, where he performed with the CSU concert choir to much acclaim. An accomplished pianist, Mr. Richardson has served as music director for several regional productions and has accompanied choral programs and honor choirs at all levels including three seasons with the University Children's Choir.

Mr. Richardson serves as Director of Choral Activities at Fort Dorchester High School, earning consistent superior ratings at regional concert festivals. Prior to his tenure at Fort Dorchester High School he served as Band Director and Music Specialist in the Berkeley County School District and Director of Vocal Music for the Charleston Southern University Music Camp and Oconee County Choral Festival. Mr. Richardson earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Charleston Southern University and is a Master of Music Education candidate at Kent State University.

Civil Rights Leaders Share Their Memories From The March On Washington - On The "CBS Evening News"

CBS Evening News

Civil Rights leaders Andrew Young, Julian Bond and Marian Wright Edelman shared their memories from the March on Washington on its 50^th anniversary in an interview that was broadcast tonight, Aug. 28 on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

 

        Young, Bond and Wright Edelman attended the March on Washington in 1963 and returned for the anniversary. Pelley sat down with them at the historic Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. finished writing his famous speech, which he delivered 50 years ago today.

 

        Click here to watch the interview. A transcript is below.

 

ANDREW YOUNG: When the trains started unloading from the South and trainload from Philadelphia, and then the movie stars flew in, then I realized that this was something big.

 

SCOTT PELLEY: On that day, what did you think would be achieved by the March on Washington?  What could be accomplished?

 

JULIAN BOND: Dr. King’s speech, and in the speeches of the other people, we had explained, “Here are the problems we are facing. These are the reasons why we’re here. We’re marching. We’re protesting. We’re sitting in.  We’ve had several years of disruption around the country, and we’ve shown you about it. Now do something about it.”

 

ANDREW YOUNG: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King set out to redeem the soul of America from the triple evils of racism, war and poverty. Now, I think we’ve made enormous progress on legal racism. We’ve made progress on war. But we have retrogressed on poverty.

 

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: I am so worried about this country moving backwards. A child is dropping out of school every eight seconds. If 60 percent of all of your children cannot read and compute at grade level, you are not going to be a strong, competitive nation. And we need to just see the growing gap between the poor and the rich, and the wealth and income inequality at an unprecedented stage with poor children are everywhere.

 

SCOTT PELLEY: For decades, CBS News has been polling Americans about their views on race. And we have a brand new poll on that subject. We asked whether there is real hope of ending racial discrimination. In this new poll, it’s 52 percent, the very first time there’s ever been a majority saying that racial discrimination in our country could end. Why is that happening?

 

ANDREW YOUNG: Because it’s happening. I mean, the truth of it is the University of Georgia elected a black student government president, as did the University of Alabama few years back and Mississippi State. To me, the hope of dealing with racism is in the South because we’ve been struggling with it for several hundred years, and we really are making progress.

 

SCOTT PELLEY: We have a photograph of a young Julian Bond and a young Marian Wright in the crowd. What’s happening in that moment?

 

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: We are singing.

 

JULIAN BOND: “We Shall Overcome” had become the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. People are leaving, going home, and we’re standing there hand-in-hand singing “We Shall Overcome.”

 

SCOTT PELLEY: And if you said to a young person, “If you don’t take anything else away from the March on Washington, understand this.”                            

 

ANDREW YOUNG: Understand that the struggle continues, and the future is in your hands, in your heart, in your mind.

 

#   #   #

John Malveaux: 'As I watch the...50th Anniversary March on Washington...earlier concerns in connection with Dr. King's death come to mind.'

50th Anniversary March on Washington, August 28, 2013 (Washington Post)

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

On August 28, 2013 as I watch the ceremony in Washington DC celebrating the 50th Anniversary of March on Washington and I HAVE A DREAM speech, earlier concerns in connection with Dr. King's death come to mind. I stopped everything and listened to the entire trial of James Earl Ray. One surprise was he visited Long Beach several weeks before the assassination and took dance lessons in Long Beach. Ray did not have a known source of income and where he received financing is a critical question. For more than two years before the assassination, the FBI wire tapped all of Dr. King's conversations and conference calls with other civil rights leaders. J Edgar Hoover called Dr. King the most dangerous Negro in America. Many of Dr. King's inner circle advised him not to go to Memphis due to the demands in planning the second March on Washington called POOR PEOPLE's CAMPAIGN. The first March was the largest in the history of our nation. The second March was denied because of Dr. King's assassination.

 

On another note, the first African America City Councilman, James Wilson and a committee, appointed me and a trusted friend as body guards for Stokely Carmichael (also Kwame Ture) when they invited him to Long Beach for several speaking engagements.

John Malveaux (also John Champion)

 

Imani Winds Quintet performs Astor Piazzolla's "Libertango" on YouTube (5:11)

Imani Winds (YouTube)

Uploaded on Feb 21, 2012

http://youtu.be/BOMbCsFV4ns

Imani Winds performs Piazzolla's "Libertango." Arrangement by Jeff Scott (French horn).

Recorded/filmed at The Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland USA.

* * *

http://www.imaniwinds.com

http://www.facebook.com/imaniwinds

http://twitter.com/imaniwinds

John Lewis in "Walking with the Wind": "We were supposed to be the leaders of the march, but the march was all around us, already taking off, already gone."

The following is an excerpt from a statement made August 28, 2013 by Rashad Robinson of ColorOfChange.org:

In his autobiography "Walking with the Wind," Rep. John Lewis describes the morning of the 1963 March on Washington — 50 years ago today. Some of the most prominent civil rights leaders — Dr. King, Bayard Rustin, Lewis and others — were in meetings at the Capitol and realized that the march had started without them. They watched as tens of thousands of people poured into the streets, seemingly leaderless, before quickly rushing to meet the march in the middle.

"It was truly awesome, the most incredible thing I'd ever seen in my life," Lewis wrote. "I remember thinking, there goes America. We were supposed to be the leaders of the march, but the march was all around us, already taking off, already gone."

As I've been reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, this story remains my favorite, I think, because the people are leading the march — as they should be. Like the marchers that day, ColorOfChange.org members are the leaders of a modern grassroots march for racial justice.

'Prelude to a Dream' salutes Joyce Ladner of the SNCC Legacy Project

THE MARCH has created "The Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award" in memory of the legendary organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Ms. Ladner & Mr. Cox will be the first recipients of this award for their work as the SNCC representatives on the March on Washington Committee and for their continued commitment to civil rights through the SNCC Legacy Project and other organizations

Project

Comment by email:

I just posted this on our Facebook page:

"I would like to take a moment and thank William J. Zick of the AfriClassical who creates a blog post from the newsletter emails he receives from THE MARCH. He's as consistent as the rising and setting of the sun. Bill, you're one of our heroes!"

Thank you again,

Alan  [Alan Marshall]

C

xxxxxxCCc

To the beat of a different drum: "The March" debuts in Washington - Washington DC Performing Arts | Examiner.com

Saigon Saadi

Examiner.com

Patrick McCoy 

DC Performing Arts Examiner

August 29, 2013  [Excerpt]

What was presented on Tuesday night in the beautiful sanctuary of D. C. 's historic Metropolitan A. M. E. Church was more in the manner of informally dramatic reenactments that relied heavily on the audience's participation rather than the individual talents of the guest performers.

In his introductory remarks, the producer Alan Marshall shared that the work evolved into a multi-media project. One could only wonder what the original direction and intent of the work was. In terms of personnel, there seemed not to be the inclusion of any familiar artists that make up the rich fabric of the Washington arts circuit. Billed as a 'Civil Rights Opera'-Prelude to A Dream was more or less devoid of any rich solid musical material or delivery from the performers. Instead, by instinct or perhaps by design, the familiarity of the interpolated congregational spirituals certainly provided the core nucleus of the performance with the principal actors only having to offering commentary to what previously occurred from the audience's perspective. The program itself was difficult to follow in part to the fact that there was no real context for the setting nor was there a libretto that brought the presentation together in a collective fashion.The spirit of the evening's performance did show great potential. It was evident that a lot of effort and sacrifices were made to honor the story. Those moments really were conveyed by powerhouse singer Jo Ann Clark, who in essence was the musical nucleus of the production. Jeronique Bartley was a sterling standout in her portrayal of Civil Rights Activist Joyce Ladner, who was present. Alan Marshall doubled as the producer and in the pivotal role of Bayard Rustin. 

KoreAm: 'Embodying the spirit of the 1963 March on Washington, African American, Korean and Jewish artists convened...to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.'

Performers at the 50th Anniversary MLK Jr. ‘Symphony of Brotherhood’ Concert. Photo by Ralf Cheung

Pianist Phoenix Park-Kim and soprano Jumi Kim. Photo by Ralf Cheung

Cellist Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun. Photo by Ralf Cheung

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com sends this link:

KoreAm

 
August 26th, 2013

Embodying the spirit of the 1963 March on Washington, African American, Korean and Jewish artists convened for a special intercultural concert to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., and pay homage to his message of peace and unity—the relevance of which still resonates 50 years later.

Several prominent Korean and Korean American musicians performed at the Aug. 18 event, titled “Symphony of Brotherhood,” held at the Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

But as much as the concert was a celebration of the legacy of King, who incidentally had a deep appreciation for classical and operatic music, the combination of African American, Korean and Jewish artists was also a deliberate move to try to heal past wounds, according to John Malveaux, the African American founder of MusicUNTOLD, the educational  nonprofit that organized the concert. The concert’s title is a reference to a phrase King used in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and it became the inspiration for the multiracial line-up of the event, which included Grammy Award-winning African-American bass-baritone Mark S. Doss, Korean American pianist Phoenix Park-Kim, Jewish virtuoso flutist Laurel Zucker and African/Japanese American violinist Annelle Kazumi Gregory, among many others.

“In 1965 there were devastating riots in Los Angeles, and the target of most of the rioting was the Jewish merchants,” said Malveaux. “So Dr. King came to L.A. in an effort to quell the violence, and he made clear in his comments the destructive nature and harmful nature [of the riots]. So we included somewhat of a healing segment as a tribute to the African American and Jewish communities for that ugly disruption in Dr. King’s vision of ‘symphony of brotherhood.’ We had two songs performed—one, a Jewish folk song and one, an African American spiritual.”

But as much as the concert was a celebration of the legacy of King, who incidentally had a deep appreciation for classical and operatic music, the combination of African American, Korean and Jewish artists was also a deliberate move to try to heal past wounds, according to John Malveaux, the African American founder of MusicUNTOLD, the educational  nonprofit that organized the concert. The concert’s title is a reference to a phrase King used in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and it became the inspiration for the multiracial line-up of the event, which included Grammy Award-winning African-American bass-baritone Mark S. Doss, Korean American pianist Phoenix Park-Kim, Jewish virtuoso flutist Laurel Zucker and African/Japanese American violinist Annelle Kazumi Gregory, among many others.

"Ancestral Visionary" Works of African-American Painter Jerome Wright on First Friday Art Walk 5-8 PM Sept. 6, 2013, Portland, Maine; Exhibition to Nov. 30

Jerome Wright, Cellist and Painter

Woman Dancing, oil on canvas 40" x 40" 2011

Woman Singing Fado, oil on birch 48"x 48" 2011

Bass and Two Horns, oil on canvas 58" x 72"

The Arts, Portland, Maine
http://www.liveworkportland.org/arts/walk

Upcoming First Friday Art Walk
Friday, September 6, 2013

Ancestral Visionary

Museum of African Art and Culture

13 Brown St.

Jerome Wright is a central Pennsylvania artist whose work has earned him national recognition. His work focuses on jazz, the Harlem Renaissance, and the gospel church experience. He won a four-month debut show at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in 2010 Detroit resulting in four of his paintings going into the Museum’s permanent collection of great African American painters. His work has been in various juried exhibitions at the Charles Demuth Museum, The Lebanon Arts Council, Lebanon Valley College, Harrisburg Area Community College, and the Gallery at Lebanon Picture Frame. He has received many commissions and his works are now in many private collections as well as places of worship.

Artist(s):

Jerome Wright

Medium:

oil on wood and canvas

Opening Reception: Friday Sept. 6^th 5-8 pm

Free and open to the public

Exhibition runs September-November 30^th 2013

Jerome Wright is a central Pennsylvania artist whose work has earned him national recognition. He won a four-month debut show at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit in 2010 resulting in four of his paintings going into the Museum’s permanent collection of great African American painters. His work has been in various juried exhibitions at the Charles Demuth Museum, The Lebanon Arts Council, Lebanon Valley College, Harrisburg Area Community College, and the Gallery at Lebanon Picture Frame. He has received many commissions and his works are now in many private collections as well as places of worship.

Sergio A. Mims: 'Tai Murray performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto' Will Open WHPK-FM Radio Program 12-3 PM Sept. 4, 2013

Tai Murray, Violin; Eugène Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27; Harmonia Mundi

On August 14, 2013 AfriClassical posted: Sergio A. Mims To Air 'Tai Murray performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto' on WHPK-FM Chicago, Wednesday, September 4

Sergio A. Mims now writes:

Because of an interview that I will be doing for my radio show next week I have made some changes in the schedule. I will not be playing Verdi's Falstaff as planned and it will be re-scheduled for a later date.

I still will be playing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto with Tai Murray as planned and it will be the first selection on the program.

The revised schedule for Sept 4th is now: 

Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto; Brahms String Quartet in B flat major; Bruckner's Mass No. 1; and an interview with the director of Chicago Opera Theater's new production of Verdi's Giovanna D'Arco, David Schweizer. 

WHPK-FM (Chicago) Wednesday 12-3PM (U.S. Central Time) 88.5 FM locally and livestream www.whpk.org

Sergio

[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]

Marta Richardson: GRAMMY Award-Winning Conductor and Violinist John McLaughlin Williams Coming Home to Greensboro, North Carolina

John McLaughlin Williams

As a GRAMMY Award-winning conductor and violinist, Williams has been critically acclaimed for his outstanding interpretive abilities and his engaging podium presence (Classical Music Across Cultures)

Marta Richardson writes:

Dear Bill,

I just wanted you to know that we're continuing our work with Classical Music Across Cultures and actually were able to partner with another organization, Music for a Great Space.  It's been an exciting collaborative effort to bring Williams to Greensboro.

Sincerely,

Marta Richardson

Guess who is coming home? GRAMMY Award-winning conductor and violinist John McLaughlin Williams!

This fall get your ears ready for a musical feast as Music for a Great Space and Classical Music Across Cultures jointly present John McLaughlin Williams in concert on September 20, 2013 at 7:30 pm – opening day for the 17 DAYS Arts & Culture Festival. But what makes a John Williams violin concert so special?

LOTS. Williams, an accomplished African American musician, composer and acclaimed conductor, was born in Greensboro, N.C. and later moved to Washington, D.C. where Williams began studying the violin at the age of 10. What makes Williams so special is his mastery of the instrument and his musical selections. “It always impressed me that there were all these composers described as eminent, wonderful, great and important, but I wasn’t hearing them in any of the concerts I was going to or any of the music I was playing,” Williams said. “I love standard repertoire but there’s all this other music that’s equally great and never gets played.” At age 14, Williams played solo with the National Symphony and by age 15 had read “Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians,” cover-to-cover. His talent and unique interest in neglected American composers, and recordings of their works on the Naxos label, earned William’s four GRAMMY nominations in 2010. In 2007, Williams won a GRAMMY for “Best Instrumental Solo with Orchestra.”

“I can’t wait for the Williams’ concert this fall,” said Classical Music Across Cultures founder and violin teacher Marta Richardson. In addition to the concert, Williams has agreed to an artist residency September 17-20, working with approximately 1,500 Guilford County School students, providing inspiration and an exceptional learning opportunity. “We want to help overcome the cultural stereotype of the classical musician by giving our students role models that will inspire, motivate and captivate them.”

ArtsGreensboro is pleased and honored to support Music for a Great Space in its work to bring extraordinary classical musicians to Greensboro. Arts Greensboro was instrumental in the formation of Classical Music Across Cultures to bring the Sphinx Virtuosi Orchestra to Greensboro for the inaugural 17 DAYS Arts & Culture Festival in 2011. Last year, CMAC hosted Harlem Quartet as part of 17 DAYS.  “We’re thrilled that MGS and Classical Music Across Cultures are working together to bring Williams to Greensboro as part of 17 DAYS Arts & Culture Festival this year. We’ve built the festival on a solid foundation of collaborations, and this is a stellar example of how we can bring talent and organizations together for our students and our community,” said ArtsGreensboro President & CEO Thomas Philion.

Join us in Celebrating the 10th Anniversary Year of our Sphinx Virtuosi at Carnegie Hall Tuesday, October 8th at 6pm!

---

Dear Friends, 

As we excitedly prepare for our Sphinx Virtuosi fall tour, I would like to share with you a formal invitation to our Sphinx Virtuosi at Carnegie Hall performance and gala on Tuesday, October 8th at 6pm! I encourage you to join us for this evening of artistic excellence as we celebrate the 10th anniversary year of this concert series. The gala sponsorships highlighted below support the Sphinx mission and our music education efforts in the New York area, so I encourage you to reserve your tickets today!

Thank you for your continued support of Sphinx and I hope to see you on October 8th for a memorable night of music! 

Celebrate this milestone with us!

Dr. Aaron P. Dworkin

Sphinx Founder and President

[Aaron Paul Dworkin (b. 1970) is featured at AfriClassical.com as an outstanding Musician of African Descent]

George Walker on Chicago Sinfonietta: 'The very first program for the 2013/14 season is as embarrassing as it is demeaning.'

The composer and pianist George Walker was born in Washington, D.C.
June 27, 1922, is featured at AfriClassical.com
and has a website at http://georgetwalker.com/

George Walker writes:

Regarding the Chicago Sinfonietta:



The comments made by Arthur R. LaBrew and Julius Williams regarding the "misuse by the Chicago Sinfonietta of the Florence Price symphony for a hip-hop dance" are justifiable. The legacy of Dr. Paul Freeman is being undermined by a newly appointed conductor chosen for an acceptable skill level and a certain overt enthusiasm without anyone being aware of an appalling musical taste. The potpourri selected as program material is indicative of the attempt to be "with it" (hip style). 




Paul Freeman would now seem to have good reason to re-consider his choice. He devoted many years to develop and infuse an organization with a serious musical perspective. The very first program for the 2013/14 season is as embarrassing as it is demeaning. There are more than a few gifted conductors whose talents include the ability to make good musical choices as well as discerning administrative decisions.
Regards.



George Walker

RE: Arthur R. LaBrew on Florence Price's 'Symphony in E' and Chicago Sinfonietta: 'Must music by Black composers be subject to such popular vulgarity?'

John Malveaux

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

With great respect for purity and our significant contributors to recording, preservation and awareness of our great legacy and continuing contributions in classical and opera, we have reached the unfortunate circumstance of collective elimination due to declining concert attendance by youth and others under 60 years of age. Please offer some suggestions/strategies to attract larger audiences and greater awareness from those under 60 years of age.

 

John Malveaux

www.musicuntold.com

Sergio Mims: 'I sincerely hope that the Chicago Sinfonietta will reconsider its decision'

Sergio A. Mims

Sergio A. Mims writes on the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Symphony in E of Florence B. Price:

Here's my response:

This is a sad and quite obviously desperate attempt in the hopes of attracting a younger audience when it will, if fact, have the opposite effect.

People instinctively know when they are being pandered to and, as always, they reject it. Music should be allowed to breathe and exist in its own original form and whenever music is presented in that way will people come.

I sincerely hope that the Chicago Sinfonietta will reconsider it's decision and present Florence Price's remarkable and beautiful music in the way in which it was conceived.

Sergio Mims

WHPK-FM Chicago

Arthur R. LaBrew on Florence Price's 'Symphony in E' and Chicago Sinfonietta: 'Must music by Black composers be subject to such popular vulgarity?'

Prof. Arthur R. LaBrew (YouTube.com)

Dominique-René de Lerma writes:

Mr. LaBrew has granted me permission to submit the following:

Regarding the projected misuse by the Chicago Sinfonietta of the Florence Price symphony for a hip-hop dance is like having  Leontyne Price perform Tosca in a mini-skirt.   The lame excuse that Price's material would be enlightening to a new audience is utter nonsense! Why not present the work in its original form? Must music by Black composers be subject to such popular vulgarity?

Arthur R. LaBrew

Director, Michigan Music Research Center, Inc.

------------------------------------

Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com


Comment by email:

Dear Arthur, Thank you for your most insightful and poignant contribution (shown below) and for all that you have done and are doing to promote and maintain the dignity and sanctity of our music by Black composers.  Musically yours, Barbara [Barbara Wright-Pryor]

Julius P. Williams on Coming Season of Chicago Sinfonietta: 'A shame and a slap in the face.'

Julius P. Williams
Juliuswilliams.com

Composer, Conductor and Professor Julius Penson Williams (b. 1954) is among the select group of composers and musicians featured at AfriClassical.com.  On August 27, 2013 AfriClassical posted: Statements on the Chicago Sinfonietta's Opening Concerts of the Coming Season, by Barbara Wright-Pryor, Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma and William J. Zick

Maestro Williams on coming season of Chicago Sinfonietta:

The orchestra's direction was sealed by the new manager who has no clue of the original orchestra's intent. I should rephrase that, he knows the intent but has chosen not to honor it.  A shame and a slap in the face.

Juliuspwilliams.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Penson_Williams

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Julius-P-Williams/110318889448

MusicUNTOLD enables 105 residents to attend ICYOLA celebration of MLK Jr. 'I HAVE A DREAM speech at Disney Concert Hall Aug. 26, 2013

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

Through the courtesy of County Supervisor Don Knabe, MusicUNTOLD provided approximately 105 residents FREE transportation and tickets to attend Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles symphonic celebration of MLK Jr. I HAVE A DREAM speech at Disney Concert Hall on August 26, 2013. See group photo taken prior to arrival of Carmelitos Housing attendees.

 

John Malveaux

www.musicuntold.com

Statements on the Chicago Sinfonietta's Opening Concerts of the Coming Season, by Barbara Wright-Pryor, Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma and William J. Zick

Florence B. Price: Concerto in One Movement and Symphony in E Minor [Symphony No. 1]

Recorded Music of the African Diaspora, Vol. 3

 CBMR/Albany Records TROY1295 (2011)

Florence Beatrice Smith Price (1887-1953)
is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features
a comprehensive Works Lists by
Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma,
http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com.

On August 17, 2013 AfriClassical posted: "Chicago Sinfonietta Presents Daring Program Blending Live Hip-Hop And Orchestral Classics In 'eMotion'”  We presented the complete press release of the Chicago Sinfonietta, without comment.

August 27, 2013
Statements of Barbara Wright-Pryor, Dominique-René de Lerma and William J. Zick: 

The following statements are responses to the announcement of the Chicago Sinfonietta's plan for the opening concert of the coming season.  The undersigned grant full reprint permission and look forward to support of the press and public.

                           "As the current President of Chicago Music Association, Br. No. 1, The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. (Since 1919), the organization that championed the works of its member, composer Florence Price, and underwrote the contract with Frederick Stock and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the historical June 15,1933 premiere of Symphony No. 1 in E minor, I am appalled by The Chicago Sinfonietta's upcoming September 14 & 15, 2013 performance of "eMotion" that will extract Movements 3 and 4 from the symphony as a whole to be re-envisioned as accompaniment for hip-hop dance."

              "This is disgraceful and reveals a total lack of respect for, or understanding of, symphonic literature and/or works by Black composers and Founding Music Director Paul Freeman's original mission for the orchestra by its current musical and executive leadership."

Barbara Wright-Pryor

President, Chicago Music Association

       "Florence B. Price did not have an easy time of gaining recognition for the excellence of her orchestral and symphonic compositions.  Lacking other avenues, Price concentrated on competitions.  Horace J. Maxile, Jr., Associate Director of Research of the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago, wrote the liner notes for the historic recording of Price's Concerto in One Movement and Symphony in E Minor, Albany Records Troy1295 (2011).  Maxile writes of Price's compositional progress and experiences:

              "This wide range of influences coupled with strong craftmanship has left an indelible legacy which is highlighted by her ground-breaking Symphony in E Minor, which was the first prize winner of the 1932 Rodman Wanamaker Music Contest and is considered among the main concert musical achievements of the period.  Premiered in 1933 by Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Chicago World's Fair Century of Progress Exhibition, Price's Symphony in E Minor, her first symphony, is the first work by a black woman to be performed by a major symphony orchestra in the United States."

              "The Symphony in E Minor's Rodman Wanamaker prize notwithstanding, the premier recording was not made until 2011, some 78 years after the work's premiere.   This composition is to be reduced to Movements III and IV in the "Orchestra Dance Mix".  This "Collaborative Performance" clearly robs the Symphony in E Minor of its integrity as a complete work of classical music.

               "Similar treatment of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite will not significantly affect the composer's extremely well-known legacy as a composer.  Florence Price's symphonies are rarely performed, and are far more vulnerable when used for non-classical purposes." 

William J, Zick

Webmaster, AfriClassical.com

              "My association with Paul Freeman began 43 years ago when plans were being formulated in what resulted in the award-winning 9 LP recordings of The Black Composers Series, issued initially by Columbia Records and now available from the College Music Society.  The issue of these discs helped confirm the standings of such giants as George Walker, Ulysses Kay, and William Grant Still, and introduce composers as Saint-Georges, José White, and José Maurício Nunes-Garcia. I know it gave valid hope to the younger generation, certainly including Adolphus Hailstork and Talib Hakim, who have then established themselves as gifted and outstanding creators.

             "During these years we met often in the United States and in Europe, and I came to know Dr. Freeman as an uncompromising person, unswerving in his reasoned steps toward his goal of service to the very highest standards in Black artistry.  I saw him evolve into a jet-set conductor who nonetheless gave his dedication and devotion to his position in British Columbia and then to his dream of realizing a major non-discriminating ensemble in Chicago, one which had a distinct and well-defined mission from the start regarding minority composers and performers, faithfully presented. This was an astonishing accomplishment; all similar efforts by others had failed.  Paul's guidance offered the public an alternate to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, on a basis that was no less lofty.

            " In my own work as administrator, I knew that diluted goals and changed directions emasculate the mission.  What I have heard taking place with the Chicago Sinfonietta is deplorable, trivializing its very reason for being, in the false expectation that this will encourage audience development, but any attracted to those lowered standards will only be for a continuation of that level, cemented there by the  absence of aesthetic values and artistic integrity.

              "No less criminal is the shameful abandonment of the noble intents of Dr. Freeman, so soon after his absence.  Following this foolish path will result in the Sinfonietta's becoming much less than a pops ensemble, no longer faithful to its important distinction, disinterested in its reason to exist, and with no laudable future." 

Dominique-René de Lerma

Professor emeritus, Lawrence University

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com