Ysaye A. Barnwell
Soprano Jessye Norman, composer Ysaye Barnwell, opera singer Soloman Howard and vocalist Annisse Murillo (respectively an alumnus and current member of WPAS’s Children of the Gospel), and an extraordinary 300-voice choir led by WPAS Gospel choir Artistic Director Stanley Thurston are just some of the talented artists who will join together under the banner of the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) for Of Thee We Sing: The Marian Anderson 75th Anniversary Celebration. This concert event celebrates the life and legacy of one of America’s greatest voices, the iconic contralto and humanitarian Marian Anderson. With guest appearances from a number of artists by arrangement with Centric (a BET Network) and a narrative penned by Tony Award-winning playwright Murray Horwitz, Of Thee We Sing shines a light on an American hero. The concert will take place at Washington, D.C.’s historic DAR Constitution Hall on April 12, 2014, 7pm-8:15pm. All public tickets are $5.
Tickets can be purchased through WPAS
box office 202-785-9727 or www.WPAS.org
Eight years before Jackie Robinson first ran the bases in Brooklyn,
and 24 years before Dr. King pronounced “I Have a Dream,” one remarkable woman
stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and sang for an audience of 75,000.
That woman was Marian Anderson. On April 12, 2014, one of the nation’s leading
independent arts producers and recent recipient of the National Medal of Arts, the
Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS), will celebrate the 75th
anniversary of this groundbreaking performance, a landmark moment of the Civil
Rights movement, with an all-star concert hosted by the celebrated American
soprano and long-time friend of WPAS Jessye Norman.
“A voice, once in a
century. The bearing of a majestic high-priestess with splendor of grace and a humility of spirit,” says Norman
of Anderson, her friend and mentor. “Easter 1939,
a woman rose far above the limitations of her time and poignantly sang: ‘My country ‘tis of thee sweet land of
liberty, to thee we sing.’ On the
occasion of seventy- five years since that
glorious Sunday afternoon, let us come together to remember and pay due homage to the singer, the strength
of character and the stunning event itself. We
are honored to offer her our gratitude.”
Of Thee We Sing will take place at
the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall, the very same
venue that denied Ms. Anderson permission to use its stage in 1939, eventually leading
to her recital outdoors and transforming a musical event into a transformative political
one.
“I could not run away from the
situation,” Ms. Anderson said of the concert. “I had become, whether I liked it or not, a symbol representing my
people. I had to appear.”
She would eventually perform many times at Constitution Hall,
including her final D.C. appearance 50 years ago in 1964, which was presented by
WPAS founder Patrick Hayes. DAR is
donating the use of Constitution Hall for Of
Thee We Sing.
Of Thee We Sing: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Event
Of
Thee We Sing weaves music from the classical and African American spiritual
repertoire that defined Anderson’s career together with a newly commissioned
choral work, narration, archival footage and images as well as contemporary
video. It is the majestic culmination of an ongoing cultural and educational
outreach program undertaken by WPAS this year (launched in February for Black
History Month), through which nearly 10,000 D.C. school children will be
introduced to Ms. Anderson’s artistry and activism.
This influence is already represented in two of the young guest artists
performing at the concert: the young gospel singer Annisse Murillo is a current
member of WPAS’s choir program Children
Of The Gospel, and bass Soloman Howard is a former member of the choir,
currently in his third year of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist
Program and a rising star in the opera world.
A world premiere of a
WPAS-commissioned choral work by D.C. music luminary Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, long-time
member of Sweet Honey In the Rock, is
one of the highlights of the program. For Barnwell, Marian Anderson was an unrivaled
inspiration: “I was 9 years old when I saw Marian Anderson perform at the
Metropolitan Opera. I think I still have the program and the New York Times review from the next
day. My parents, especially my father who was a classical violinist and
pedagogue born in the same year as Anderson, insisted that I know who she was.
[…] I have always been inspired by her phenomenal vocal range, the fact that
she sang both European and African American classical repertoire, and her
dignified heroism.” Barnwell’s piece will be performed by a 300-member choir,
including 120 singers from WPAS’s Men, Woman & Children of the Gospel and members
from 20 other local choruses directed by Stanley Thurston. The large, massed chorus reflects WPAS’s goal
to celebrate the diverse voices that comprise the creative fabric of DC,
arguably one of the choral ‘epicenters’ of the US.
WPAS
President & CEO Jenny Bilfield says, “Marian Anderson had a lasting impact
upon so many of us in ways that
transcended age, race, cultural background. As we began working on this project, we were moved by the many, profoundly
personal connections people shared with
us. That Miss Anderson was a close friend of, and inspiration to, WPAS’s founder, Patrick Hayes, gave additional
urgency to producing this event. With Of Thee We Sing, we honor these qualities by
gathering together generations of performers and
audience members whose lives she touched with her exceptional humanity, and by introducing the youngest generation to
her enduring spirit.”
“Celebrating Marian Anderson in our
nation’s capital highlights the enormous political
impact her career had for black artists in America,” says Paxton Baker, Executive Vice President and General Manager,
Centric (a BET Network), and WPAS
Board Member. “Her exceptional artistry and unwavering determination to effect change continues to give
us the courage to face seemingly insurmountable
personal and political obstacles with grace and resolve. In her own right, Marian Anderson’s life,
courage and conduct was as significant as Rosa
Parks’s. And as Harold Ickes said when he introduced her on that Easter Sunday ‘Genius draws no color
lines.’”
Of
Thee We Sing is already being heralded as a defining cultural event for the
D.C. area. It has earned the support of numerous funders and program partners
(see below), as well as an Honorary Host Committee comprising United States Senators
and Representatives from Pennsylvania and over 15 members of the Congressional
Black Caucus (CBC).
No comments:
Post a Comment