Longfellow Chorus: 'Frances Walker-Slocum, a living legend in her own right, and part of the historic legacy of Coleridge-Taylor in America'

[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]

[Frances Walker-Slocum handed me this brochure from her 1979 recording and re-release on CD of Coleridge-Taylor's "24 Negro Melodies" on Orion Records at Tuesday's screening of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America, 1900–1912 at Oberlin College and Conservatory, Oberlin, Ohio.]

The Longfellow Chorus
Portland, Maine

February 20, 2014

A small group of African-American students and several faculty members at Oberlin College & Conservatory had gathered Tuesday evening in Lord Lounge in Afrikan Heritage House to view Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America, 1900–1912. Apparently, the event conflicted with a master class by Marilyn Horne.

I waited a few minutes to start the film not because of this, but because I had been told that an esteemed guest was on her way to the screening and would be there momentarily. 

Indeed, shortly thereafter, a frail, delicate figure made her way slowly with cane and escort from the rear of the lounge to her seat near the front. This was Frances Walker-Slocum, a living legend in her own right, and part of the historic legacy of Coleridge-Taylor in America.

The first black woman to become a tenured professor at Oberlin, she taught there from 1979 until her retirement in 1991. A distinguished, internationally acclaimed piano recitalist, she has championed music by minority composers throughout her career. As such, she is a fountain of knowledge, not only about Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, but also about numerous composers whose music has been overlooked or forgotten.