Saturday, February 28, 2015
John Malveaux: Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers present “Bridges” at 5 PM Sunday, March 8, 2015 at St. Bernadette Church, in Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles
writes:
The
Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers presents their production of “Bridges” on Sunday, March 8, 2015, at St. Bernadette
Church in the Baldwin Hills community of Los Angeles.
“Bridges” is a dramatization in song and narration that chronicles the events
that took place 50 years ago during the three weekend marches to cross
the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. This led to the passing
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and many of the freedoms American citizens
enjoy today because of the struggles, sacrifices and many times death, of the
brave and determined men, women, and children who marched with Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Screen writer, choreographer and Stage Manager,
Douglas Griffin has fused the a cappella repertoire of the Jubilee Singers with
the events of the time, to bring a unique experience that only the Jubilee
Singers could provide.
Dr. McNeil, resident of CA, LAUSD educator, retired Music Professor at UC-Davis
and Artistic Director of the Singers have travelled since 1968 to more than 77
countries and 48 states, sharing the spirit, beauty and majesty of the Negro
Spiritual to the world. The Singers are “bringin’ it home, again” to Baldwin
Hills at the beautiful and historic St Bernadette Church, 3825 Don Felipe
Drive. 5PM
Other noted musicians will be a part of the production, including Motivational
Speaker and tap dancer, Dr. David Sharp, from Crystal Cathedral’s “Glory of
Christmas” Productions, Bradley Baker - both former Jubilee Singers, members of
the Jubilee Singers Reunion Choir, members of Byron J. Smith’s Spirit Chorale
& Perry Hayes and The United Men’s Chorus of LA. Truly, a music community
WILL remember.
Call the information Hotline at
(424) 228-9220 for ticketing information. Or, go to www.amjsla.org
on the internet. Tickets: $25 general seating / $40 selected limited
seating. Discounts for Seniors, Students
and groups 6 or more are available.
Center for Black Music Research: National Endowment for the Arts: Art Talk with Jonathan Bailey Holland:
Jonathan Bailey Holland
(Sancho Maulion/New York Times)
A tweet from the Center for Black Music Research alerted us to an interview with Jonathan Bailey Holland, who has been featured in AfriClassical a number of times, with the National Endowment for the Arts:
The arts] are a place where we reflect the world around us, and it's the one place that anybody can do that, honestly and, hopefully, in an uncensored way.” – Jonathan Bailey Holland
Jonathan Bailey Holland may be known as a classical composer but he's been influenced by everyone from NEA Jazz Master Wynton Marsalis to legendary rap group Run DMC to 70s rock stalwarts Chicago. A native of Flint, Michigan, Holland has received commissions from the National Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and the Chicago Sinfonietta, to name just a few orchestras. He has written a ballet (for the Dallas Symphony and the Dallas Black Dance Theater) and musically mused on everything from Chicago's storied architecture to the history of the Underground Railroad. Holland holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Harvard University, and he teaches at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston. Holland has commissions upcoming from the Cincinnati Symphony and Left Coast Ensemble and most recently he's completed a work for orchestra, titled Elegy for Humanity, written, he explains,"partly in response to all the injustices and atrocities we continue to hear about in the news these days." We spoke with Holland via telephone about inspiration, failure, and his 2015 cultural resolutions.NEA: What was your road to becoming a composer?
JONATHAN BAILEY HOLLAND: There was always music at home when I was a kid, and I often talk about my dad's eclectic record collection, where he had everything from Lou Rawls to Nat Adderley to Miles Davis to Bootsy Collins to Handel's Fireworks. I always remember getting excited when I would listen to his records, and my mom also played piano just for her own enjoyment…. As a little kid, I would always sit at the piano and kind of make up songs, and then I eventually started taking instrument lessons, piano lessons, and trumpet lessons…. I ended up going to Interlochen Arts Academy for high school, which was great, and started doing some composition while I was there, and this was a kickoff for me, and I’ve just been going since.
- See more at: http://arts.gov/art-works/2015/art-talk-jonathan-bailey-holland#sthash.cz3Vdy5n.dpuf
John Malveaux: NPR.org: New Museum Depicts 'The Life Of A Slave From Cradle To The Tomb'
In recent years, some popular antebellum plantations have
started to incorporate displays about slavery. But the Whitney
Plantation in Louisiana has designed the visitor's entire experience
around that history.
Debbie Elliott/NPR
Whitney Plantation owner John Cummings has commissioned
stark artwork for the site, including realistic statues of slave
children found throughout the museum.
Debbie Elliott/NPR
writes:
New museum depicts the life of a slave from cradle to the tomb
http://www.npr.org/2015/02/27/389563868/new-museum-depicts-the-life-of-a-slave-from-cradle-to-the-tomb
http://www.npr.org/2015/02/27/389563868/new-museum-depicts-the-life-of-a-slave-from-cradle-to-the-tomb
John Malveaux
'I am listening to Joseph Bologne's violin concertos for the first time and I feel such pride to know that works of such high nobility have flowed from black people also.'
Violin Concertos, Op. 5, Nos. 1 & 2;
Op. 3, No. 1; Op. 8, No. 9
Op. 3, No. 1; Op. 8, No. 9
Bernard Thomas Chamber Orchestra
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Violin
Arion 68093 (1990)
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)
is featured at AfriClassical.com
Samuel Enoh-Tanya of Cameroon made a post in the
Guest Book of AfriClassical Blog's companion website,
AfriClassical.com, on Saturday, February 28, 2015:
You cannot know how elated I am to find your website.
I am listening to Joseph Bologne's violin concertos for
the first time and I feel such pride to know that works
of such high nobility have flowed from black people
also. There is a renewal happening within humanity, a
striving for the resurgence of nobility, love and
goodness. Africans must take the lead in this, but they
cannot do so if they do not know how much they
themselves had contributed in the past. Keep on
providing this information to the world and inspiring
Africans all over.
We welcome Samuel Enoh-Tanya to AfriClassical.com
You cannot know how elated I am to find your website.
I am listening to Joseph Bologne's violin concertos for
the first time and I feel such pride to know that works
of such high nobility have flowed from black people
also. There is a renewal happening within humanity, a
striving for the resurgence of nobility, love and
goodness. Africans must take the lead in this, but they
cannot do so if they do not know how much they
themselves had contributed in the past. Keep on
providing this information to the world and inspiring
Africans all over.
We welcome Samuel Enoh-Tanya to AfriClassical.com
and AfriClassical.blogspot.com and encourage him to help
spread the word about Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges and
spread the word about Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges and
the many other classical composers and musicians of
African descent.
| ||
Friday, February 27, 2015
Houston Chronicle: Ebony Opera group focuses on composers ( "Duke, Dett and Three Premieres")
Conductor Roland Carter will lead the Houston Ebony Opera Guild's annual gala concert Sunday.
(Jamie Davis, Houston Chronicle)
(Jamie Davis, Houston Chronicle)
Houston Chronicle
By Colin Eatock
February 27, 2015
Since 1992, the African-American Music Gala has been a prominent annual
performance for Houston Ebony Opera. And this year will be no exception.
"It's a major concert event," says Mary Marks Guillory, the chair of
the Houston Ebony Music Society. "It's a platform for African-American
music, including new works. And it reflects our broad commitment to
African-American composers."
Sunday'ss program is called "Duke, Dett and Three
Premieres." And the composers sung by the 45-member choir range from
jazz giant Duke Ellington to R. Nathaniel Dett, an early-20th-century
classical composer. Three new works by Houston composers will be
performed as well.
On the podium for the occasion will be
conductor Roland Carter, professor emeritus at the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he taught for 23 years. He's also a
composer, arranger and music publisher.
Carter has enjoyed a long association with Houston Ebony Opera, dating to 1989. He had high praise for the organization.
"I
think it has done quite well - it has grown tremendously. And as the
charter members revolve out, there are new members coming in."
The
major piece on the program is Ellington's "Sacred Concerts." Carter
points out that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first of the
composer and bandleader's cathedral concerts in San Francisco in 1965.
The major piece on the program is Ellington's "Sacred Concerts."
Carter points out that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first
of the composer and bandleader's cathedral concerts in San Francisco in
1965.
For the "Sacred Concerts," Carter will be sharing the stage
with DeVonne Gardner - a Philadelphia vocalist who appeared with
Ellington in the 1960s and 1970s. The Duke praised her as a
"clear-voiced soprano," and she became a regular with his orchestra.
The
name R. Nathaniel Dett isn't as widely recognized today as Ellington.
But in the 1930s, the Canadian-born black pianist and composer was known
nationally, through appearances on NBC and CBS radio networks. He died
in 1943.
Carter also feels a personal connection to Dett.
"Dett
is very special to me. He founded the music school at the Hampton
Institute in Virginia. I was subsequently choir director there for a
quarter of a century. So I count him as part of my musical heritage."
Dett's
oratorio "The Ordering of Moses" was premiered in 1937 by the
Cincinnati Symphony under the distinguished British conductor Sir Eugene
Goosens. Carter will conduct excerpts from this work at Sunday's gala.
Dominique-René de Lerma: Link to February 26, 2015 Performance Today Interview with Eduardo Rios, Senior Division Winner of 2015 Sphinx Competition
Eduardo Rios and the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra perform at the 2015 Sphinx Competition (Glenn Triest)
Dominique-René de Lerma:
Click the following link to reach the page on which the February 26, 2015 Performance Today interview with Eduardo Rios can be heard:
Performance Today
Eduardo
Ríos is the senior division winner of the 2015 Sphinx Competition, a
competition which strives to "encourage, develop and recognize classical
music talent in the Black and Latino communities."
Rios
grew up in Lima, Peru. Currently, he is a student at the Colburn School
in Los Angeles, California. Listen to his interview with PT host Fred
Child after the competition.
You can also watch Ríos' award-winning performance on the Sphinx website.
©2015 American Public Media
--------------------------------
Dominique-René de Lerma
Dominique-René de Lerma: In April 1915 'Musical America' printed an article, 'Our great need: An American genius'; the answer had been present all along, in the spiritual.
Dominique-René de Lerma:
It was almost a century ago -- 10 April 1915 -- that Musical America, that esteemed journal which still flourishes, printed the following article by Israel Ampter, "Our great need: An American genius."
He was aware that Antonín Dvorak had addressed the same issue a dozen years earlier, but falls short without noting the answer had been present all along, in the spiritual. He lauds Germany, which would not be the case three years later when the German-Americans, who had leadership of many American music establishments, were removed from power because of World War I. Looking at England, he would agree with the British feelings of cultural inferiority (an American importation), not yet noting the work of Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, or for sure Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Britten was yet to make his mark.
He disdains ragtime and as a result Scott Joplin, and would doubtless have the same negative thoughts about Harry Burleigh. This was only moments before the start of the Harlem Renaissance, that enormous flourishing of talented performers such as Roland Hayes and Marion Anderson, and composers like William Grant Still and Duke Ellington. Had Ampter written on the same subject ten or twenty years later, would he then realize these talents had provided the answer? I doubt that he would even have accepted Gershwin then, but in these words he describes so well what Americans were to worry about for several decades:
“We
Shall Not Have an Individual National Music Until a World Master like
Wagner Rises from Among Us and Creates for Us an Ideal—European
Influence Would Be Negligible if Our Creative Artists Were
All—Compelling in Mastery
IT cannot
be assumed that selfish reasons alone have fostered the movement to
have American musical students pursue their studies in America—i. e., a
desire to retain in America the money that otherwise must be spent
abroad. Nor patriotic reasons, suggesting that American students should
be content with the best training that America affords. These reasons
would be totally invalid and absolutely disregarded by the individual
students.
No,
it is something higher, something ethnological, something esthetic,
something ideal. Not the desire to keep ourselves free and untouched by
foreign influences in the belief that what is American is, at least for
Americans, superior, but the wish that what we do may be as American as
possible, as suggestive of our Western aspirations and conception of
life, as is within the reach of man to attain. The aim is that what we
do and think may be individualistic—not a composite of Old World culture
and New World evolution, but New World culture as derived from all that
the past has produced and moulded into an entity entirely unparalleled
in the history of man. We want to be completely ourselves.
Is
there not distinct German music, decidedly characteristic Italian
music, music peculiarly French and Hungarian, Russian and Norwegian (at
least in Grieg, although the points of resemblance between him, the
Scandinavian, and Puccini, the Italian, are numerous) ? Then why not
American music?
Foreign Influence on Performers
Our
performers, even if they study in America, will for a long time to come
be dependent upon foreign influence in their interpretations. Most of
the compositions are foreign, and those performers who would forget
themselves as much as possible, in the notion that the composition was
not created for them, but it is their office to interpret the
composition, will have to sink themselves into exotic thought and in
their performances try to suggest the current of conception and emotion
felt by the foreign composer. True, the master performer will always
insist on his own conception of what the composer intended, the
performance as a consequence being a blending of the composer and
performer.
Then,
again, as long as our opera going public intends to remain so shallow
as to be content to listen to opera in a tongue that it either does not
understand at all or so imperfectly as merely to grasp—and vaguely at
that—the content and nothing of the beauty of language and thought the
opera will be given in the original language. And that again puts part
of our musicians completely under foreign influence.
Our
composer at least should be left uncontaminated is the cry. They, the
creators of American music, must not be exposed to anything that will
detract from their individuality. A short time ago there appeared the
statement of an American musician to the effect that as the youthful
years are the most impressionable those who during that time study
abroad are bound to come back inoculated with foreign ideas and methods.
He declared that his own life bears out his contention. It would seem,
however, that for our composer to remain here completely—isolated from
the rest of the thinking world—would mean to subject him to the only
influence at all characteristic in America as far as music is concerned,
and at that one that racially and esthetically, he as an individualist
should combat and refute—viz., ragtime. Certainly nothing can be more
baneful on his development than this ragtime, despite its syncopated
rhythm, alluring to the feet of our one-stepping, two-stepping and
downward-stepping dance-mad hordes. And even Dvorak to the contrary.
Why
have our serious composers not produced genuine, undefiled American
music? Why is it that in spite of 5,000 miles separating us from
European thought, in spite of our nation’s being composed of other
constituents, in spite of our living under quite different physical
conditions, in spite of our institutions being different from Old World
institutions, in spite of our ideals being distinct, we have not evolved
anything powerfully American? Probably for no other reason than that
what has been American in music has lacked force, personality, and has
yielded to the stronger influence of united Europe. And is that at all
strange?
As
already stated in the course of these articles, art is not the product
of a day. It is the quintessence of a long period of development in a
definite direction. It is the soul of tendency. It is the force giving
form to outer conditions. It is the culminating power of a nation’s
ideals.
What
is the American nation? Up to the present it has been a continually
varying mass. It is a restless composite of material strugglers, who now
seek a formula for their struggles and clamor for the artist to
proclaim it. Shall the mere desire give birth to him? Walt Whitman is
the only artist that America can claim as American—soul and spirit, mind
and body. All our other writers have been bastard. Our painters are
pure reflections of Europe. Were our artists masters, all-compelling
geniuses, whose personality dominated everything, European thought and
influence would be negligible.
Let
us look at Europe. The states of Europe are in nearly the same
proximity as our American states—certainly far nearer to each other than
the western and eastern coasts of the United States. Great Britain is
not at a great distance from Germany and France. Yet she and America are
practically in the same position—no world-challenging musical genius.
Both of them appreciating music, reveling in it, yet not fertile in
musical thought. Is it that Anglo-Saxon thought is not musical? (It must
be remembered that a good portion of our leading musicians has up to
the present been of British origin.)
Are
the barriers between the nations of Europe so strong? Do frontiers
represent a complete cleavage of thought? Frontiers are fantastic lines
of separation—nothing more. The transition from one state to the other
is so gradual, so imperceptible that for political reasons it must be
emphasized by distinct institutions and forms. The differences- of
nationality in Europe arise from racial and geological conditions. The
railway and steamship are overcoming these barriers so formidably that
we now know of the influence of Russian music in the West (an instance
is to be found in a very recent American work). And certainly this is
not because Western composers have studied in Russia.
Let
us but regard the latest phenomenon in music—the Futurists. Do they not
demonstrate that nations (in music) are disappearing, outline, form and
content being practically given, with a slight addendum on the part of
the composer? I say slight addendum, because that is all that
distinguishes the various nationalities among them. A certain plane of
thought has been arrived at among them which they all understand—the
social spirit dominant. Where now is the wild anarchist, the destructive
iconoclast, the devastating breaker-down and sweeper-away of all that
is considered good, proper and true, that will take the tools that all
musical evolution has brought him, adding thereto his own and clarion
forth into the world a new song of life?
Beethoven,
living under the régime of Italian music, remained Beethoven; Mozart
became part Italian. Beethoven’s genius withstood all the seductive
influences that Italian opera radiated; Mozart fell prey to them.
Birth of Our Own Music
And
yet we, who have produced no genius in music, are to emancipate
ourselves from these influences—perhaps by the distance! It is
impossible. The steamship will bring fresh supplies day by day. We who
recognize that art is not the product of a single day still stretch
forth a begging hand, seeking aid. We whose ears still drink in melody
will hearken to new strains. We whose minds crave new ideals will heed a
new voice. When the American genius has arrived American music will have registered its birth.
Are conditions in America such, firstly, that all talents in this direction
are discovered? (By talents I mean not our especially gifted young men
and women, but the faculty of music resident in every person.) Secondly,
are they cultivated, supported and encouraged? For our present argument
it is quite immaterial whether they grow up into American artists or
not—they are merely to develop.
Both
of these questions must be answered in the negative. This statement
must be taken relatively. To be more explicit, let me designate that
which seeks out, fosters and propagates every artistic trait as
“atmosphere.” Does, then, atmosphere congenial to this work exist in
America?
The
word “atmosphere” is so little understood, so mistaken for but one of
its elements that a definition ought to be attempted. And yet it is so
comprehensive that it could only be deduced from a complete analysis of
conditions in places where this atmosphere exists. Conditions in Germany
(i. e., normal conditions) are not conducive to the artist spirit.
It
has not been a mere matter of chance that Germany has produced such
world-wide geniuses. (This Germany is not to be understood as the
present political unit Germany, but that larger confederation of the
German-speaking people in Central Europe, which, therefore, includes
Austria and part of Switzerland.) It is not a mere matter of chance that
as a result of her geniuses, hosts of foreign disciples of the art have
pilgrimmed to that font of melody. It is not a mere matter of chance
that the great masters and teachers of the art have made the Teutonic
realm the place of their activity. It is not a mere matter of chance
that great interpreters have made it their abode. It is not a mere
matter of chance that every composer and performer seeks final judgment
of his works in Germany.
It
is because the German people are one of the most musical people in the
world and have added thereto a sense of system and method that spells
to-day technic—technic, the means of a more amplified expression of
thought. To state that they are the most musical people in the
world would cause endless dispute and lead us to neglect the primary
argument at this point. The phenomena mentioned in the preceding
paragraph are so convincing that no question can be raised. German sense
of system, thoroughness, breadth of idea have all placed new implements
at the disposal of the composer and produced that gigantic form of
composition that is exclusively German.
Germany
takes her art seriously. Every German, whether he understands or
occupies himself with art or not, knows that it is one of the nation’s
great assets. And the artists are counted among the great men.
This
is “atmosphere,” not in its supreme, but highly superior form. The
student gives impetus and receives impetus not from a small coterie of
similarly employed individuals, but from a nation. He lives and works
among a people that can respond, that regards his calling as an
exceptional one, that honors him for it, that thinks of its musicians as
among its greatest sons. This is the “atmosphere” that surrounds the
novice. This is that something which is not as intangible as we are made
to believe. It is a something that spurs on to never ceasing effort.
America
is, unfortunately, too far away to grasp these influences keenly. And
the distances in America, though bridged over by railroad and telegraph,
are too great to allow a nation-wide impulse and “atmosphere” to be
felt. Furthermore, the blight of the nineteenth century weighs on her.
Can she, not emancipate herself, but awaken to her artistic conceptions?
She can only if a genius like Wagner appears, whose personality is
evidently strong, whose conception of life is not taken from the clouds,
but from living men, and is so engrossing, so overpowering, so colossal
that we, too, will bow before him and perceive in him a creator not of
dollars, but of ideals—a hero! Only then will the world take something
from us. Till then we must imbibe at the font—imbibe till our own
personalities grow large and strong, and produce the new ideal.
---------------------------------
Dominique-René de Lerma
John Malveaux: Author and professor Lani Guinier will be interviewed Sunday March 1, 2015 on C-Span American History
Lani Guinier
writes:
Author and professor Lani Guinier will be interviewed Sunday March 1, 2015 on C-Span American History.
John Malveaux
Author & Law Professor
Lani Guinier
on In Depth
Live Sunday, Noon - 3 pm ET
on C-SPAN2's Book TV
Join us Sunday for a live, three-hour interview with author and professor Lani Guinier. She
is a professor at Harvard Law School and a former special assistant at
the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and former
assistant counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. Her
latest book is Tyranny of the Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America. She will spend three hours taking viewers' calls, Facebook comments, emails, and tweets.
University of Wisconsin Stevens Point: 'We performed the Afro-American Symphony last night' 'The students really enjoyed working on it and the crowd went bonkers.'
William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com,
which features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de
Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com
Judith Anne Still forwards a Feb. 26, 2015 message from Dr. Patrick Miles of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point:
Hello Ms. Still,
We performed the Afro-American Symphony last night here at UWSP. The students really enjoyed working on it and the crowd went bonkers. It was such a great experience. Thank you.
Pat
Dr. Patrick Miles
Director of Orchestral Activities/Professor of Horn
Brass Area Coordinator
Graduate Studies Coordinator
Department of Music
UWSP
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Comment by email:
Thanks, Bill--I am always delighted when conductors are blown away by
audience approval. That's what we're all about. [Judith Anne Still]
Thursday, February 26, 2015
John Malveaux: HistoryOfStCharlesParish.org: The 1811 German Coast Uprising was a revolt of black slaves in parts of the Territory of Orleans
John Malveaux of
writes:
The 1811 German Coast Uprising was a revolt of black slaves in
parts of the Territory of Orleans on January 8–10, 1811. The uprising
occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what are now St.
John the Baptist and St. Charles Parishes, Louisiana. See http://www.historyofstcharlesparish.org/index.php/19th-century/the-territorial-period-1803-1812/slave-revolt
John Malveaux
Dominique--René de Lerma: Harlem Opera Theater: Feb. 27 - Black History Month, Schomburg Ctr 6pm Reception + 7:30 Concert $40; 7:30 Concert (only) $25
Harlem Opera Theater
Lis Stevens, soprano
Steven Wallace, tenor
Quentin Lee, baritone
Gregory Hopkins on piano
Tickets available online:
www.harlemoperatheater.com
--------------------------------
Dominique-René de Lerma
John Malveaux: Architect Paul R. Williams and Composer William Grant Still both lived on S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles; both homes are on L.A. Historical Registry
Wikipedia.org: William
Grant Still residence, 1262 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA, just
north of Pico Blvd. This is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #169. (Downtowngal)
Wikipedia.org: Paul R. Williams Residence, 1690 S. Victoria Avenue, Los Angeles. (Downtowngal)
On February 25, 2015 AfriClassical posted:
John Malveaux has commented by email:
Architect Paul R.
Williams and Composer William Grant Still lived on the same street
(Victoria) in Los Angeles and their homes were listed on
the Los Angeles Historical Registry 12-1-1976. 1976 was the Bicentennial
of the United States. See 169 and 170 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Historic-Cultural_Monuments_in_the_Wilshire_and_Westlake_areas
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
John Malveaux: "African American architect Paul Williams designed home at 5531 Bryant Drive East, Long Beach" on "the largest residential lot (2.6 acres) in Long Beach"
Paul Revere Williams
writes:
Famed African American architect Paul Williams designed home at 5531
Bryant Drive East, Long Beach is for sale. The 5 bedroom, 4.5 baths,
5,000 square foot home in the estate section of Park Estates has the
largest residential lot (2.6 acres) in Long Beach. Ken Trossen is
Broker. See http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/
John Malveaux
www.musicuntold.com
Comment by email:
Architect Paul R. Williams and Composer William Grant Still lived on the same street (Victoria) in Los Angeles and their homes were listed on the Los Angeles Historical Registry 12-1-1976. 1976 was the Bicentennial of the United States. See 169 and 170 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Historic-Cultural_Monuments_in_the_Wilshire_and_Westlake_areas
Thanks
John
Comment by email:
Architect Paul R. Williams and Composer William Grant Still lived on the same street (Victoria) in Los Angeles and their homes were listed on the Los Angeles Historical Registry 12-1-1976. 1976 was the Bicentennial of the United States. See 169 and 170 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Historic-Cultural_Monuments_in_the_Wilshire_and_Westlake_areas
Thanks
John
Unity Church of Christianity, Valley Stream, NY: Pianist Roy Eaton, 'Choipin meets Joplin meets Jazz' Sunday, March 15, 2015, 2 PM, Donation $25.00
Roy Eaton, winner of the first Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award in June 1950, made his American debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Chopin's F minor Concerto under George Schick in 1951. He was re-engaged to perform Beethoven's 4th concerto the following season, and also made his New York Town Hall debut in 1952.
His career was "temporarily" interrupted by 2 years of service in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict, then approximately 30 years in advertising at Young & Rubicam, then as V.P. Music Director of Benton & Bowles, then running his own production company. He was recently inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame for his Ad work. He is currently on the faculty of the Manhattan Schoo of Music.
Air Force Strings Perform Works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor & William Grant Still at Maryland Music Educators Association Convention in Baltimore February 20, 2015
is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which
features a comprehensive Works List and a
Bibliography by Dr. Dominique- René de Lerma,
Air Force Strings
The United States Air Force Band
Washington, D.C.
Colonel Larry H. Lang, Commander
Total Time (58:56)
William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com,
which features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de
Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com
On February 14, 2015 AfriClassical posted:
Dominique-René de Lerma: Air Force Strings And "An American Dream" Includes "Four Novelettes, Op. 52" of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Senior Master Sergeant William T. Tortolano writes:
Thank you for your kind note and all your help in getting the word out!Mr. de Lerma's review was spot-on. I wish we had the money to have printed liner notes, but the Air Force is so tight on money these days. I've put in a request to my commander to let me write them and post them online. I'll let you know if I'm successful.The Strings have played the Coleridge-Taylor on a couple of Black History Month concerts, including one at the recent Maryland Music Educators conference in Baltimore. Both students and educators were thrilled to get to know the Coleridge-Taylor. We also gave out CDs.
This summer we're giving a couple of concerts in Maine and New Hampshire, so I'm pressing to perform the Foote in his native New England.Here is a program announcement by The United States Air Force Band:Air Force Strings take AIM to Maryland Music Educators Posted 1/28/2015 Updated 1/28/2015by Master Sgt. William Hurd 1/28/2015 - Washington, D.C. -- On Feb. 20, the Air Force Strings will take the Band's Advancing Innovation through Music (AIM) program to the Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA) Convention, held this year at the Baltimore Convention Center. Designed to build positive relationships with local educational communities, the AIM program gives Band members the opportunity to work side by side with students of all ages, in small environments such as clinics and master classes, as well as in large scale assemblies. The Band also hosts field trips to historic Hangar 2, our home on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, where students experience a little Air Force history and get a chance to sit-in on rehearsals. In 2014 alone, the AIM program reached more than 15,000 school students in over 70 events across seven states and the District of Columbia. The Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA) is the professional association for the school music teachers of Maryland. MMEA's mission is to provide professional development for music teachers, opportunities for excellence for music students and teachers, and to serve as an advocate for music education in schools. The more than 1,100 teacher members are from every geographic jurisdiction of the state as well as from every level of teaching--early childhood through colleges and secondary schools, educating in public, private and parochial schools. MMEA is a state affiliate of the Music Educators National Conference and the National Association for Music Education, the largest arts advocacy organization in the world. At the MMEA convention, the Air Force Strings will present an AIM program to music teachers from across the state of Maryland by performing a concert in honor of Black History Month. The event will showcase works by notable African-American composers William Grant Still and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and also include music by Morton Gould. The Strings are excited to be able to participate in this important gathering of educators and musicians. We look forward to meeting and working with the people who enrich tens of thousands of students' lives with the power of music.
John Malveaux: Living History Museum, Peninsula Center Library Feb. 25, 6-7:30 PM: Misty Copeland tells of her struggles and triumphs as a ballerina
Peninsula Center Library
Living History Museum Celebrates African American History
February 25, 2015
Misty Copeland
writes:
MusicUNTOLD presented ballerina Misty Copeland to Long Beach and San
Pedro students in 2012 to encourage diversity in ballet. As you browse
through the Living History Museum at the Peninsula Center Library on
February 25 from 6 to 7:30 PM., you'll see Ballerina Misty Copeland
telling about her struggles and triumphs as a ballerina. See
http://www.pvld.org/blog/living-history-museum-celebrates-african-american-history-feb-25Thanks
John Malveaux
www.musicuntold.com
Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture: Take Black History Month Pledge that Black Life Matters! Help tell our stories and keep our history alive.
Khalil Gibran Muhammad, PhD:
This year, let's make Black History Month a time to champion Black Future.
As you know, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture played a
pivotal role during the past year, providing important community forums
on policing, race, history and the important role that art, scholarship
and literature can play to inspire our nation.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that the Schomburg Center is celebrating its newest exhibition, Curators’ Choice: Black Life Matters,
during Black History Month. The exhibition celebrates culture through
the richness of photographs, film, books, music, letters and artwork
that have documented the beauty, imagination and enduring legacy of the
black experience.
Inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter social media campaign, Curators’ Choice: Black Life Matters,
on display until August 15, is presented by five of our own in-house
curators who have assembled an eclectic mix of material culture, art and
images. Just as the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 spurred a generation
to act and create, Curators’ Choice: Black Life Matters serves
as a catalyst for those who believe in freedom and cannot rest until the
deaths of Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride, Michael Brown, Eric Garner
and so many others help transform the nation yet again.
This is why I am asking you to join me today in pledging that we will
tell the true story about the black experience in America. Please click here to sign our Black Life Matters Pledge.
We'll display your name along with the others at the Schomburg Center as
a show of solidarity in remembering our past and building a brighter,
stronger, more just future for every American.
Without help from supporters like you, it would simply be impossible for
us to continue serving as the world's leading research and cultural
arts institution dedicated to preserving and teaching our legacy.
We have every right to be outraged about how events have gone during the
past year. But to write a new chapter and change the future, we need to
be in charge of the story.
Khalil Gibran Muhammad, PhD
Director
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