THE MUNDAY FELLOWSHIP
Dominique-René de Lerma
When
I was selected as the Wiley Housewright Visiting Scholar for 1990 at
Florida State University, I found an extraordinary assemblage of
exceptional artists and scholars on the faculty of the College of Music
-- certainly including the composer and conductor Dr. André Thomas,
whose career I had watched carefully from his student days -- and a body
of ardent students to match. I had been asked only to have a graduate
seminar on Black music, spending the rest of my energies in personal
research. That was too much of a luxury to face, so I pleaded that I
might also have a course in the subject that would be open to both
graduate and undergraduate students, regardless of major. Within that
large class, I have particular reason to remember Ken Pereira, a drama
major (now Professor of Theatre and Director of the Honors Program at
Illinois State University), pianist Kevin Wayne Bumpers (now Professor
of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at Miami-Dade College), and
soprano Randy Jones (now completing her doctorate at the University of
Iowa), whose name will be known to record collectors and those
interested in her important register of currently active Black singers
[www.artofthenegrospiritual.com]).
One
of the greatest joys was coming to know Myron Carl Munday, one of the
three in the seminar. He was quickly identified as one with a keen
intellect, one whose distinctive humor might seem to override his pride
and passion when it came to Black music. He presented a most splendid
lecture recital on the organ works of the composers, clearly giving
evidence of a literature search that resulted not only in the
acquisition of publications, but of manuscripts. I greatly lamented
this presentation was not recorded.
While
there are no commercial recordings of his work, a few cassettes exist
of his recitals. With singers and instrumentalists, he presented a
recital at Tallahassee's Trinity United Methodist Church, where he was
senior organist, 24 May 1990:
Buxtehude, Dietrich. Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet, Bux. 5.
Reinberger, Josef. Andante pastorale, op. 98.
Gwinner, Volker. Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut.
Schroeder, Hermann. Duplum.
Wesley, Samuel. Duet.
Shortly
before, on 31 March, at the same location, he had offered a solo
recital with works by Frederick Tillis, Juan Cabanilles, John E. West,
André Raison, and Bach. He had ended the previous year (3 December) at
Trinity Methodist, joined by the Women's Glee Club, harpist Jamie Ann
Gossett and oboist Timothy Murdock, conducted by James Bagwell (all then
FSU colleagues):
Thiman, Eric H. A Christmas meditation.
Britten, Benjamin. A ceremony of carols, op. 28.
Monteverdi, Claudio. Angelus ad pastores ait.
Poulenc, Francis. Ave Maria.
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Magnificat. Suscepit Israel.
He
was born in Atlanta, on 12 June 1951. He was awarded his doctorate in
1992 and then on 7 November 1995, he died. The cause might have been
pulmonary (he had been hospitalized with a lung disorder about 1991).
Family members (although relationship has not been determined) included
Alget Munday, Larry K. Munday, and Willie Curtis Munday.
The
Myron Munday Fellowship in Sacred Music was established jointly by
Trinity United Methodist Church and the College of Music at Florida
State University in the fall of 2014, open to current or prospective FSU
undergraduates seeking training in music, liturgy, theology, and
administration. Awardees are provided with an annual scholarship of
$2,000 and a book allowance. News of the fellowship was announced in
several sources, including the newsletters of the American Guild of
Organists and came to my attention from Randye.
WORKS
Munday, Myron Carl. A selected bibliography of solo organ music by Black composers. Graduate paper (D.M.) Florida State University, 1992. 160p.
Munday, Myron Carl. Florence B. Price. Unpublished paper, 1991. 14p.
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Dominique-René de Lerma
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