African Musical Arts Founder, Fred Onovwerosuoke
Songs of Africa Ensemble after an
educational concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall
Songs of Africa Ensemble
Sonic Safari Educational Concert for Schools
Sonic Safari Educational Concert for Schools
ST. LOUIS – Last
November, five innovative projects were announced as the winners of the
Regional Arts Commission’s Innovation Fund. Out of fifty-two letters of
intent, one of the selected projects is a two-year pilot project called the
African Performing Arts Exchange, (or “the Exchange”) which will produce concert performances and
music engraving of works by African-descent composers and build a web-based
platform to share these musical resources in a wider market. The Exchange will
provide a comprehensive digital database for sheet music, audios, videos, and
other materials, projected to become an innovative gateway to information
accessible to performers, arts presenters, educators, students, researchers and
the general public - a one of a kind web-based resource.
“These innovation
grants provide the support necessary for arts organizations to implement
new ideas that they haven’t been able to try and that’s exciting,” said Jill McGuire,
executive director of the Regional Arts Commission. “These grants will both
impact the St. Louis cultural landscape as well as advance the organizations’
capacity to grow and engage the community.”
The African Performing
Arts Exchange is a realization of the dreams of Dr. Fred Onovwerosuoke[1], the founder of African
Musical Arts Inc. “FredO” as friends and colleagues call him, has collected a
large music archive over his decades of field research in over thirty African countries,
a unique resource which will be digitized and made available through the
Exchange project. “The African Performing Arts Exchange project is a unique
product that responds to current unmet needs of the music marketplace - the
need to have easy access to the unique music resources that we provide,” says
FredO. “Today, as new immigrant populations enrich America’s musical culture, musicians
and teachers are looking to expand their repertoire and horizons with new
styles, and they want access to resources quickly and easily, preferably in the
palm of their hand through their mobile phones.”
In the last decade, this
St. Louis-based non-profit organization has become a dominant resource for
publishers such as Oxford University Press, who drew heavily on the music
archives held by African Musical Arts’ founder, FredO, to publish “Songs of
Africa: 22 Pieces for Mixed Voices”[2] in 2008 and “Songs of
Africa for Upper Voices Set 1 and Set 2” in 2012. The first “Songs of Africa”
book was made available with an accompanying CD of sample choirs’ performances
to demonstrate performance practice of specific songs from the collection, and
has since become one of Oxford’s best sellers. “In addition to partnering with
leading publishing firms, our organization, African Musical Arts should go the
extra mile to share our unique resources,” adds FredO. Choirs, chamber music groups, orchestras, as well as
researchers from a wide-ranging field of disciplines will have a readily accessible
resource literally at their fingertips.
“We see this
project as having the potential to blossom into a global resource, similar to
how Wikipedia encourages independent contributors on various topics, only that our
database will focus on all kinds of music by African descent composers,” says
FredO. The Exchange will enhance the way the African Musical Arts organization
does business, allowing them to use tools of modern technology to expand the
scope of their operations and positioning it to serve a wider audience. The location of the African Performing Arts Exchange in St. Louis
will also cement St. Louis’ legacy as a provider of unique music resources to
assist teachers and groups looking to enrich their repertoire.
The two-year, $350,000
project will begin this January. The pilot website of the Exchange should be
accessible by late fall of this year, with the launch of the full online
database in spring 2016. The $50,000 grant from the Regional Arts Commission
will help kick start the construction. Several events to raise additional
needed funds for the project are planned, beginning with the May 9, 2015
concert, The Epic Piano Duel, featuring local St. Louis pianist Peter
Henderson and Romanian-Nigerian virtuoso pianist Rebeca Omordia visiting from
London, UK. Other fundraiser concerts by IMI Chamber Players, Songs of Africa
Ensemble, New Horizons Studio Orchestra and others are planned through 2016.
About African Musical
Arts Inc. www.africarts.org
African Musical Arts
is an award-winning arts organization founded in 1993 with the mission to
enrich America’s overall cultural heritage by highlighting African-descent
composers. Their annual programs include a concert series and community
outreach programs which offer unique cultural enrichment and music education
opportunities to residents of our metropolitan St. Louis community and beyond.
Follow us on FACEBOOK at African Musical Arts Inc. or on TWITTER at AMAinc1
About the Regional
Arts Commission www.racstl.org
The Regional Arts
Commission (RAC) is at the forefront of efforts to transform St. Louis into a
more vibrant, creative and economically thriving community by elevating the
vitality, value and visibility of the arts. As the largest annual funder of the
arts in the region, since its inception in 1985, RAC has awarded more than
6,300 grants totaling over $84 million to support nonprofit arts, individual
artists, cultural organizations, consortiums and programs. Directed by a board
of fifteen commissioners appointed by the chief executives of St. Louis City
and County, RAC is a pivotal force in the continuing development and marketing
of the arts in the region.
Dr. Wendy Hymes
Director of
Development
African Musical Arts Inc.
Comments by email:
1) Good News !!!!!!!!! [John Malveaux]
Comments by email:
1) Good News !!!!!!!!! [John Malveaux]
2) Hi Bill, This
is great news indeed and something that just would not happen in the UK
just now. Congratulations Fred, I hoped that this would happen!
At
present, our weak UK austerity-led government seems hell bent on
strangling the arts and grants are being savagely cut. Even the English
National Opera – who have had a very bumpy ride for the last few years
where they have had to cut staffing, including the orchestra are
seriously in danger of becoming dysfunctional. Arts subsidies are not
‘profitable’ in the way that accountants work. However, this
strangulation of the arts is having a serious knock on effect in the
prosperity of all aspects of performing arts in the UK. This seems to be
particularly affecting musical events outside of London. We have a
crumbling theatre of great historical importance in Plymouth, music and
arts festivals that are closing, good but only partially professional
orchestras and choirs struggling for their very existence. Small wonder
that they are not encourage to depart from popular mainstream composers
who are household names. It is bleak! Somehow, visual arts seems to have
not suffered the same way in the UK. At the same time, the taxpayer is
still funding huge bankers bonuses to those at the Royal Bank of
Scotland. They continue to ‘lose’ money like ‘no tomorrow’ – just one
example of government incompetence....
There
will be a general election in the UK in May but don’t hold your breath.
Another ‘hung’ government will mean that nothing happens! Absurdly
false views by right-wing and bigoted politicians on matters like
immigration, race relations and religious beliefs seem to a worrying
trend that is not being helped by the mostly right-wing press.. Kind regards, Mike [Michael S. Wright]
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