Thursday, April 16, 2015

Adolphus C. Hailstork, Composer Born April 17, 1941, is A Guest Composer at SEAAC Choral Music Festival April 25, 2015, Daytona Beach, Florida




Dr. Hailstork is among the most-recorded Composers of African Descent, and his vocal and instrumental works are also among the most-frequently performed. Among his most prominent works is Epitaph For A Man Who Dreamed, In Memoriam: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968).  It can be found on a Cedille Records disc, performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta, under the direction of Paul Freeman, Conductor, Cedille 90000 061 (2002).  Dr. Hailstork is a strong advocate of music education in public schools.  He credits his education in the public schools of Albany, New York with cultivating his musical aptitude and interests.  He told us in a 2010 interview:


"Early on, I took a Music Aptitude Exam given by the school system in New York State where I grew up.” “Apparently they thought I had some aptitude for music. If you do, you wind up getting free instrumental lessons. I started out on the violin by the Fourth Grade, and then switched to Piano and Organ, sang in the Choirs, and that was all my early schooling."

In 2000, Prof. Hailstork assumed his present position at Old Dominion University, where he is an Eminent Scholar as well. In the interview he was asked what courses he teaches.  He replied that he alternates between teaching Orchestration and Counterpoint, and also has four Composition students.

Comment by email:
Thanks, Bill.  Best wishes.  Adolphus  [Adolphus C. Hailstork]

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