4th Annual Colour of Music Festival All Black Classical Musicians October 19-23, 2016, Charleston, South Carolina

August 31, 2016 Charleston SC — The 2016 Colour of Music Festival embarks upon an ambitious and stunning array of international classical musical motifs solidifying its place as the largest black classical music organization ever organized as it continues to draw inspiration from the grandfather of black classical music, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Few classical music enthusiasts are aware of the tremendous contributions of this African-French composer whose opera and classical masterpieces equaled or far exceeded those of his 18th century contemporaries. Although his compositions are highly recognized overseas, they gather little notice in the United States. Today despite thousands of celebrated and prodigiously talented classical composers and performers of African descent throughout the world, their opportunities to grace concert stages of major American orchestras are rare to non-existent. The Colour of Music Festival is reversing this trend.

Now in its fourth year, the Colour of Music Festival offers a musical kaleidoscope of black classical composers and performers from across the globe and will take place October 19-23, 2016 at various venues throughout historic Charleston, South Carolina.

Showcasing acclaimed black chamber ensemble players and artists to form the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra, the five-day festival brings leading black artists to Charleston from Canada, France, Britain, Colombia, and the Caribbean among others.

Highlights include the début of Chevalier de Saint Georges’ only opera every discovered, The Anonymous Lover, featuring Magali Léger, native of Saint George’s birthplace, the Isle of Guadeloupe, showcasing the Festival’s All Things French (Toutes Les Choses Françaises) motif.

Internationally renowned conductor Marlon Daniel will again serve as Festival Music Director with leading black maestros serving as guest conductors to lead the Masterwork Series’ Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.

2016 Colour of Music Festival Highlights

Masterworks Series Highlights

Opening the Masterworks Series Thursday, October 20 St. Georges’ The Anonymous Lover petit opera makes its world première in South Carolina featuring Magali Léger and her considerable vocal athleticism and ringing high notes. Continuing the French musical motif, Maestro Daniel welcomes virtuoso French-born violinist Romuald Grimbert-Barré as guest soloist performing Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 44 in G Minor.  

Friday October 21, led by German-born and South American-based Concertmaster Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, the orchestra welcomes 17-year old piano virtuoso Clayton Stephenson, a founding competitor of the inaugural Van Cliburn Junior Competition, to perform Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C, Op. 26.

The Festival’s Saturday, October 22 black tie gala performance features guest conductor Roderick Cox, Associate Conductor of the renowned Minnesota Orchestra, conducting Carl Orff’s magnificent choral masterpiece Carmina Burana. The evening also includes the South Carolina premiere of Los Angeles-based composer Ahmed Alabaca’s composition Across the Calm Waters of Heaven, a prayer song written in response to recent losses of life across the globe due to race or religion.  

The Festival concludes October 23 with a memorial performance honoring long-time Festival friend, attorney, musician, choral conductor and supporter Lon H. Shull, III, with a moving performance of Johannes Brahms’ Schicksalslied, Op. 54 (Song of Destiny) and Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem under the baton of Atlanta’s Morehouse College conductor Dr. David E. Morrow.  

Chamber Series Highlights

Returning to the historic Avery Normal School, now the Avery Research Center, the Chamber Series features internationally acclaimed Kanneh-Mason Trio, a sensational British family performing a special chamber presentation Wednesday, October 19 showcasing the family’s three virtuoso classical musicians who are paving the way for their even younger siblings to début at a future Colour of Music Festival.  New York-based classical guitarist Thomas Flippin joins French violinist Romuald Grimbert-Barré for a special intimate chamber performance of guitar and violin Friday, October 21.

Education and Community Engagement: Free Symposiums

In addition, a free four-part daily morning symposium series featuring thought leaders and musicians will highlight academic perspectives of the cultural contributions of black composers and Charleston’s contribution stemming from the historic Avery Normal School’s music endeavors. Topics include the French contribution to black classical music, black opera legends, and the legacy of black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

“As we embark upon our most ambitious festival in our young four-year history, I am pleased to introduce the Lowcountry to artists and offerings extraordinary talent from around the globe. Our recent recognition as the largest black classical professional organization is an acknowledgment we accept with humble appreciation. Charleston has become an international destination and this year’s scope and depth is indicative of the city’s appeal,” said Lee Pringle, Festival Founder and Artistic Director of the Festival.

Maestro Daniel, a resident of both the United States and France added, “I am very excited to be introducing St. Georges’ only surviving opera in a concert stage format with my dear friend and colleague Magali Léger. This is truly a spectacular time for the Festival.”

Colour of Music Festival Tickets $11-$72

(Special rates available onsite only for active duty and reserve U.S. Military Personnel and College students with I.D.)

In person: Gaillard Center Box Office, 95 Calhoun Street, Charleston

By phone (843) 242-3099

Online: www.colourofmusic.org

At door: (credit card, cash or check) before each performance

Series packages with discounts up to 30% off available

All-inclusive packages for college professors/administrators, church groups, and groups of ten or more available; $10 for schools/church youth groups

COLOUR OF MUSIC FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE October 19-23 2016 Charleston SC

Special Event Presentation • 6:00pm • Charleston Library Society 

Mon Oct 17, Dr. Rufus Jones, Jr., Author, Negro at Home, Maestro Abroad

Symposium Presentations • 10:30am • Gaillard Center, Salon 1

Wed Oct 19, French Connection to Black Classical Music                                                                                                    

Thu Oct 20, Black Opera Legends                                                                                                                

Fri Oct 21, Black Musicologist Forum                                                                                                          

Sat Oct 22, The Legacy of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor         

                                                                                                    

High Noon Organ Recitals • 12:00pm • Mt. Zion AME Church

Wed Oct 19, Alvin Blunt                                                                                                                  

Thu Oct 20, Collin A. Richardson                                                                                                                  

Fri Oct 21, Roy Belfield, Jr.                                                                                                              

Sat Oct 22, Rasaan Hakien         

                                                                                                    

Chamber Music Vocal Matinées • 2:00pm • St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Wed Oct 19, KB Solomon, Bass                                                                                                      

Thu Oct 20, Patrick Daily, Countertenor                                                                                                    

Fri Oct 21, Brandie Sutton, Soprano                                                                                                            

Sat Oct 22, Magali Léger

                                                                                                                  

Ebony and Ivory Piano Recitals • 4:00pm • St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Wed Oct 19, Clayton Stephenson                                                                                                               

Thu Oct 20, Sakura Myers                                                                                                               

Fri Oct 21, Isata Kanneh-Mason                                                                                                                  

Sat Oct 22, Terrence Wilson      

                                                                       

Chamber Evening Recitals • 6:00pm • Avery Research Center (McKinley Washington Auditorium)

Wed Oct 19, Kanneh-Mason Chamber Trio                                                                                                                            

Thu Oct 20, Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, Violinist                                                                                                  

Fri Oct 21, Thomas Flippin, Classical Guitarist                                                                                                         

Sat Oct 22, Romuald Grimbert-Barré, Violinist  

                                                                                                    

Masterworks Series • Gaillard Center

Thu Oct 20 8:00pm

The Anonymous Lover (petit opera) WORLD PREMIERE     

Colour of Music Virtuosi, Marlon Daniel, conductor

Magali Léger, soprano, Everett Suttle, tenor, Washington Isaac Holmes, baritone

Fri Oct 21 8:00pm

Colour of Music Festival Orchestra                                                   

Marlon Daniel, conductor

Romauld Grimbert-Barré, violin

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C, Op. 26, Sergei Prokofiev

Clayton Stephenson, piano

Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune, Claude Debussy

Violin Concerto No.1 in g minor, Op. 26, Max Bruch

The Oak, Florence Price

Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, Antonin Dvorak

Sat Oct 22 7:00pm

Gala Performance

Carmina Burana, Carl Orff

Roderick Cox, guest conductor

Brandie Sutton, soprano, Patrick Dailey, countertenor, KB Soloman, bass

Across the Calm Waters of Heaven, Ahmed Alabaca

                                                                                                                                                              

Sun Oct 23 5:00pm

Matinee Memorial Performance

Requiem, Gabriel Fauré

Schicksalslied, Op. 54 (Song of Destiny), Johannes Brahms

David E. Morrow, guest conductor

Kimwana Doner, soprano, Washington Isaac Holmes, baritone

Promotional images available upon request

About the Colour of Music Festival

Based in Charleston, South Carolina and organized in 2013, the Colour of Music Festival, Inc. presents a diverse classical repertoire of baroque, classical and 20^th century music at the highest of musical standards to diverse audiences throughout the Lowcountry, regionally and nationally. www.colourofmusic.org

###

Pantheon Books: "Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy" By University of Michigan Historian Dr. Heather Ann Thompson

Blood In The Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 And Its Legacy

Dr. Heather Ann Thompson

Professor of History. Department of Afro-American and African Studies, Residential College, and Department of History. The University of Michigan

Pantheon (August 23, 2016), 

Hardcover 752 pages

Pantheon Books:

THE FIRST DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE INFAMOUS 1971 ATTICA PRISON UPRISING, THE STATE’S VIOLENT RESPONSE, AND THE VICTIMS’ DECADES-LONG QUEST FOR JUSTICE 

On September 9, 1971, nearly 1,300 prisoners took over the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York to protest years of mistreatment. Holding guards and civilian employees hostage, the prisoners negotiated with officials for improved conditions during the four long days and nights that followed. 

On September 13, the state abruptly sent hundreds of heavily armed troopers and correction officers to retake the prison by force. Their gunfire killed thirty-nine men—hostages as well as prisoners—and severely wounded more than one hundred others. In the ensuing hours, weeks, and months, troopers and officers brutally retaliated against the prisoners. And, ultimately, New York State authorities prosecuted only the prisoners, never once bringing charges against the officials involved in the retaking and its aftermath and neglecting to provide support to the survivors and the families of the men who had been killed.

Drawing from more than a decade of extensive research, historian Heather Ann Thompson sheds new light on every aspect of the uprising and its legacy, giving voice to all those who took part in this forty-five-year fight for justice: prisoners, former hostages, families of the victims, lawyers and judges, and state officials and members of law enforcement. Blood in the Water is the searing and indelible account of one of the most important civil rights stories of the last century.

(With black-and-white illustrations throughout)

About Heather Ann Thompson:

HEATHER ANN THOMPSON is an award-winning historian at the University of Michigan. She has written on the history of mass incarceration and its current impact for The New York Times,Time, The Atlantic, Salon, Dissent, New LaborForum, and The Huffington Post, as well as for various scholarly publications. She served on a National Academy of Sciences blue-ribbon panel that studied the causes and consequences of mass incarceration in the United States and has given congressional staff briefings on this subject.

Retweeted
By Heather Ann Thompson (@hthompsn)  

On An Overgrown Path: [A Guardian editorial notes women conduct "just 8 BBC Proms out of 75 this year"; Of over 2,500 Proms, only 3 have had Black conductors]

On An Overgrown Path

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Bob Shingleton writes:

Bill, I have said it so many times before, and now I'm saying it again - http://goo.gl/wvocvd



Regards,

Bob

Good journalism changes the way people think. Bad journalism panders to the way people think to win readers. Yesterday the Guardian indulged in bad journalism by jumping on the we need more women conductors bandwagon. Of course we need more women in senior positions in classical music. On An Overgrown Path was one of the first to say that ten years ago. But as a commenter on the Guardian editorial astutely observes "the issue is much more complicated than a call of 'We need more women conductors!'” Quite wrongly a complex of historical factors and entrenched attitudes has prevented women taking senior roles. Thankfully that is now changing, but the cultural correction will take time. It can be argued quite convincingly that the correction should have been instigated earlier. But it wasn't and we can't change history. 

What makes the Guardian editorial particularly bad journalism is that it aims at the easy target of the unacceptable gender balance in classical music, but totally ignores other imbalances such as ethnicity. The editorial trumpets that just eight BBC Proms out of 75 this year are conducted by women, but overlooks the even more startling statistic that in more than 2500 Promenade concerts there have been just three black conductors - all men - and the last one was back in 2003. Again, quite wrongly a complex of historical factors and entrenched attitudes have prevented black musicians taking senior positions in classical music, and, as for women, the essential correction will take time. But the difference is that the correction has not even started for black conductors. Now over to the crusading liberal journalists at the Guardian... 

Also on Facebook and Twitter. Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).

Piano Works: Zenobia Powell Perry, Cambria CD-1235, Including A Suite From The Anti-Slavery Opera "Tawawa House" Based on Events in Wilberforce, Ohio

Piano Works: Zenobia Powell Perry

Josephine Gandolfi, Deanne Tucker,
and LaDoris Hazzard Cordell
Cambria CD-1235 (2015) (54:05)

The liner notes are by Jeannie Gayle Pool, Ph.D.  They begin with a Biography which opens with this information: "Composer and pianist Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004) was born to a well-educated, middle-class family in Boley, Oklahoma.  Her father, Calvin Bethel Powell, was an African American physician whose missionary parents raised him in Somaliland; her mother, Birdie Lee Thompson, was Creek Indian and African American.  Originally trained in piano by a local teacher, Mayme Jones (who had been a student of the pianist-composer R. Nathaniel Dett), Perry moved in 1931 to study with Dett in Rochester, New York."  R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) is profiled in detail at AfriClassical.com.

Dr. Pool continues: "Later, she went to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she assisted the famous choir director, arranger, and composer William L. Dawson." William Levi Dawson (1899-1990) is featured at AfriClassical.com.

The notes tell us that when she graduated in 1938, Zenobia Perry "...headed an African American teacher training program, supervised in part by Eleanor Roosevelt, who became a friend, ally, and mentor."  Perry taught at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College from 1947-1955, Dr. Pool writes, and during that period "...she formed a piano duo with Arthur Kelton Lawrence..."  Dr. Pool adds that one of the works performed by the duo was "...Perry's own arrangement of Florence Price's Dances in the Canebrakes." 

The notes continue: "From 1955 until 1982, she was composer-in-residence at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.  Her opera, Tawawa House, based on the history of Wilberforce (completed with a commission by the Ohio Arts Council/Ohio Humanities Joint Program) was premiered in 1987."  Later, the liner notes relate: "The staff of the 200-room hotel called Tawawa House included escaped slaves, freed slaves, mixed-race children of white Southern slave owners, their African American mistresses, and others involved in the anti-slavery movement.  The opera depicts the complex relationships between blacks and whites in Ohio during the pre-Civil War period.  The resort played an important role in the Underground Railroad in the region."

The works on the recording are generally extremely brief; several are less than a minute in length.  The pieces are quite jovial and uplifting.  They are a pleasant mixture of piano solo and piano four-hands works.  For anyone with an interest in music related to The Underground Railroad or its era, this recording can be especially recommended.

The first 11 tracks are performed by Josephine Gandolfi:

1 Orrin and Echo (1970)  :45
2 Vignette No. 1 (1990)  :32
3 Vignette No. 2 (1990)  :50
4 Childhood Capers (1935) :50
5 Ties (1970)  :41
6 Round and Round (1977)  1:23
7 March (Three Notes) (1980)  1:22
8 Pavanne (1962)  2:46
9 Homage to William Levi Dawson On His 90th Birthday (1990)  4:16
10 Times Seven (1964, Rev. 1985)  5:32
11 Soliloquy (Rev. 1979)  4:16

Tracks 12-15 are performed by Deanne Tucker:
12 Nocturne (1961)  2:12
13 Teeta (1972, Rev. 1988)  2:41
14 Blaize (1985)  2:09
15 Flight (1970)  1:33

Tracks 16-17 are performed by LaDoris Hazzard Cordell:
16 A Jazz Trifle (1986)  2:11
17 Rhapsody (1960)  5:03

Suite From Tawawa House (1985, Rev. 2014) is arranged for piano four-hands by Josephine Gandolfi and is performed by Josephine Gandolfi and Deanne Tucker:
18 Overture  (2:08)
19 Cake Walk  (2:49)
20 Sunday Dance Tune  (2:00)
21 Prelude  (2:21)
22 Fire Music  (3:06)
23 Jumping Over the Broom  (2:35)

Errollyn Wallen On Tour As Music Director With Voices Of The Revolution — This Wednesday, August 31, 2016 at 8 PM, A Free Concert In Brixton

Errollyn Wallen

www.errollynwallen.com

Errollyn Wallen writes:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Hoping you've been having a great summer.

I'm currently on tour as MD with the incredible Voices of the Revolution. 

https://inplaceofwar.net/events/voices-of-the-revolution-2016/

Catch us at POP Brixton (49 Brixton Station Rd, London SW9 8PQ) this Wednesday at 8pm — a free concert!

In Place Of War presents Voices of the Revolution

Wednesday 31st August | 20:00 - 22:00

This year In Place Of War have brought together an inspirational all-female line up of 15 musicians, rappers, multi-instrumentalists & singers from around the world - Ghana, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Venezuela, Egypt and the UK to share, collaborate, create and perform under the musical direction of the UK’s first black female composer for the Proms, Errollyn Wallen. 

From women reclaiming the djembe in Rwanda to an Egyptian accordionist to a Brazilian favela-based dancehall artist to Zimbabwe’s rap queen - Voices Of The Revolution will be a spectacular new piece of work. This is your chance to catch it before it tours to Festival No.6 and Hull Freedom Festival. 

OTHER NEWS

I have been collaborating with New YVC UNITE to create a  new song, MESSAGE, to be performed by mass choirs next year at the Southbank

ANON, my chamber opera, commissioned by Welsh National Opera, will be performed by Peabody Chamber Opera in February 

Christian Carey's review of my new album PHOTOGRAPHY, recently been released in the States: 

http://www.sequenza21.com/cdreviews/2016/08/errollyn-wallen-photography

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Errollyn 

  

-- 

www.errollynwallen.com

NEW ALBUM OUT NOW:

http://www.nmcrec.co.uk/recording/photography

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/13/resonate-the-great-british-symphonic-revival

Sinfo-Nia Youth Orchestra Open House Saturday, September 17th from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, 1st Congregational Church Commons, 125 Ellis Street, Atlanta

2016-17 School Year Session

First day of classes for the new school year begins on Saturday, September 10th, 9:00 am at 1st Congregational Church Commons in downtown Atlanta located on 125 Ellis Street, 30303.

Open House

All musicians are welcome to join us for a free day of instruction, door prizes and fun during our Open House on Saturday, September 17th from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. So pull up an instrument and stick around!

AFFORDABLE TUITION PLANS

Tuition for the School Year Session is $600.00 for one child. However, you qualify for the "Early Bird" Tuition discount of $450.00 if you make full tuition payment by Saturday, October 1st.  For monthly payment plans and discounted family rates, please contact us at info@sinfo-nia.com or call (404) 328-0840.

Payments can be made at www.sinfo-nia.com via PayPal. Checks and Money Orders should be mailed to:

Sinfo-Nia Youth Orchestra

P. O. Box 42732

Atlanta, Georgia 30311-0732

Comment by email: 

Hi Bill,  Thanks so much for your continued support!!!  Alycia W Robinson        Operations and Dance Director, Still Waters Youth Sinfo-Nia Orchestra                          

John Malveaux: During Aug. 20, 2016 Leimert Park Village Book Fair, I visited The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints booth DISCOVER YOUR ROOTS

https://discoveryourroots.org/

John Malveaux of 

www.MusicUNTOLD.com 

writes:

During the August 20, 2016 10^th annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair, I visited The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints booth titled DISCOVER YOUR ROOTS https://discoveryourroots.org/. I chatted with Wade Beams and learned that the African American Freedmen’s Bureau kept records from 1865-1872 of a wide range of data about the African American experience during slavery and freedom. The Bureau contracted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to codify records of about 4.2 million hand written names of African Americans. The result is about 2.5 million names after elimination of duplication, etc. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will turn the names over to the new Smithsonian African American Museum on December 6, 2016.

Castle of our Skins: "a veil of liquid diamonds," Works of Jeffrey Mumford, Sat., Sept. 24, 7:30 PM Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center, Boston, MA

Anthony R. Green, Composer & Performer© 2015 Anthony Greenwww.anthonyrgreen.com

Jeffrey Mumford

Anthony R. Green writes:

Hello!

I would like to announce the upcoming season of Castle of our Skins, whose website has moved to www.castleskins.org! It is our biggest season yet, beginning with our first ever portrait concert featuring the works of Jeffrey Mumford. The information:

a veil of liquid diamonds

Saturday, September 24th, 7:30PM

Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center

1234 Columbus Avenue

Boston, MA

Tickets: $15 General / $10 Students & Seniors

Buy tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-veil-of-liquid-diamonds-tickets-26982513424

This project is supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Helen F. Whitaker Fund and Aaron Copland Fund for Music. You can follow the project on the New Music USA website: https://www.newmusicusa.org/projects/a-veil-of-liquid-diamonds/ ; and you can RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1187971874599880/ 

Thanks so much!

Anthony

Anthony Green

www.anthonyrgreen.com

www.castleskins.org

AaronAsk, Weekly mentoring for a creative life: Week No. 2: "Do More" (YouTube 5:31)

http://www.aaronask.com/do-more/

About Aaron

Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, a former member of the Obama National Arts Policy Committee, and President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts, Aaron P. Dworkin serves as dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, which is ranked among the top performing arts schools in the nation. He is also the founder of The Sphinx Organization, the leading national arts organization for transforming lives through the power of diversity and the arts. A multi-media performing artist, author, social entrepreneur, artist-citizen, and educator, he continually receives extensive national recognition for his leadership and service to communities. Dean Dworkin founded the Dworkin Foundation where he serves as chairman of the Board. His memoir titled Uncommon Rhythm: A Black, White, Jewish, Jehovah’s Witness, Irish Catholic Adoptee’s Journey to Leadership was released through Aquarius Press. 

Dean Dworkin has been featured in People Magazine, on NBC’s Today Show and Nightly News, CNN, NPR’s The Story and Performance Today. He has been the subject of articles in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Washington Post, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Emerge and Jet Magazines, and many other media outlets, and was named one of Newsweek’s “15 People Who Make America Great.” He is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Honorary Membership, Harvard University’s Vosgerchian Teaching Award, National Governors Association 2005 Distinguished Service to State Government Award, Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, Detroit News’s 2003 Michiganian of the Year Award, Crain’s 40 Under 40 and Who’s Who Awards, BET’s History Makers in the Making Award, AT&T Excellence in Education Award, and National Black MBA’s Entrepreneur of The Year. 

A passionate advocate for excellence in arts education and inclusion in the performing arts, Dean Dworkin has been a frequent keynote speaker and lecturer at numerous national conferences including the Aspen Ideas Conference, Independent Sector, Dance USA National Conference, The League of American Orchestras, National Association for Schools of Music, National Guild for Community School of the Arts, National Association of Music Merchants, Chautauqua Institution, National Suzuki Association, Americans for the Arts, American String Teachers Association, Ithaca College, and the National Association for Negro Musicians. He served as commencement speaker at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Michigan, Longy Conservatory and twice for Bowling Green State University. In May of 2013, the renowned Curtis Institute of Music awarded Honorary Doctorates to Dworkin and Sir Simon Rattle, longtime maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic. 

Dean Dworkin serves regularly as a panelist on influential arts committees such as Independent Sector’s Advisory Group, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the MetLife Awards for Excellence in Community Engagement, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the National Association of Arts Presenters, Chamber Music America, The National Endowment for the Arts, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Surdna Foundation Arts Teachers Fellowship Program, and others. 

As the co-chair of the Arts and Cultural Education Task Force for the State of Michigan, Dean Dworkin designed the required arts curriculum for Michigan schools and served as co-chair of the Planning Task Force, which oversaw the strategic merger of ArtServe Michigan (statewide arts advocacy organization) and MACAA (Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies). In addition, he serves on other strategic planning committees including the League of American Orchestras.  

Dean Dworkin serves (or has served) on the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestras, National Association of Performing Arts Presenters, National Society for the Gifted and Talented, and Creative Many Michigan (formerly ArtServe Michigan). His board service also includes the Knight Foundation’s Arts Advisory Board, Advisory Board of ASTA Alternative Strings Awards, Rachel Barton Pine Foundation and the Avery Fisher Artist Program, Editorial Board of Downtown New York Magazine and Independent Sector’s NGen Awards Committee. 

Dworkin recorded and produced two CDs, entitled Ebony Rhythm and Bar-Talk, in addition to writing, producing, and directing the independent film Deliberation. An accomplished electric and acoustic violinist, Dean Dworkin earned his bachelors of music and masters of music in violin performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, graduating with high honors. He also attended the Peabody Institute, the Philadelphia New School, and the Interlochen Arts Academy studying with Vladimir Graffman, Berl Senofsky, Jascha Brodsky, John Eaken, Renata Knific, Donald Hopkins, and Stephen Shipps. 

The author of a poetry collection, They Said I Wasn’t Really Black, as well as the children’s book The 1st Adventure of Chilli Pepperz, Dworkin’s writings have been featured in Symphony Magazine, Polyphonic.org, Andante, and other websites and publications. He contributed to the first English edition of Superior Bowing Technique, a treatise by legendary violinist Lucien Capet, and authored the foreword to William Grant Still’s Violin Collection. Dean Dworkin founded and served as publisher and editor-in-chief of The Bard, a literary magazine with a readership of over 40,000. 

Dean Dworkin offers a uniquely strong organizational, fundraising, and administrative background combined with an unwavering passion for music and its role in society. As dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, he leads a world-class faculty of 150 and a staff of 90 while administering a budget of $44 million and an endowment in excess of $140 million. As founder of the Sphinx Organization, Dworkin created an organization with a staff and faculty of over 40 and a budget of $5 million that awards more than $1,000,000 in prizes and scholarships annually. The organization serves as the leading advocate for young people and diversity in the arts in the world. 

A lifelong musician, Dean Dworkin is also a spoken-word and visual artist. He has strong interests in politics, world history, and issues of economic and social justice. In addition to various genres of music and disciplines of the performing arts, he enjoys travel, movies, and culinary arts.

Comment by email:
Fantastic... Thanks so much!  Aaron  [Aaron P. Dworkin]