John Malveaux and Russell Thomas
John Malveaux and Kihun Yoon
John Malveaux of
writes:
Tenor Russell Thomas sang the role of Mario Cavaradossi during LA Opera’s final performance of TOSCA, May 13, 2017. I later reflected that the NAACP Image Awards
was first televised in approximately 1994. In 1996, classical composer George Walker was the first
African American to win the coveted Pulitzer Prize in
Music for Lilacs for Voice and
Orchestra. George Walker continues to compose but the NAACP IMAGE Awards
has never recognized him. In 2012, Soprano Latonia Moore had less than a
day's notice with no onstage rehearsal to take the title role in AIDA
at the Metropolitan Opera. Latonia Moore received ecstatic ovations
during her solo curtain call. Latonia Moore continues to sing
internationally and at the Metropolitan Opera but she has never been
recognized by the NAACP IMAGE Awards.
What
does
IMAGE mean? The current NAACP IMAGE Awards does not have a single
category to recognize African American achievements in classical and
opera (instrumental, vocal, chamber, symphony, etc). The problem is a
distorted IMAGE of African American achievements (an IMAGE that does not
reflect the full human potential). The generally accepted protector of
IMAGE is complicit in the misconception that classical and opera is
White. The reality is people of African descent have made noteworthy
achievements in classical and opera music even prior to Mozart. LA Opera
production of TOSCA is the most recent debunking of the NAACP IMAGE
AWARDS. See pic1 with Tenor Russell Thomas; see pic2 with Baritone Kihun
Yoon - Scarpia.
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