NANM 99th National Convention July 22-26, 2018, Las Vegas, Nevada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d09nYT-l_E8&feature=youtu.be

• Sunday, July 22nd - Opening Mass Meeting features the Western Region Ensemble along with performances by regional representatives at Christ Episcopal Church Las Vegas. The evening concludes with the National Winds Scholarship Competition.
• Monday, July 23rd - Includes the annual choral music reading session with music composed by NANM National Board Members, Sylvia Hollifield, Marvin Curtis, Glenn E. Jones and Brandon Waddles. Other workshops include the History of NANM featuring the National Presidents, and Gala Benefit Concert featuring Las Vegas' own, Desert Winds.
• Tuesday, July 24th - NANM T-shirt Day!!! Day also features workshops on the Side Effects of Performance Anxiety with clarinet/piano duo Brennen Milton and Carlos Fuentes as well as the Affect Music has on the Brain, the Musician and the Listener with Music Therapist, Arvis Jones. Concerts include the Members Recital at the West Las Vegas Arts Center and the Collegiate/Young Artists. Enjoy a night on the town in Vegas!!!
• Wednesday, July 25th - Day includes a vocal master class with Professor Daniel Washington from University of Michigan, strategic planning update, and Juniors/Youth Concert. Gala Banquet honors local artists, music educators and philanthropists Helen Toland, Simeon Holloway, Denis Cooper and Blanche Jackson, posthumously. 
• Thursday, July 26th - Convention concludes with our Convention Chorus Concert under the direction of Convention Chorus Master Natorshau Davis from Grambling State University and Closing Luncheon 
• Each night culminates with our fun-filled NANM After Dark

William Gaddis: WGBH will put the program "The Black Composer" online this Fall

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

William Gaddis writes:

WGBH,  Boston's PBS television station, called me to announce: They have found THE BLACK COMPOSER  in the Library of Congress. It will be digitized and made available to the public online by the fall of this year (around October or November).  I could hardly stand up I was so happy.  At last I'm going to see it again, and the time I spoke with William Grant Still.

Comment by email:
Hello Bill,

I am delighted to know that The Black Composer, an important documentary, has been found and will be available for viewing in the fall.

Best regards.

George Walker   

Renee Baker at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, July 28, 2018

Renée Baker

Samuel Thompson writes:

Mr. Zick - I trust that you have been well, and congratulations to you for having kept AfriClassical going for these many years.  Again, thank you for sharing information on the National Alliance for Audition Support Audition Intensive of a few weeks ago.

As you may know, I have been writing for some years now, with my focus being interviewing friends and colleagues for blog posts and press materials to be published in tandem with artistic projects.   I recently had a moment to interview conductor and composer Renee Baker on her film scoring in tandem with an upcoming appearance at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.   Ms. Baker's appearance is in a program curated to complement Magnetic Fields:  Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today.     Magnetic Fields is the first US presentation dedicated to the formal and historical dialogue of abstraction by women artists of color.

I have posted our interview on my blogsite, and also attached a hard copy for your review.   Would it be possible to share at AfriClassical for your readers?

Renee Baker on Film and Film Music

(http://samuelathompson.blogspot.com/2018/06/renee-baker-on-film-and-filmmaking.html)

Many thanks,

 

Samuel Thompson

www.samuelathompson.com

www.soundcloud.com/samuelviolin

Renée Baker on Film and Film Music

Albert Lamorisse's Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon, 1956) is a must-see film for everyone.  During the thirty-five minutes of Lamorisse's Oscar-winning film, one watches young Pascal discover a huge red balloon and then follows the pair as they remain inseparable through a series of adventures throughout the Belleville area of Paris as it existed before slum clearance efforts (also known as gentrification) undertaken by the Parisian government in the 1960s.   The film is compelling for many reasons, the primary reason  being the presence of an anthropomorphic red balloon as a central character.   There is no narrative:  all of the action is “told” through the actions of the characters and underscored by a delightful and sometimes haunting score by French composer Maurice Le Roux.

  

The contrast between the darkness of post World War II Paris and the presence first of Pascal's companion and (in the tremendous finale) the colors of the balloon cluster that comes to Pascal's rescue is also significant:   as films serve as documents, Le Ballon Rouge is a “color-record” of the Belleville region of Paris before the phenomenon of urban renewal made its way through the neighborhood.

La Ballon Rouge is just one film that made a profound impression on Chicago Modern Orchestra Project founder and artistic director Renée Baker, who presents the 1926 Japanese avant-garde film A Page of Madness with live music score and chamber ensemble at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, July 28, 2018.   

“I have been a voracious consumer of musicals and non-American cinema since childhood, and have been absolutely obsessed with animation,”   Renée shared.  In addition to La Ballon Rouge, both the stage musicals and film versions of West Side Story and Oliver fueled Ms. Baker's fascination with film and film music.   “When you have those kinds of cinematic experiences, you can't let them go.  Knowing that I could have the opportunity to combine films like those with my compositions actually changed the way that I see film.”

It is clear that the combination of early wonder, adult responsibility, curiosity and intellectual acuity has resulted in her phenomenal involvement in film music composition.   That early broadening of her perspective has resulted in Renée having both knowledge of and involvement in all aspects of film production, that including keen insight into how one can move film audiences through music.  “The easiest way for modern audiences is with a modern score,” Ms. Baker said.  “Everything is recorded live by the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, and I also watch the movies so many times that I have deep knowledge of the frames themselves.”

Heralded as “a dynamic force in the creative music scene in Chicago” by contemporary classical music magazine I Care if You Listen, Renée Baker is an incredibly multifaceted and prolific artist.  In addition to her work as a founding member and principal violist of the Chicago Sinfonietta, Ms. Baker is a member of the internationally acclaimed Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).  Renee is also the founder of both the Mantra Blue FreeOrchestra and Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, both ensembles being dedicated to performing and recording works of living composers.    An established visual artist, Ms. Baker's work has been exhibited in museums and art galleries across the world.

 What started as an MFA project has turned into yet another fantastic and ever-expanding facet of Ms. Baker's highly creative career.  Ms. Baker's foray into film music composition began while finishing her Master of Fine Arts in Composition at Vermont College of Fine Arts.   “The seed was first planted by a mentor, because I wasn't 'looking' in that direction,” she said.  “Don DiNicola, a mentor in the program, approached me about doing a film project while I was concentrating on contemporary classical music.  Our first project was Oscar Micheaux's Body and Soul.  At the time I said I would score the entire movie – and I did.”

Known as the most successful African-American filmmaker of the early twentieth century, Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) produced over forty films between 1919 and 1948, those films including 1925's Body and Soul.   “I call Micheaux 'the original DIY guy',” Ms. Baker said.   “He was truly an inspiration for my film scoring and company, because he did everything.”

Renée Baker's interest in and exploration of early twentieth-century African-American silent film is profoundly mission-driven.   Understanding that a lot of early twentieth-century African-American history has been captured in many films, Ms. Baker feels the important need for twenty-first century audiences to explore those films.  “I am working to bring honor to the fact that there is world cinema in a historical context that needs to be seen again,” she said.

 “After Body and Soul was premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Arts Chicago, I was asked close  Ebertfest with the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project and the score, and in February 2018 I did a second film at Symphony Center called The Scar of Shame.”  To date, there have been over thirty screenings of Body and Soul throughout the world, both with live orchestra and recorded score.  In 2019, Ms. Baker will take Body and Soul to the Gateways Music Festival in Rochester, New York.

After their initial success, DiNicola and Baker formed Dirigent Media and scored three films, including the Japanese horror film A Page of Madness and the 1915 silent German horror film Der Golem.  “I decided that I wanted to learn about the business on my own, and founded WabiHouse Media in 2016, under which we have scored over 200 movies,” Renée said.  “I then formed Relinquish Media and started making my own experimental films.”

In addition to scoring both German and Japanese expressionist films and becoming a true filmmaker, Ms. Baker's foray into filmmaking includes a recent presentation of  a new version of D. W. Griffith's controversial Birth of a Nation (1914/15).   “Griffith's version of Birth of a Nation was the first feature film shown in the White House, and this exploration definitely put things into perspective.   Many of Micheaux's films were made in response to Birth of a Nation, and he was not the only filmmaker who decided that the images presented in Griffith's film would not be the only images people saw of African-Americans.”   This timely screening of Birth of a Nation was titled “The Conundrum Conversation” and featured both a dinner and an introduction from the American Civil Liberties Union (“The audience had a good time,” Renée said.).

When asked about the level of seriousness that she shows in all of her work, Renee said simply “I am simply a believer in my product and following my leanings.”   “This matter-of-factness has been hallmark of Renée Baker's approach to all aspects of her career.  “I am an abstract thinker on a journey, and what I do is honor that journey by doing my homework.”     That sense of responsibility and curiosity has led to exploring the Black Center Film Archives at Indiana University (“They were so gracious in allowing me to visit and have full access to the available resources.”).

While Renée does indeed carry a seriousness into her work, she has maintained a sense of humor and no-nonsense perspective on the business of film scoring and musicmaking.   “A lot of people call me wanting meetings and shortcuts – I wish that I could take everyone to the tubs and bins that I have studied.   Don't wait for CliffNotes – do your homework!”

# # #

Renee Baker conducts an original music score to the 1926 avant-garde film A Page of Madness with chamber ensemble as a part of Magnetic Fields:  Sonic Abstraction at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, July 28, 2018.   An afternoon of abstract sonic work by female African-American composers, this event was curated to complement Magnetic Fields:   Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today.  

Magnetic Fields:   Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today is the first U.S. Presentation dedicated to the formal and historical dialogue of abstraction by women artists of color.   Organized by the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Magnetic Fields was also shown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC.

©Samuel Thompson, 2018

Deeply Rooted “Looking to the Youth” Final Performances July 20 and 21, Logan Center

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (DRDT) conducts its 20th annual Summer Intensive, themed “Looking to the Youth,” for 80+ national and international students from ages seven to 70 June 25–July 21 at its home studio, 17 N. State Street in downtown Chicago, along with offerings at the Bartlett Center, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. on the University of Chicago campus, and Palmer Park, 201 E. 111th Street, Chicago, in partnership with the Chicago Park District. The Intensive culminates in performances July 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Reva and David Logan Center, 915 E. 60th Street in Hyde Park.

With the City of Chicago designating 2018 as the Year of Creative Youth, DRDT is emphasizing the expansion of the Intensive’s Youth program and the deepening of the Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Youth Ensemble (DRDT-YE). In addition to the Intensive’s July 20 and 21 final performances at the Logan Center, the DRDT-YE performs as part of Night Out in the Parks, a program of the Chicago Park District, July 26 and 27 at Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd Street, and August 1 at Palmer Park, 201 E. 111th Street.

“I am extremely excited to formally announce the addition of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater’s Youth Ensemble into our educational programming,” said DRDT Dance Education Director Nicole Clarke-Springer. “These beautiful young artists are seedlings that I hope will grow into Deeply Rooted’s next generation. Their voices and experiences are important and a needed asset in our global conversation.” 

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater’s Summer Intensive and
Emerging Choreographers Showcase performances take place
Friday, July 20 and Saturday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m. at

the Reva and David Logan Center for the Performing Arts,
915 E. 60th Street, Chicago. Tickets are $25–50.

Tickets to the July 20 performance are available at
2018-summer-intensive-20.eventbrite.com

Tickets to the July 21 performance are available at
2018-summer-intensive-21.eventbrite.com

Chicago Park District performances are free.

For information about the 2018 Summer Intensive programs, visit deeplyrooteddancetheater.org.

BroadwayWorld.com: PYP in William Grant Still's "The Far West" November 10, 2018

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

Broadway World Portland [Oregon]

June 27, 2018

Hearing is believing! Portland's locally-grown orchestra returns for a landmark 95th season with an invigorating new lineup of performances in the historic Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Astonishing audiences since 1925, Portland Youth Philharmonic will soon be the first U.S. organization for young musicians to reach its 100th anniversary.

***

PYP will kick off Season 95 on Saturday, November 10, 2018, with The American Scene, showcasing distinguished composer William Grant Still's The Far West, a three-movement suite from his much larger work The American Scene, which explores American identity in different geographical regions of the country. Known as "the Dean" of African-American composers, Still captures in this suite themes depicting America's unique western soul.

Joffrey Academy of Dance announces national artist call for Winning Works competition

JOFFREY ACADEMY OF DANCE, OFFICIAL SCHOOL OF THE JOFFREY BALLET,

LAUNCHES A NATIONAL CALL FOR ALAANA ARTISTS FOR THE

NINTH ANNUAL WINNING WORKS CHOREOGRAPHIC COMPETITION

Ninth Annual Winning Works program to be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

CHICAGO – June 28, 2018 – The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, announces a national call for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American) artists to submit applications for The Joffrey Academy’s Ninth Annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition. The goal of the award is to recognize talented and emerging ALAANA choreographers whose unique perspective will ignite creativity in the form of original works of dance. The deadline for application is September 1, 2018.

The winning choreographers will be awarded a $5,000 stipend and given a minimum of 30 rehearsal hours. Choreographers will also be provided with travel and accommodations for the duration of their residency. The choreographic work must be original and developed by the applicant. The finished piece must be at least 10 minutes long (maximum of 12 minutes), and include a cast of at least 10 dancers. They will set their piece on the members of the Joffrey Studio Company and the Joffrey Academy Trainees, with the opportunity to seek guidance from Joffrey Artistic Director Ashley Wheater and Head of Studio Company and Trainee Program Raymond Rodriguez. The Joffrey Academy of Dance’s Winning Works program will be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Joffrey’s hosting partner, at MCA’s Edlis Neeson Theater, 220 E. Chicago Avenue.

To apply, interested choreographers must submit an online application form, including:

·        Video clip containing 2 or more choreography excerpts, along with a brief written description. Each choreography excerpt should not exceed 5 minutes. Submitted excerpts must include a work containing at least 8 dancers in the piece. In-studio rehearsal footage is also encouraged. Excerpts may be combined into one video or submitted in separate video clips;

·        A letter of intent (500-1,000 words) describing interest in the competition and the kind of work that will be created;

·        Headshot and curriculum vitae;

·        A completed application form available online at joffrey.org/winningworks;

·        Three references

There is no submission fee. The online application form is available at joffrey.org/winningworks. Questions can be emailed to winningworks@joffrey.org.

The Joffrey Ballet’s 2018-2019 season

Swan Lake

October 17-28, 2018

Christopher Wheeldon’s stunning re-telling of this classic tale returns for the first time since its Chicago Premiere with the Joffrey in 2014. A ballet in four acts, Wheeldon transports one of ballet’s most famous works to the studios of the Paris Opera during the 19^th century, the same era Tchaikovsky composed Swan Lake in Moscow and when a young impressionist named Edgar Degas was on the rise in Paris. 

Swan Lake is presented in 10 performances, October 17-28, 2018.

The Nutcracker

December 1-30, 2018

The Joffrey Ballet will once again present its reimagined holiday classic The Nutcracker by Christopher Wheeldon. Set during Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair, Wheeldon’s turn-of-the-century tale opens as young Marie and her mother, a sculptress creating the Fair’s iconic Statue of the Republic, host a festive Christmas Eve celebration. After a surprise visit from the creator of the Chicago Columbian Exposition, the mysterious Grand Impresario, Marie embarks on a whirlwind of adventure and romance with the Nutcracker Prince through a dreamlike World’s Fair.

The Nutcracker is presented in 29 performances, December 1-30, 2018.

Anna Karenina

February 13-24, 2019

Created by visionary choreographer Yuri Possokhov, this world premiere collaboration between The Joffrey Ballet and The Australian Ballet brings Leo Tolstoy’s epic 19^th century story of forbidden love, passion and self-destruction to life on the stage.

The world premiere of Anna Karenina will be presented first in Chicago in 10 performances with The Joffrey Ballet, February 13-24, 2019, and then in Melbourne with The Australian Ballet in May 2020.                                                                                                                                        

Across the Pond

April 24-May 5, 2019

The Joffrey’s spring engagement, a mixed repertory program entitled Across the Pond, features the United Kingdom’s most influential artists, including a world premiere by London-based choreographer Andrea Walker, the Chicago Premiere of Kairos by Wayne McGregor and the Joffrey Premiere of Symphonic Variations by the iconic Sir Frederick Ashton.

Across the Pond is presented in 10 performances only, April 24-May 5, 2019

Joffrey Gala Performance

April 12, 2019

For the fourth year in a row, The Joffrey Ballet will open its special, one-hour gala performance exclusively to Joffrey subscribers and gala attendees. For the first time, the gala will be held at the Lyric Opera House and will celebrate the artists who make the Joffrey one of the world’s leading international dance companies. This one-night-only performance features a specially-curated program by Artistic Director Ashley Wheater.

The Joffrey in Performance with Chicago Symphony Orchestra

May 30-June 1, 2019

A special appearance in 2019, The Joffrey Ballet makes its Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) debut in performances that feature a world premiere work (choreographer to be announced at a later date) set to the music of Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks Concerto. This program also features Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet Commedia, set to the music of Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella.

Note: The Joffrey’s collaboration with CSO is not part of the Joffrey season and tickets are not available through The Joffrey Ballet. Performances take place at Symphony Center (220 S. Michigan Ave.). More information can be found at CSO.org.

About the Joffrey Studio Company

The Joffrey Studio Company is a scholarship program of the Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet. The Joffrey Studio Company consists of outstanding students selected by Joffrey Artistic Director Ashley Wheater and Head of Studio Company and Trainee Program Raymond Rodriguez. The Joffrey Studio Company and Trainees have performed on some of the most prestigious stages, including Lincoln Center in NY, the Auditorium Theatre, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Cadillac Palace Theatre and MCA Stage in Chicago, Music Hall in LA, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and more. The individualized training and performance opportunities provided by the Joffrey Studio Company offers students unique insight into the life of a professional dancer, assisting students in preparation for a professional career in dance and helping them expand their technique and artistry.

About the Joffrey Academy Trainees

The Joffrey Academy Trainee Program is a one to two-year program for students ages 17 and older who are preparing for a professional dance career. Students are selected to participate in the Trainee Program by invitation from Artistic Director Ashley Wheater and the Head of Studio Company and Trainee Program Raymond Rodriguez. This esteemed and rigorous program gives students a unique and well-rounded experience to prepare them for the next step in their careers. Trainees rehearse and perform classical and contemporary works from The Joffrey Ballet’s extensive repertoire and have the opportunity to work with guest choreographers throughout the year. Graduates of the Academy have gone on to dance professionally with companies throughout the world including The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Dresden Semperoper, Complexions, Milwaukee Ballet, Memphis Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, BalletMet, Polish National Ballet, Slovak National Ballet, Netherlands Dans Theater and more.

For more information on the Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet and its programs please visit joffrey.org/academy. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About The Joffrey Ballet

Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its Company, audiences, and repertoire, which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works.

The Company’s commitment to accessibility is met through an extensive touring schedule, an innovative and highly effective education program, including the much-lauded Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, Community Engagement programs and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.

Founded by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey in 1956, guided by celebrated choreographer Gerald Arpino from 1988 until 2007, The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley Wheater and Executive Director Greg Cameron.

For more information on The Joffrey Ballet and its programs, visit joffrey.org. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Oakland Public Conservatory of Music: Summer Music Academy & Black Girls Play

 

Vocal performance instructor, Azure McCall, guides Arnetta Olden, vocal student, in finding the power of her own voice.

Session I of our Summer Music Academy is in full swing. Students are having a blast learning voice, Afro-Cuban percussion, Zimbabwean-style marimbas, electric and bass guitars, trumpet, and so much more. There is still space in Session II: July 2 - 13 and Session III - July 16 - 27. Give your child the gift of music and community this summer by registering today! Payment plans and scholarships available. For info email info@opcmusic.org Register your child TODAY!

Black Girls Play Receives Prestigious Multi-year Funding Award We are thrilled and honored to be welcomed into the NoVo family as the recipient of multi-year project support for our Black Girls Play (BGP) program. The NoVo Foundation grant "supports our ongoing efforts to create spaces where Black girls develop their musical identity and build meaningful relationships with black women adult artists." We are looking forward to introducing more Black girls to the music world and supporting them in realizing their dreams. Deep gratitude to the NoVo Foundation for seeing, acknowledging and supporting the work of Black Girls Play!  Learn more about Black Girls Play

Sergio Mims: Interlochen.org: Leslie B. Dunner...Conductor of Interlochen Arts Academy

Dr. Leslie B. Dunner

Sergio A. Mims forwards this release:

Interlochen Arts Academy

"Dr. Dunner has an extraordinary professional conducting and teaching career," said Kedrik Merwin, Director of Music at Interlochen Center for the Arts. "He had an inspiring rehearsal with our orchestra, and the enthusiastic response and support from our music students helped to confirm and reinforce his selection, as did his interest and commitment to collaboration with all of the arts divisions at Interlochen."

Dr. Dunner's appointment marks the most recent in a series of major investments in the music program at Interlochen Center for the Arts, which will also fund the opening of a new 65,000-square-foot music building in the spring of 2019.

"The appointment of Dr. Dunner represents another important step forward for our music program. We are dedicated to being the leading destination for aspiring, motivated young musicians and artists and bringing on Dr. Dunner reinforces this commitment."

Dr. Dunner comes to Interlochen from Chicago, where he has been Music Director of the South Shore Opera Company since 2014. He has also served as Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet and the symphony orchestras of Annapolis, Dearborn, and Nova Scotia. He spent eleven seasons at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), first as Resident, then Associate, and finally as Assistant Conductor, while serving concurrently as Music Director of the DSO's youth orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. Besides holding principal conducting positions at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Harlem Festival Orchestra, and Louisville Ballet, he undertook a season as Interim Music Director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Dr. Dunner's guest engagements with major orchestras throughout the world include two years with the Chicago Symphony and five as Cover Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, where he assisted during a four-week European tour. He has appeared with such distinguished ensembles as the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Seattle Symphony, as well as orchestras in Canada, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ukraine, Russia, and South Africa. An avid ballet conductor, Dr. Dunner has taken the podiums of the American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Michigan Opera Theatre, Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and South African Ballet Theatre, among others.

NEA: Michelle Obama and Know Your Rights Campaign to receive NEA award

Michelle Obama

(HuffingtonPost.com)

WASHINGTON—First Lady Michelle Obama and the Know Your Rights Campaign, founded by professional quarterback and racial and social justice advocate Colin Kaepernick, are among the dozen recipients of the prestigious National Education Association Human and Civil Rights Awards. The theme of the awards ceremony is Many Dreams, One Voice. The awards also will feature celebrity emcee, political commentator, and social justice advocate Angela Rye and entertainer Chaka Khan.

The merger of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Teachers Association (ATA) in 1966 produced the annual NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards. ATA, which represented Black teachers in segregated schools, traditionally honored leaders in the justice and civil rights movement annually. Since the merger, NEA has recognized and honored educators, individuals, community partners, and organizations that are advancing the mantle for human and civil rights.

In addition to recognizing First Lady Michelle Obama and Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Campaign, NEA will recognize the following individuals and organizations for continuing the quest for human and civil rights in America.

• Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Vermont-based Muslim Girls Making Change
• North Carolina LGBTQ rights advocate Chris Sgro
• Utah advocate to end homelessness Michael Harman
• North Carolina educator Rodney Ellis, Sr.
• The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
• Ohio English teacher Lynnette Jimenez
• California educator Dr. Cecil Canton
• Illinois community activist Jitu Brown
• The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association

WHO:            NEA President Lily Eskelsen García, NEA elected leaders, educators and special guests

WHAT:          2018 NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards: Many Dreams, One Voice

WHEN:          Sunday, July 1^st, 2018; reception 5:30 and awards ceremony 6:30 p.m.

WHERE:        Main Auditorium, Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Follow the conversation on Twitter #NEARA18 #EdJustice2018 @NEAMedia

###

The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.

John Malveaux: Music by Black Composers Violin Volume I to be published in October

John Malveaux of 

www.MusicUNTOLD.com 

sends this release:

Rachel Barton Pine Foundation's Music by Black

Composers Project:

In October 2018, the not-for-profit Rachel Barton Pine Foundation’s Music by Black Composers project will take a monumental step toward showing the world #BlackisClassical, with a host of assets including the publication of the FIRST in a series of books of music exclusively by Black classical composers from around the world. 

Here's why:

Composers of African descent have created masterful classical music for centuries, yet they continue to be underrepresented in concert programming and in classical music education, silencing a rich vein of works from global consciousness and obscuring the true face of classical music. 

As young musicians seldom have the opportunity to study and perform classical music by Black composers, artists and enthusiasts of color struggle to participate in an art form in which they do not appear to belong, perpetuating a lack of diversity on stage and among audiences.

Over the past two decades, the not-for-profit Rachel Barton Pine (RBP) Foundation’s Music by Black Composers (MBC) project has uncovered 900+ works by over 300 black composers from Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America, from the 18th to the 21st centuries. Most of this wonderful repertoire is out of print or only in manuscript.

Our educational series kicks off with the October publication of MBC Violin Volume I. Each orchestral instrument will be the subject of multiple volumes, which will be graded by difficulty from beginner to advanced concerto-level playing and will include biographies for every composer, role model profiles, and feature articles about Black participation in classical music. Subsequent publications will include works for school orchestra and chamber ensembles.

Some MBC composers include:

Ignatius Sancho (1729 – 1780) – Born a slave, Sancho was the first Black composer in the world to have his music published and the first Black British person to vote in a British election. 

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) – Coleridge-Taylor's “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” was one of the most popular pieces of music in England for many decades.

Florence Price (1887-1953) – Born in Little Rock, AR, in 1933 Price became the first African-American woman to have her composition performed by a major orchestra.

Jessie Montgomery (1981-) – A violinist and composer, Montgomery is affiliated with The Sphinx Organization. She received the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Composer’s Apprentice Award and has a Bachelor’s from Julliard and a Master’s from New York University. 

The MBC publications are part of a multi-pronged approach to spread awareness of and access to music by Black composers. The MBC website currently features a directory of more than 150 living Black composers, for use by performers, researchers, and those wishing to diversify their commissioning. In addition, MBC has joined forces with the Orchestral Music by Black Composers (OMBC) project, founded by Ashley Jackson and James Blachly, to build an online database providing information about symphonic works written by Black composers worldwide. MBC is also developing a coloring book of the 40 most prominent Black composers as well as a timeline poster featuring more than 250 composers.  

 

The Music by Black Composers project was conceived by the award winning, Billboard chart topping violinist, Rachel Barton Pine (www.rachelbartonpine.com) who performs with the world's leading orchestras and has recorded 37 acclaimed albums.  She became the first living composer to be published as part of Carl Fischer’s “Masters Collection” series with the release of “The Rachel Barton Pine Collection.” Her performances are heard on NPR and stations around the globe and she has appeared on The Today Show four times, CBS Sunday Morning, Bloomberg Television, CNN, PBS NewsHour and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and papers around the world. In addition to the MBC project, her RBP  Foundation assists young artists through its Instrument Loan Program, Grants for Education and Career, and Global HeartStrings  which supports musicians in developing countries.

For more information, please visit rbpfoundation.org, musicbyblackcomposers.org, and RachelBartonPine.com.