Hello from Bill
Dear Mr. Zick,
John Malveaux of MusicUNTOLD.com writes:
Michael Cooper shared this NEW VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE of Margaret Bonds's gorgeous SATB/piano arrangement of THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS sung by the USC Thornton Chamber Singers, conducted by Jo-Michael Scheibe, with Sky Lee, collaborative pianist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWKoOIv_U2E
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/darmstadt-on-air/id1524225978
2021 Colour of Music Festival ‘UofSC-Columbia Residency’ Sept. 9-11
Black Professional Classical Musicians • University of South Carolina
July 28, 2021 Charleston SC—The
Colour of Music Festival
(COMF) announces its return to Columbia, South Carolina, in “Residency”
at the University of South Carolina School of Music (UofSC), Sept.
9-11, presenting performances and a masterclass at the UofSC Koger
Center for the Performing Arts, the UofSC School
of Music Recital Hall and Hootie Johnson Hall at the Darla Moore School
of Business.
Since 2013, the Colour of Music Festival has brought classically trained black musicians together to offer the public an opportunity to experience the talent of prodigiously gifted classical principals, composers and performers of African descent share their musical talents, knowledge, and inspiration and showcase the impact and significance of black classical composers and performers on America and world culture.
Presented by the UofSC School of Music in collaboration with the Auntie Karen Foundation whose mission is to empower, enlighten and educate through the arts, the Mahogany Music Festival will present three days of diverse classical performances.
Mahogany Music Festival highlights include:
“I
am delighted the University of South Carolina is partnering
with the Colour of Music Festival to recognize contributions of
classical artists of African descent,” said Tayloe Harding, dean, UofSC
School of Music. “This event is in line with the School of Music
‘practicing what we preach’ regarding diversity at UofSC
while allowing students and classical music fans to experience new
voices and perspectives showcasing successful black artists in
traditional classical settings, many of whom have walked the halls of
UofSC’s School of Music.”
“The Mahogany Music Festival supports the vision of UofSC University’s Board in leveraging music and the arts to make higher education accessible and relevant to the widest possible cross-section of our diverse Columbia community with music and artists of the highest caliber in an event unlike any we have seen to date,” said Harris Pastides, former president of UofSC and current Interim president.
“Columbia
is anchored by its state university (UofSC) and two
historically black colleges. This community bridge is the perfect way
to showcase many black artists whose ancestors did not even have the
opportunity to partake in higher education’s music offerings at UofSC
for many decades, now accessible to a younger black
generation. We look forward to our return to Columbia with black talent
from around the globe showcasing their contributions to the classical
genre,” said Lee Pringle, COMF founder and artistic director.
Colour of Music Festival | UofSC Residency
Schedule: Mahogany Music Festival
Thursday, Sept. 9 | 7:30 p.m.
Chamber Music Presentation | UofSC School of Music Recital Hall
UofSC Alumni Chamber Players and Colour of Music Festival Octet | Free
Friday, Sept. 10 | 8 p.m.
Opening Night Masterworks Series I | Koger Center for the Arts
Auntie Karen Foundation
Legends of…featuring the All-Star Band at 8 p.m. and Colour of
Music Festival Orchestra with guest artist Vanessa Williams conducted by
Julius P. Williams, 9 p.m. |
Tickets: $55-$77
Saturday Sept. 11 | 7:30 p.m.
Masterwork Series II | Koger Center for the Arts
September 11 20th Anniversary Memorial Performance
Colour of Music Festival Orchestra, guest conductor Julius P. Williams, and Lori C. Hicks, soprano |
Free; ticket required
TICKETS
In person: Koger Center for the Arts, 1051 Greene Street, Columbia SC
By phone:
803-251-2222
Online:
www.KogerCenterForTheArts.com
About the Colour of Music Festival
The
Colour of Music Festival, Inc. presents a diverse classical repertoire of baroque, classical and 20th-century
music at the highest of musical standards to diverse audiences
nationally. The festival has presented in Atlanta; Charleston and
Columbia, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Houston; Pittsburgh;
Richmond, Virginia; and Washington, D.C.
Dear Epiphany Tuesday Concert Series supporters,
Currently housing nearly 4,000 songs and more than 1,200 symphonic works, the database will continue to grow through new submissions and continued research
Monday, July 26, 2021– Ann Arbor, MI: In September 2019, after decades of researching and consolidating vocal works by African Diaspora composers, Dr. Louise Toppin launched the African Diaspora Music Project (ADMP) database, which currently offers nearly 4,000 songs by composers of African descent.
Toppin, a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance explains:
“As artists increasingly look to diversify their programming, they are faced with unexpected challenges. While living composers often update their websites, many pieces by previous generations of African Diaspora composers are not published, and it takes hours of research to find publisher information for others. This is compounded by a lack of performance history for many pieces, which have been historically underperformed, have been neglected for decades, or were never premiered.”
“My father's passion for history as a public historian--not someone who spent his time just writing works for an academic audience, but hosting television and radio shows, writing for newspapers, finding ways to reach a wide audience—has deeply informed my approach and scope for this project. It has shaped me,” Toppin stated about the legacy of her father, Edgar Allan Toppin, Sr. A public historian and an African-American professor of history specializing in Civil War, Reconstruction, and African-American history, one of his many accomplishments was becoming Board President of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, where he was instrumental in turning Black History Week into Black History Month in 1976.
Trained as an archivist, first by her father and later as a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, Toppin learned the difficulty of locating and bringing together repertoire. Her project began informally while at the University of Michigan while working as a research assistant to music scholars George Shirley and Willis Patterson, and later while organizing the works of Florence Price owned by scholar Ray Linda Brown. As she traveled to the National Association of Negro musicians, the country's oldest Association of Black professional musicians, she had the opportunity to meet and perform with Black composers who freely shared their works with her. Overtime, she amassed one of the largest personal collections of composers of African descent.
Designed as a living and growing database that will strengthen as more works are submitted and discovered, African Diaspora Music Project supports Toppin’s ongoing mission to help bring this music to concert halls around the world. The database is designed with conductors and artistic administrators in mind, making it extremely user-friendly. Users can search by ensemble size and length of work, allowing them to find many pieces for their programming needs, and with perusal PDFs of scores and recordings provided whenever possible. ADMP is a free resource created as a repository for music, providing access to scores, and encouraging research, exploration and performance of new works.
Lee Koonce, President and Artistic Director, of Gateways Music Festival shares: “African Diaspora Music Project provides a transformational resource at a time when individual artists and performing arts organizations are making a more serious effort to reflect the broadest communities and constituencies possible.”
ADMP includes access to works in various languages and from across the globe, such as Pende from the Republic of Congo, French Creole, Portuguese from Brazil, and more. Works span from H.T. Burleigh, the first prominent Black composer in America born at the end of the Civil War to millennial composer Brandon J. Spencer, and from well-known artists to compositions waiting to be fully appreciated and performed. It’s not hyperbolic to note that ADMP may change the very voice of American music as the works of Black composers can now be accessed easily in one user-friendly database.
Susie Park, Chair of the Minnesota Orchestra Artistic Advisory Committee, has used the database’s searchable composer, length, and instrumentation features while selecting composers for season programming: “African Diaspora Music Project Database is an invaluable tool in finding works by Black composers, not only for our season programming, but for our upcoming Anti-Racist Learning Project. As the database grows as a repository, I can only imagine how it will serve to be even more indispensable to musicians and administrators searching for music by Black composers, and effectively expand the canon and face of classical music as we know it."
American Baritone Thomas Hampson concurs: "One of the most exciting and important resource databases to appear in a long time is the African Diaspora Music Project. With the heightened and enlightened curiosity for all things African American, especially in the myriad and fascinating canon of classical music, this resource is indispensable. Let us all move forward together.” The latest Hampsong Foundation project “Song of America: A Celebration of Black music” at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg was brilliantly formed with the guidance of Dr. Louise Toppin and her African Diaspora Project.
In 2020, when Conductor James Blachly approached Toppin with the possibility of adding an orchestral component to the site, she jumped at the opportunity:
“When James reached out to me I realized that this was the right moment and the right collaborative partner to move the database into phase II. We hope that this iteration provides an even better user experience for those researching both vocal and orchestral repertoire. Together James and I hope that we can help transform the experience of musicians interested in incorporating the work of African Diaspora composers."
“With 1,200 entries so far, we expect this resource to help people program with far greater breadth than they would doing their own research with limited time,” said Associate Editor James Blachly. “But we want this to be a resource that represents our ongoing efforts as a field, and for musicians, historians, orchestras, conductors, artistic administrators, and others to continually update it with new recordings and listings as our collective knowledge and research continues to expand.”
Testimonials:
"Louise Toppin has been a leading and guiding force in the promotion and documentation of living and past composers of African descent. Her tireless advocacy is a beacon for this important work. She not only leads as an innovative entrepreneur, educator, scholar but as well as a leading proponent of contemporary performance practice and concertizing. In my 30 + years as a composer and author, there would simply not be the current information and celebrations of our works as Black concert artists without the dedicated work of Louise Toppin." said Dr. Bill Banfield, composer, author
Artistic director/Conductor Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra
Julius P. Williams said “Louise Toppin has been on the forefront championing African American composers for many years with her work with Videmus and the new database. I have collaborated on many of these projects and recorded with her two CDs that emphasizes the music of black composers i.e, “Heart on the Wall” and our newest release songs of ‘Love and Justice’ which will be out later this year on the Albany record label. She is one of the few people that I see to have true credibility on this subject and has spent years curating the Black Music repertoire, existence and excellence in concert music.”
“I spent a lot of time at ADMP listening and learning. A couple hours in fact. And a big chunk of time with Bill Banfield’s music. This literally wouldn’t have been possible even a month ago. Such an amazing accomplishment. Thank you both so much. This resource is going to make real impact in the industry.” explained James Barry.
Biographies:
Dr. Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, New Zealand, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Broadway’s Hudson Theater, and Lincoln Center.
Represented by Joanne Rile Artist Management, she toured in "Gershwin on Broadway" with pianist Leon Bates and currently tours in that show with Joseph Joubert, piano and Robert Sims, baritone. She has recorded eighteen compact disks of primarily American Music including solo CDs Songs of Illumination, (Centaur Records), and on Albany Records Ah love, but a day, He’ll Bring it to Pass, (Joseph Joubert, piano), Witness with the Czech National Symphony, Heart on the Wall with the Prague Radio Symphony and La Saison des fleurs, CDs with three publications including A Hall Johnson collection from Carl Fisher publisher. Her newest releases due out in 2021 are Songs of Love and Justice and Summer.Life.Songs (two CDs of songs for soprano by Adolphus Hailstork); Duos (with countertenor Darryl Taylor on African American vocal chamber music) and The Soprano Songs of T. J. Anderson with pianist John McDonald.
Most recently she has edited scores for publication. Her recent publications Rediscovering Margaret Bonds: Spiritual Suite and four volumes of Songs by Adolphus Hailstork (Deux Chansons, Sacred Songs, Songs with harp and Chamber works) were released in the summer of 2020 by the publisher Classical Vocal Reprints. Her anthology of Rediscovering Margaret Bonds: Art Songs was released March 1, 2021 from Classical Vocal Reprints and her Margaret Bonds choral work “St. Francis’ Prayer” for SATB with Hildegard Press will all be released later in March.
Her recent performances include the 150th celebration of the ratification of the 13th amendment for Congress and President Obama at the U.S. Capitol; a performance in Havana, Cuba with the women’s orchestra Camerata Romeu and the opening of the Smithsonian’s African American Heritage Museum.
As a scholar, she has lectured on the music of African American composers and has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered (Margaret Bonds); for many national conventions and on many college campuses including Harvard, Tufts, and Duke. As the co-founder and director of the George Shirley Vocal Competition that focuses exclusively on repertoire by African American art song, and Videmus (a non-profit organization that promotes the concert repertoire of African American and women composers), she encourages the performance and scholarship of African American compositions by students and scholars. She is also the founder of the Africandiasporamusicproject.org that is a research tool to locate the repertoire of composers of the African Diaspora from the 1600s to the present.
Previously, Dr. Toppin was the Distinguished University Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is currently Professor of Music (Voice) at The University of Michigan. www.louisetoppin.com
James Blachly is a Grammy®-winning conductor dedicated to enriching the concert experience by connecting with audiences in memorable and meaningful ways. His world premiere recording of English composer Dame Ethel Smyth’s 1930 masterpiece The Prison, released on Chandos Records, won a 2021 Grammy Award and was widely acclaimed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Gramophone, San Francisco Chronicle, Financial Times, The Guardian, and many others.
James Blachly serves as Music Director of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and of the Experiential Orchestra, and is in increasing demand as a versatile guest conductor in diverse repertoire, including his debut with the New York Philharmonic in March 2022. Since 2020, Blachly has served as Associate Editor and Orchestral Liaison for the African Diaspora Music Project, directed by Dr. Louise Toppin.
These three internationally acclaimed Black artists will perform works by BIPOC (Black Indigenous, and People of Color) composers and discuss ways to celebrate communities of color as we navigate a “new normal” in our nation.
Challenge the Stats (CTS) exists to empower BIPOC by creating communities devoted to equity in the classical performing arts. CTS seeks to equip audiences and artists with the tools needed to advocate for justice both inside and outside of the concert hall.
This free event will admit a limited reserved in-person audience at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, 1328 Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. It will also be live streamed.
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These concerts are sponsored by the Musicians Performance Trust Fund 
Listen to WQXR, New York City's only classical music radio station live now at 105.9 FM and wqxr.org,
and sign up for the WQXR e-newsletter for weekly highlights, links to
web streams, on-demand concerts, videos, events from The Greene Space
and more.  The
Harlem Chamber Players 2020-21 Season is supported, in part, by public
funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in
partnership with the City Council; in part by the New York State Council
on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York
State Legislature; in part by a grant from Columbia Community Service;
in part by West Harlem Development Corporation via the Tides Foundation;
in part with funding from the Turrell Fund; in part with funding from
the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation and
administered by LMCC; in part by the Manhattan Community Award Program
via Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer; in part by a grant from
the New York Community Trust/Charles E. Culpeper Fund; in part by a
grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; in part by a grant from
J.P. Morgan Securities Charitable Giving Fund; in part by a grant from
The M&T Charitable Foundation; in part by a grant from the Howard
Gilman Foundation; in part by a grant from the Baisley Powell Elebash
Fund; in part by a grant from the Castellano Family Foundation; in part
by a grant from the Reba Judith Sandler Foundation; in part from a grant
from the Richenthal Foundation; and through the generous donations of
our supporters and donors. |
