'BBC iPlayer – Great Lives: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor' 30 min. Podcast

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]

The Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com. AfriClassical recently learned that a fascinating program on his life has been made by BBC Radio 4. It is hosted by Francine Stock. The narrative of the podcast is well-researched and is interspersed with audio clips of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's choral and instrumental works, including the tenor aria Onaway! Awake, beloved! from Hiawatha's Wedding Feast:

BBC iPlayer – Great Lives: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

BBC.co.uk

Radio 4

“Composer Howard Goodall champions the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with assistance from Stephen Banfield. Francine Stock presents.”

AfriClassical has recently posted news of historian Jeffrey Green's new biography, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a Musical Life. The 256-page hardcover book is from Pickering and Chatto Publishers, and is being released this month. The price is £60.00/$99.00.

Sphinx Laureate Plays Cello on "From the Top" Classical Music Radio Show

The website of SphinxMusic.org explains the organization's partnership with Public Radio International:

"From The Top radio show is created by Concert Productions, Inc. in association with WGBH Radio Boston and New England Conservatory of Music, and distributed by Public Radio International. This interactive program features world renowned pianist (and a member of the Sphinx Honorary Committee) Christopher O'Riley as the host, interviewing young musicians as well as collaborating with them on stage. As our artistic partner, each year From The Top features our 3 Junior Division Laureates in shows taped across the country."

This week's broadcast of "From the Top" features the 14-year-old cellist Gabriel Cabezas, a 2006 Sphinx Laureate. The program was first aired on May 2, 2007, and will remain available for online listening in the archives of "From the Top". Gabriel Cabezas plays the Andante from Sergei Rachmaninoff's Cello Concerto on the program. The NPR website quotes the young cellist on his recent performance opportunities:

"I've played with the Florida Symphony and New World Symphony, and I was also able to play with the Cleveland Orchestra a few months ago. Now that was an intimidating experience!"

Rudolph Dunbar Story Aired on BBC Radio 4

Rudolph Dunbar, the Black conductor and clarinettist from Guyana, was profiled at On An Overgrown Path on April 23, 2007, in a post entitled Berlin Philharmonic's first black conductor. The link was later published in the eNewsletter of the Myrtle Hart Society, which promotes composers and musicians of color. Response to the post was unusually heavy, according to Pliable, and it is now linked to Wikipedia. He adds:

Dunbar's inspirational story needs to reach a wider audience, so I was delighted to find BBC Radio 4 broadcasting the Strange Story of Rudolph Dunbar today (August 7 2007). Here is the BBC blurb:

Strange Story of Rudolph Dunbar
Tuesday 7 August 2007 11:30-12:00 (Radio 4 FM)
Wayne Marshall tells the story of Rudolph Dunbar.

Born into poverty in British Guiana, Dunbar became a well-known jazz and classical clarinettist as well as having a European career as a classical conductor.

Despite becoming the first black man to conduct at the Royal Albert Hall and having conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra just days after the end of the Second World War, Dunbar ended his life in obscurity in Britain, convinced that the BBC in particular had barred his way to greater things.

You can to listen to the BBC programme on demand until August 15 here. Following my article as you listen to the broadcast is really quite interesting.