State-Journal: 'Jade Simmons headlining new festival in Jacksonville' June 3-4

[Revolutionary Rhythm; Jade Simmons, Piano; Russell Pinkston, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano, & Daniel Bernard Roumain, Composers; E1 Entertainment KIC CD 7760 (2009)]

The State-Journal

Springfield, Illinois

June 1, 2011

“After soloing with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra earlier this year, classical pianist Jade Simmons returns to central Illinois this weekend to headline a music festival at Illinois College. The inaugural Engelbach-Hart Music Festival is set for Friday and Saturday in Rammelkamp Chapel, on the school’s Jacksonville campus.

“Simmons will present a solo recital at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The concert is to include Lizst’s 'Caprice No. 24,' Robert Muczynski’s and Fazil Say’s 'Paganini Jazz,' and Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, 'Etude Tableaux' and 'The Corelli Variations.' At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Simmons will give a lecture titled 'Black. Female. Classical Pianist.' The festival concludes with a 'Patriotic Pops' concert at 7 p.m. Saturday.”

Harlem Quartet Debuts "Delights and Dances" by Michael Abels at Sphinx Laureates Concert

The Sphinx Laureates Concert at Carnegie Hall on Sept. 25, 2007 will feature the Harlem Quartet's premiere of Delights and Dances, a work by Michael Abels which was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization to celebrate its 10^th Anniversary as well as its dedication to promoting the works of Black and Latino composers. Called “A genuine rising star” by ClassicsToday.com, Michael Abels is an African American composer and music educator who caught the attention of many in the field of classical music with his 1990 composition Global Warming. He is also Music Director of New Roads School in the Los Angeles area. His website, www.MichaelAbels.com, lists his compositions and illustrates his educational, athletic, and outreach activities.

Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, wrote the liner notes for African Heritage Symphonic Series, Vol. III, which opens with Global Warming (8:18). The work is performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta, conducted by its Founder and Musical Director, Paul Freeman, on Cedille Records 90000 066 (2002).

“Michael Abels was born in 1962 in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also attended grammar school. He spent his youngest years, however, in rural South Dakota and began studying piano there at an early age. A graduate of the University of Southern California, he studied composition with James Hopkins and Robert Linn and was named Outstanding Senior among student composers for his “Queries” for piano and prepared piano. In 1985-86, Abels studied West African music with Alfred Ladzekpo at the California Institute for the Arts. Abels remains a resident of Los Angeles.

Abels wrote Global Warming in 1990, not long after the Berlin Wall fell. It attracted international attention when it was featured at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's 1992 African-American Symphony Composers Forum and has enjoyed more than 100 performances since its debut. Most notable, Global Warming became the first piece by a Black composer to enter the repertory of the National Symphony of South Africa.
...
Among Abels's other works is Tribute (2001), a short orchestral memorial to the events of September 11. He has also written works for chorus, two operas, and other compositions for orchestra, many created on commission. His output manifests an interest in sports (he is a triathlete) and his dedication to outreach projects, with particular concern for social welfare and for young people. Abels ascribes to the philosophy of many contemporary artists of color who see international implications inherent in their ethnic heritage.”

A press release from New Roads School on Sept. 13, 2007 explains the origin of the composition and provides an overview of the composer's activities as a music educator:

"Michael was chosen for the commission because he is one of the leading African-American composers working today," said Sphinx Organization President Aaron Dworkin. “As Sphinx presents the most talented musicians from around the country, Michael’s work represents the height of artistic excellence. We could think of no better composer with whom to partner.”

In addition to his work as a composer, Abels runs the Music Program for New Roads School, one of L.A.'s most exciting, independent K-12 college preparatory schools. New Roads offers its diverse student body a challenging academic environment that promotes personal responsibility, community engagement and global awareness.

"Through his work at New Roads and his personal experience teaching music production to LA youth in public housing projects, Michael is a role model for the 21st Century," said Head of New Roads School, David Bryan. "His work underscores the importance of individualized, independent education in the arts, within a well-rounded academic environment that inspires social responsibility."

"Delights and Dances" is Mr. Abels's first commission with Sphinx. His works have been performed by orchestras throughout the world, including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. He is currently writing another commission for Sphinx, scheduled to premiere on PBS in February 2009.

Chelsea Tipton II Conducts Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall

(Photo by Matt H., Jay K. Hoffman & Associates, Inc.)

Maestro Chelsea Tipton II is Resident Conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. His prior positions and his prolific work as a guest conductor have given him considerable exposure to leading U.S. orchestras. His agent, Jay K. Hoffman & Associates, Inc., elaborates at its website:

“As a sought-after guest conductor, Tipton has appeared with major orchestras in the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, among others.”

The agent explains that Tipton prepared himself for careers in both conducting and clarinet performance:

"Tipton earned a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music, with additional studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine."

As a clarinet player, Chelsea Tipton II performed with numerous major orchestras and virtuoso instrumentalists, and recorded for three record labels. He has taught at Central Michigan University as an Assistant Professor, and was also Director of the Central Michigan University Band. Tipton has also been a Visiting Professor in clarinet and chamber music at Western Michigan University. His bio continues:

"Prior to his appointment with the Toledo Symphony, Tipton was Associate Conductor with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra for four seasons and Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra for three seasons."

As noted on this blog on July 28, 2007, in a post entitled “Black and Latino String Players at Carnegie Hall”, Chelsea Tipton II is the conductor for the “Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall”, at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 in the Stern Auditorium. An Afterglow will be held in the Rohatyn Room & Shorin Club at Carnegie Hall. The Sphinx Organization summarizes the evening's performers and repertoire:

“The concert will feature the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, comprised of top alumni of the prestigious Sphinx Competition for young Black and Latino string players, under the direction of Maestro Chelsea Tipton II. Top Sphinx Competition Laureates will be performing as soloists, and the Harlem Quartet will also perform. Inspired by Sphinx’s artistic mission of building diversity in classical music, the program will offer standard repertoire along with masterpieces by Black and Latino composers.”

Voices In Color: Diversity in Classical Music

(Photo of Aaron P. Dworkin by Bruce Giffin, Detroit Public Television)

Voices In Color is a blog which published a post entitled "Diversity in Classical Music" on Aaron P. Dworkin and the Sphinx Organization on Sept. 11, 2007. I added a comment which is reprinted below. Voices In Color wrote:

Yesterday I had a chance to catch an NPR News & Notes interview with Aaron Dworkin an accomplished violinist who created the Sphinx Organization, which helps introduce classical music to more artists of color.

The Sphinx Organization envisions a world in which classical music reflects cultural diversity and plays a role in the everyday lives of youth. The organization’s mission is to increase the participation of Blacks and Latinos in music schools, as professional musicians, as classical music audiences and to administer youth development initiatives in underserved communities through music education.

Sounds like a wonderful organization that's offering our kids opportunities they wouldn't otherwise know about.

I expressed my agreement with the post:

I am delighted by this post on the "News & Notes" broadcast on Sept. 10, 2007. For several years, Aaron Dworkin has been featured as a "Musician of African descent" at my website, www.AfriClassical.com His work is more effective than any other effort known to me. Another barrier to diversity in classical music is the neglect of Black classical composers and musicians in most textbooks on History and Music. My website deals with that issue by profiling 52 composers, conductors and instrumentalists of African descent, and by providing over 100 audio samples of their recordings.

Aaron Dworkin, Founder/President of Sphinx Organization, Born Sept. 11, 1970

(Photo: Aaron Dworkin & Trevor Ochieng, 2004 1st place Jr. Division Laureate, Sphinx Competition)

Aaron Paul Dworkin was born in Monticello, New York on Sept. 11, 1970 to White and Black parents. At the age of two weeks he was adopted by a White couple in New York City. He began playing the violin at age five. When Aaron was 10, the family moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania, which had only one Black family. Racism made life difficult for him there. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan.

He was often the only student of color in a Violin class. It was not until college that he was introduced to the rich classical repertoire of Black composers such as William Grant Still. He decided one way to bring about racial diversity in the study, performance and enjoyment of classical music was to help young string students of color prepare for careers as performers in major orchestras. In 1996, while still a graduate student at the University of Michigan, Aaron became Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization, which organized a national competition for Black and Latino string students. That is why he is honored as a Musician of African Descent at the website AfriClassical.com

With the support of JPMorganChase, Dworkin guided the organization through its 10th Annual Sphinx Competition in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Feb. 7-11 2007. The organization's home page is SphinxMusic.org, which sets out its mission: “Sphinx envisions a world in which classical music reflects cultural diversity and plays a role in the everyday lives of youth”. This uplifting goal is a powerful invitation for Black and Latino students, and for students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, to enrich their lives with classical music. For children, SphinxKids.org is a collection of interactive resources such as Minorities on Stage, Orchestration Station, String Instrument Gallery, Music Match – Composers, and Music Match – Instruments.

Recognition has come in many forms, such as: 2006 Newsweek Giving Back Award; 2005 MacArthur Fellowship or “Genius Grant”; 2005 National Governors Award; 2003 Michigan Governor's Award; and selection as 2003 Michiganian of the Year, by The Detroit News.

Dworkin has served on the Boards of Directors of the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, ArtServe Michigan, Walnut Hill School, and WRCJ-FM Public Radio in Detroit. He has been a speaker on the topic of diversity in the arts at national conferences of the American Symphony Orchestra League, Suzuki Association, Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, and National Association of Negro Musicians.

Aaron's personal website, EthnoVibe.com, includes this observation: “As a musician and a writer, I have experienced the power that the arts possess to bridge racial and cultural divides and touch a mosaic of people from differing backgrounds and communities."

Radio host Dick Gordon interviewed him in detail on the American Public Media program The Story, Feb. 16, 2007. The 50-minute broadcast Music for All is an intimate conversation which includes excerpts of classical works of William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn. It is still available in the program archives. Among the most recent press coverage is a video clip of Aaron speaking at Chatauqua on Aug. 22, 2007, on the topic: “Music: Heart, Soul and Dollar”.

“The Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall” will be presented on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 by JPMorgan Chase, featuring the nation's top young Black and Latino string players. Music critic Anthony Tommasini reviewed last year's concert at Carnegie Hall in The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2006:

“The concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday evening offered typical fare: a string chamber orchestra playing works by Mozart, Villa-Lobos and others. But the audience, far from the typical classical music crowd, was overwhelmingly black and Latino, and most were children. Onstage as well, all the players were young black and Latino musicians. It was a sight you rarely encounter at Carnegie Hall.”

It is also a sight made possible by the vision and leadership of the Founder/President of the Sphinx Organization. Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges: 10 Sonatas for Harpsichord

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Les 10 sonates pour clavecin [10 Sonatas for Harpsichord], is a world premier recording of previously unpublished works, performed by harpsichordist Anne Robert on BNL 112934 (2006). The liner notes observe:

“The works that were published during Saint-George's life time, except for those in the BNF [French National Library], remain unfairly in the shade together with his 10 surprising Sonatas for harpsichord. They are polished and audacious, engaging, and astonishingly modern.”

Ms. Robert is a Harpsichord Professor at the Conservatory of Besançon, France. She also records CDs on the BNL label, performs extensively at important music festivals, gives concerts in the villages of Franche-Comté, and plays for children in hospitals, according to the liner notes of the CD.

The sonatas on this recording were found by her at the French National Library. They are not the only unpublished works Anne Robert has unearthed from libraries. For example, she has played and performed an unpublished work by Boccherini after discovering it in manuscript form in the Public Library of Besançon, the liner notes report. The notes continue:

“At the pianoforte, Anne Robert followed the courses of Paul Badura-Skoda. She played and studied the historical instruments of the most significant European Museums: Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Vienna. She is the 2005 prize winner of the Foundation Marcelle and Robert De Lacour. She has also taught Musicology at the University of Franche-Comté.”

The website of Anne Robert is in French, but no language skill is needed to operate the music player beneath the Saint-Georges CD cover, allowing one to hear a brief audio sample of Sonata No. 1 in C Major. The Saint-Georges Harpsichord Sonatas page of AfriClassical.com provides a link to an audio sample of Sonata No. 2 in G Minor of nearly four minutes. The sample can also be found at the Audio page of the website.

Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th & 19th Centuries

This is a tribute to the 10th Anniversary of a landmark CD: "Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries", Cedille Records CDR 90000 035 (1997). The violin soloist was a 23-year-old Chicago musician named Rachel Barton; she was accompanied by the Encore Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Hege, conductor. The CD was recorded in June, 1997. News of the forthcoming release reached me via an online classical music group that summer.

An earlier CD had introduced me to the works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, but this was my first recording of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, José Sylvestre White and Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas. When I received my copy in September, I knew from the sound, the cover image of Saint-Georges and the thoughtful liner notes of Prof. Mark Clague of the University of Michigan that I had the makings of a website. Saint-Georges had been heard in the 1970s on the CBS Black Composers Series of LPs, and on a handful of Arion CDs from France, but this was the first U.S. CD to present the music of this distinguished composer of the French Enlightenment.

This disc was also my introduction to Cedille Records, the highly respected classical music label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. Cedille's President is James Ginsburg, who subsequently recorded an important “African Heritage Symphonic Series” in 3 volumes, with the Chicago Sinfonietta and its Founder and Conductor, Dr. Paul Freeman.

David Mermelstein wrote in The New York Times on Feb. 22, 1998:

“The young violinist Rachel Barton handles the concertos' varied demands with unaffected aplomb, performing this music lovingly rather than dutifully.”

ClassicsToday.com wrote:

"10/10 -- Soloist Rachel Barton sounds perfectly at home in all four of these stylistically disparate compositions, but she gives an especially impressive performance of White's expressively and technically demanding concerto. The composers would be pleased to hear such committed advocacy on the part of Daniel Hege and the Encore Chamber Orchestra, who present these works as repertoire staples. Cedille's usual top-drawer sound makes this a disc you should not miss."

The Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, www.REBF.org, is a tax-exempt charitable organization founded in 2001 to foster awareness and appreciation of classical music. The website explains its landmark effort to diversify classical music for strings, for which I am an Advisor: “The Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation is working on an exciting project to research, commission, and compile classical works by composers of African descent. The String Student’s Library of Music by Black Composers will be a supplemental curriculum to acquaint students of all races and various stages of development with the rich heritage of classical string music from this ethnic background. Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, the leading authority on black classical composers, is Chief Advisor for this project.

The motivation for The String Student's Library grew out of REB Foundation President Rachel Barton Pine's release in 1997 of a CD with the Encore Chamber Orchestra, "Violin Concertos by Blakc Composers from the 18th & 19th Centuries." Working with Chicago's Center for Black Music Research to locate the music and learn more about it, Ms. Pine became keenly aware of the relative obscurity of this repertoire and how little is known about it by students and performers."

A decade after its release, the CD is still in print and is still an important part of the repertoire of recordings of the works of composers of African descent. I continue to give copies of the CD as gifts. One thing which has changed is the historical data on the Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas. When Gabriel Banat wrote the biography, “The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow”, published by Pendragon Press (2006), he found no evidence that Meude-Monpas was of African descent. Historical references had named him a “Black Musketeer”, but Banat's research disclosed that “Black” referred to the color of the horses used by the members of his unit, not to the composer's race.

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma posted a comment at Amazon.com on June 17, 2007 to clarify the situation: “Quite true, this is an excellent collection of perfectly fine works, offered beautifully by an enormously gifted technician and real musician. No reservations on that point. In very recent times, however, we have determined that Meude-Monpas had no African ancestry. I was responsible for that error about twenty years ago, being misled by everything except for the composer's biography. I wondered at that time why a minority citizen would have been a royalist.”

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Afro-British Composer, Born Aug. 15, 1875

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912): Afro-British Composer & Conductor

24 Negro Melodies, Op. 59 is David Shaffer-Gottschalk's recent 2-disc recording of this work for solo piano, on Troy 930/31 (2007). The composer's program notes read, in part:

“What Brahms has done for the Hungarian folk music, Dvorak for the Bohemian, and Grieg for the Norwegian, I have tried to do for these Negro Melodies. The plan adopted has been almost without exception that of the Tema con Variazioni.”

The CD has been reviewed at Black Grooves, an online publication of the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University. The Coleridge Ensemble has recorded Five Negro Melodies for Piano Trio, Op. 59, No. 1 on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Chamber Music, AFKA SK-543 (1998). Sometimes I feel like a motherless child (4:55) can be heard in its entirety on the Audio page at www.AfriClassical.com

His biographer, Geoffrey Self has, has called him The Hiawatha Man, but in addition to his interest in Native American legend, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was also an important Pan-Africanist. Very early on, he began collaborating with the African American poet and author Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906). Writing in Africana Encyclopedia, Roanne Edwards says:

“He was also a leading exponent of Pan-Africanism, which emphasized the importance of a shared African heritage as the touchstone of black cultural identity.”

An entry on Pan-Africanism in Encyclopedia Africana includes a photo, with this caption:

“The first Pan-African Conference convened in London in July 1900. W.E.B. Du Bois, who stands in the center of this photograph of the conference delegates, gave the keynote address titled 'To the Nations of the World'.”

Jeffrey Green has published an article in Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, entitled "The Foremost Musician of His Race: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor of England, 1875-1912". He reports:

“Coleridge-Taylor's black associates were fine people, as we can see from his contacts in London in July 1900 when Du Bois and the Loudins participated in a Pan-African conference at which Coleridge-Taylor was present (Mathurin 1976, 67, 168).” Frederick J. Loudin was a bass singer from Ohio who led the famous Fisk Singers, Green notes.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born on August 15, 1875 in Croydon, a suburb of London, England. His mother was an English woman named Alice Hare. His father was Daniel Peter Taylor, a native of Sierra Leone who trained as a physician at King's College, London. After graduating he found his race was a barrier to maintaining a medical practice in the United Kingdom. As a result he returned to Africa permanently around the time of Samuel's birth. He is not known to have had any contact with his son.

Young Samuel was raised by his English mother and stepfather, but his musical education was overseen by Col. Herbert A. Walters, who belonged to the church choir in which the boy sang. Samuel also studied violin with a local musician as a child. He enrolled at the Royal college of Music in 1890 as a student of Violin.

Two years later he switched to composition and was taught by Charles Villiers Stanford. Coleridge-Taylor wrote his Symphony in A Minor in 1896, we are told by Lewis Foreman in the liner notes of the world premiere recording, Classico 684 (2006). Critic Jonathon Woolf of Music Web International writes of the work: “His characteristic gift for melodic beauty is always present.”

Coleridge-Taylor rose to prominence in 1898, the year he turned 23, on the strength of two works. The first was his Ballade in A Minor. It was commissioned for the prestigious annual Three Choirs Festival at the suggestion of the British composer Edward Elgar (1857-1934). The piece was a critical and popular success.

The composer's second major composition of 1898 was his musical Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, for which he is best known. The work is a setting of verses from Song of Hiawatha by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He conducted its premier to great acclaim. It was staged hundreds of times in the United Kingdom alone during the next 15 years.

Samuel married Jessie Walmisley, a pianist and classmate, on Dec. 30, 1899. The publicity surrounding Hiawatha's Wedding Feast created a huge demand for tours both within the United Kingdom and abroad. Among the most important for the composer's career were three tours of North America in 1904, 1906 and 1910.

The first concert of the 1904 tour was in Washington, D.C. The Coleridge-Taylor Society, an African American choir, appeared with the United States Marine Band, with the composer at the podium. During his stay in the capital Coleridge-Taylor visited President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House.

Jeffrey Green describes the 1906 tour in his article:

“In the 1906 tour the Briton presented the Atonement, the Quadroon Girl, and Hiawatha; he also toured with Burleigh. He appeared in Toronto, St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee, as well as the cities of Boston, Washington and Chicago, which had also been on his first tour schedule.”

The 1910 tour took Coleridge-Taylor to Boston, Detroit, and Norfolk, Connecticut, where he was guest conductor for the Litchfield County Choral Union Festival, Green tells us.

American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell, Cedille CDR 90000 097 (2007), is a new CD featuring Rachel Barton Pine, violin, and Matthew Hagle, piano. Among the works is Coleridge-Taylor's Deep River, Op. 59, No. 10 (4:46). Rachel Barton and the Encore Chamber Orchestra, led by Daniel Hege, conductor, made the world premiere recording of the composer's Romance in G Major for Violin and Orchestra (12:33) on the CD Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries, Cedille CDR 90000 035 (1997).

Comment on "Dance Like The Wind: Music of Today's Black Composers"

The CD pictured above is Africa: Piano Music of William Grant Still, Koch 3-7084-2H1 (1991).

Herdingcats makes this comment on "Dance Like The Wind: Music of today's Black composers" by Dominique-René de Lerma:

It's a shame you can't embed some sample clips so we can hear this music. Maybe if it's available on Amazon or another big site you could link to their clips.

How does their music sound differently from their white counterparts? Why a blog on this topic when you are not African-American? This is intriguing.

I appreciate the fact that the author of the comment took the time to raise these questions, and I am happy to respond. This blog is a companion to AfriClassical.com, so priority is given to music samples by composers featured there. The person making the comment is correct about audio samples being available at websites such as Amazon.com, which offers 18 samples of the CD.

The music of Black composers may or may not reflect African heritage, depending on their compositional philosophies. William Grant Still was chosen to compose the theme music for the 1939-40 New York World's Fair after the Theme Committee listened to recorded music on file at CBS Radio without knowing who wrote it, and chose two pieces as having the best sound. Both were by William Grant Still, and he composed the theme music. While some of his works contain references to African American spirituals, for example, much of Still's output is as all-American as that of his White contemporaries.

The reason for having a blog on this topic, as noted above, is that it is a companion to the website, AfriClassical.com The reviewer of the CD wrote his dissertation on Mozart, yet he is not Austrian and did not live in the 18th century! Professors, record label executives, biographers and webmasters who deal with the music of Black composers and musicians come from a wide array of backgrounds.

I listened to classical music for 30 years before learning of a single composer of African descent. By the time I discovered that I had been missing out on very beautiful classical music by Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Grant Still, Duke Ellington and hundreds of other Black composers, I had an academic and professional background in Civil Rights. I immediately resolved to do what I could to remedy the neglect of classical composers on the basis of race. My own heritage was not a factor in the decision.

This music belongs to all of us!

"H. Leslie Adams Listening Party" Returns Sept. 9, 2007

Music of the African American composer H. Leslie Adams for voice, piano, string quartet and cello will be heard on Sept. 9, 2007 in "H. Leslie Adams: A Listening Party, Return Engagement". Featured performers will be the Cavani String Quartet; Maria Corley, piano; Darryl Taylor, countertenor; William Clarence Marshall, bass; and Kent Collier, cello. The location is the Greg Reese Performing Arts Center, East Cleveland Library, 14101 Euclid Avenue, East Cleveland, Ohio. Phone: 216-541-4128. Admission is $10.

Pictured above are Greg L. Reese, Executive Director, East Cleveland Public Library (far left); Maria Corley, pianist (3rd from left); Kent Collier, cellist (4th from right); Darryl Taylor, countertenor (2nd from right); Jonathan Stuckey, bass (far right); H. Leslie Adams, composer (center); Cavani String Quartet (in purple jackets).

H. Leslie Adams lives in Cleveland, where he was born in 1932. He is a composer, pianist and professor whose career as a professor of music and a choral director has been quite varied. His page at www.AfriClassical.com includes links to six sound samples. Five are from Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams, recorded by Darryl Taylor, tenor, and Robin Guy, piano, on Albany Records Troy 428 (2000). The sixth audio excerpt is from Twelve Etudes, performed by pianist Maria Corley on Albany Records Troy 639 (2004).

Black and Latino String Players at Carnegie Hall

The life and career of the violinist Aaron P. Dworkin have been honored for several years at his page at AfriClassical.com,
http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Dworkin.html

Aaron Dworkin was born to White and Black parents and was adopted by a White couple in New York City at the age of two weeks. He began playing the violin at age five. When Aaron was 10, the family moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania, which had only one Black family. Racism made life difficult for him there. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and received his Bachelors of Music and Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan.

Dworkin is Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization, which held its 10th Annual Sphinx Competition for Black and Latino string players in Ann Arbor and Detroit earlier this year. Last year, The Sphinx Chamber Orchestra gave a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Anthony Tommasini reviewed the concert in The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2006:

The concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday evening offered typical fare: a string chamber orchestra playing works by Mozart, Villa-Lobos and others. But the audience, far from the typical classical music crowd, was overwhelmingly black and Latino, and most were children. Onstage as well, all the players were young black and Latino musicians. It was a sight you rarely encounter at Carnegie Hall. ... In addition, Sphinx runs a successful competition for string players, also supported by JPMorgan Chase. Every member of the 20-piece Sphinx Chamber Orchestra that performed on this occasion, as well as each impressive soloist, was a past or current prizewinner.

On the heels of its sell-out success in 2006, the Sphinx Organization has proudly announced the Sphinx Laureates Concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 6 p.m.:

Sphinx Returns to Carnegie Hall

The Sphinx Organization, celebrating 10 years of building diversity in classical music, is excited to return to Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007. The Sphinx Laureates concert will feature the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra comprised of top alumni of the Sphinx Competition under the direction of Maestro Chelsea Tipton II, as well as the Harlem Quartet and top Laureates performing as soloists. Inspired by Sphinx’s artistic mission, the program will offer standard repertoire along with masterpieces by Black and Latino composers. The significance and value of this performance is immeasurable as it represents not only the incredible performance opportunity for young musicians, but also, a strong impact on diverse audiences by exposing them to the highest level of artistry reflected within the minority community. JPMorgan Chase has given more than $100 million through grants and sponsorships to thousands of not-for-profit organizations around the world, including the Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Support for the Sphinx Organization is given through the Community Life program, which emphasizes offering a culturally rich life for residents in order to create communities where people want to live and work. JPMorgan Chase’s long-standing support of community arts and culture includes arts giving, civic enhancement and programs that address cultural enrichment and diversity. The mission of the Sphinx Organization is to increase the participation of Blacks and Latinos in music schools as professional musicians, as classical music audiences, and to administer youth development initiatives in underserved communities through music education. Sphinx works to address this mission through five main program areas: ARTIST DEVELOPMENT (highlights the Sphinx Competition for young Black and Latino string players and the Sphinx Symphony, along with a series of scholarship initiatives) SPHINX PREPARATORY MUSIC INSTITUTE at Wayne State University (provides Detroit area youths with yearlong classes in performance, music theory/ear training and music history). Overture Division of Sphinx Prep provides free instruments and group and individual violin lessons to young people in Detroit and Flint, MI) SPHINX PERFORMANCE ACADEMY at Walnut Hill School (offers intensive summer training to aspiring Black and Latino musicians who lack access to quality music education) SPHINX CLASSICAL CONNECTIONS (helps teachers implement music education in their in-class curriculum) SPHINX PRESENTS! (offers professional performance and exposure opportunities to Sphinx solo artists and ensembles including the Harlem Quartet, New York school residencies and highlighting the Sphinx Artist Series at Carnegie Hall)

Sphinx Organization www.sphinxmusic.org info@sphinxmusic.org 646-429-1987 x710