Violinist Samuel Thompson Again Performs With Cortlandt Chamber Orchestra

Violinist Samuel Thompson will perform both Mozart’s Concerto in D Major, KV 218 and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with the Cortlandt Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 7:30pm. This concert takes place at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church, 110 Grand Street, Croton-on-Hudson, New York. The performance, Thompson’s second appearance with the Cortlandt Chamber Orchestra, comes after his highly successful performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto during a 2007 concert to benefit the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra that became the subject of an article in the September 2007 International Musician.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Samuel first performed as soloist in 1989 with the Carolina Amadeus Players Chamber Orchestra, and made his national debut with the National Repertory Orchestra in 1998. He was a semifinalist in the 2000 New World Symphony Concerto Competition and has been presented in concert with the Marian Anderson String Quartet.

2005 was a year of significance for Samuel, as he became the subject of international media attention during Hurricane Katrina. Maintaining a sense of loyalty to the New Orleans arts community, Samuel was recognized by National Public Radio in 2006 as one of ten artists whose work shows “their spirit, their spunk, and their commitment to Crescent City”. Information is available at CortlandtMusic.org/

Comment On Ritz Chamber Players

Comment on the AfriClassical post of March 3 on the Ritz Chamber Players:
Union Issues said...

I personally love the Ritz Chamber Players and have for a long time. I am so grateful someone is giving them the attention they deserve! And for anyone who has not heard them, you can go to their web site and visit the listening room.
March 4, 2008 7:31 AM

Maestro Leslie B. Dunner & Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra: Celebration of Black History

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; Leslie B. Dunner, Conductor; Carolyn Sebron, Soprano; and the Asante Children's Theatre Kwanzaa Community Choir will perform a Celebration of Black History Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

The ISO’s annual Celebration of Black History concert celebrates the significant impact of African-American culture on classical and symphonic music, as well as the superb artistry and creativity of black artists, composers, and conductors. This year’s program reflects that focus with music by Indianapolis native and jazz legend Dr. David Baker, Maestro Dunner, Dorothy Rudd-Moore, and arrangements of traditional spirituals. Free and Open to the public.

Sponsored by The Indianapolis Recorder. Media Sponsor: Radio One.

Myrtle Hart Society: Maestro Tipton in Atlanta and Cleveland

Myrtle Hart Society eNewsletter, January 2008:

Maestro Tipton in Atlanta and Cleveland

Continuing with my random facts, I came across a little bit about Maestro Chelsea Tipton II, who has conducted many orchestras around the world. You can read about all those accomplishments in his bio, but here's something you won't read: he also conducted (and really enjoyed conducting) the premier of The Machine & Symphonic Pink Floyd with the Detroit Symphony in July 2007. I love PF, so I found it especially refreshing that Maestro Tipton did too! You must respect a conductor who invites variety into his life.

Here's what he said:
"If you would pass this along to the guys in the Machine. What a gas it was to work with you guys. As a Classical musician it is great to dig in and make new musical discoveries. I had heard the music of Pink Floyd however this experience allowed me a chance to examine the music in depth and what great music. You all were good fun to work with, dedicated and the audience LOVED IT! The orchestra loved it. Best wishes to you all in the upcoming season. I look forward to our next encounter."
Peace to you all,
Chelsea, 2

You won't get Pink Floyd arrangements, but Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 16^th annual Gospel Christmas "King Celebration" honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not one to be missed! Maestro Tipton is joined by Andrew Young and the Morehouse/Spelman Glee Clubs. Program includes William Dawson's "Ain't That Good News." Thursday, January 17 at 8:00 PM, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30309.

---

From ATL to CLE, Maestro Tipton is definitely racking up on the frequent flier miles. Catch him with the Cleveland Orchestra, Central State University Chorus and Martin Luther King Celebration Chorus on Sunday, January 20 at 7:00 PM, Severance Hall for Cleveland Orchestra's 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert. This event is free.

[African American Harpist Rashida Naomi Black is Founder/Executive Director of The Myrtle Hart Society, whose website is http://www.MyrtleHart.org]

Comments: In Memoriam: Jerome Ashby, Associate Principal Horn, New York Philharmonic, Dec. 26, 2007

Comments on post on death of Jerome Ashby, Associate Principal Horn, New York Philharmonic, Dec. 26, 2007

Dec. 31, 2007 Mama Coop:

“I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Jerome Ashby. My son, Jason, and I met Jerome 8 years ago at a horn class held at University of Georgia. Jason was only in the 8th grade then and Jerome invited Jason to New York where he gave him a "free" lesson. He encouraged Jason to continue to pursue a career in horn and he often mentored Jason when situations arose regarding direction with his music. Jerome always answered my emails promptly and gave good sound advice to me on how to handle some of Jason's concerns. He will be truly missed.”

Jan. 1, 2008 gyf:

“I never saw or heard Mr. Ashby in person. I always enjoyed watching him when the TV camera 'panned' the orchestra. Our luminaries are much needed, beloved and appreciated. He left too soon.”

We Need To STOP: Francis B. "Frank" Johnson: Black Bugler & Composer

[The Music of Francis Johnson & His Contemporaries: Early 19th-Century Black Composers; Diane Monroe, Violin; The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends; Tamara Brooks, Conductor; Music Masters 7029-2-C (1990)]

We Need To STOP:

William J. Zick has done a fine job over at AfriClassical.com of compiling information on historical African American classical musicians. I like classical music, but I would not say you can find me in the record store aisle browsing CD covers, but this site is worth looking at. Figure skating is a sport I follow, so I can recognize a work or few. It is absolutely fabulous with its audio, photos, and important stories. It is a good visit for students and if you have children learning to play instruments. Perhaps they will appreciate lessons a bit more.

One of the musicians featured on his site is bandleader Francis Johnson (1792-1844) and he led the first African American musicians to Europe according to Zick. A research publication excerpt, from professor Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University, featured on Zick's site, details some of Frank's racial discrimination trials:

"Johnson's career was never far from the ugliest forms of racial persecution. White bands often refused to participate in parades when Johnson's band was scheduled to appear; and when the band toured to St. Louis, Missouri, its members were arraigned, fined and ordered from the state under laws prohibiting the entry of free Blacks. A particularly violent incident occurred near Pittsburgh: "At the close of the concert the mob followed Mr. Johnson and his company shouting "n____" and other opprobrious epithets, and hurling brick-bats, stones and rotten eggs in great profusion upon the unfortunate performers. One poor fellow was severely, it is feared dangerously, wounded in the head, and others were more or less hurt. No thanks to the mobocrats that life was not taken, for they hurled their missiles with murderous recklessness if not with murderous intention." The Tribune [NY], May 23, 1843."

Marvin V. Curtis, African American Composer

Dr. Marvin V. Curtis is an African American composer and college administrator whose works include "The City On The Hill", commissioned for the 1993 Inauguration of President Clinton. A Chicago native, Dr. Curtis is Assistant Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Choral Director, at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He previously held the post of Chairman of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts.

Dr. Curtis earned a Bachelor of Music from North Park University in Chicago; Master of Arts from The Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Stockton, California; and Doctor of Education from The University of the Pacific, also in Stockton, where he studied composition with Ron Caviani and Stan Beckler. He undertook graduate studies at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and at The Juilliard School of Music in New York. He was a 1993 Ford Foundation Fellow to the National Council for Black Studies Conference in Accra, Ghana. He also studied at the University of Ghana at Lagon.

Further details on the career of Marvin V. Curtis are excerpted from his bio:

Marvin V. Curtis is the first African American composer commissioned to write a work for a Presidential Inauguration. His composition, The City On the Hill, was premiered at the 1993 Inauguration of President William Clinton and was performed by the Philander Smith Collegiate Choir of Little Rock, Arkansas and the United States Marine Band. He has 33 choral works published by the Mark Foster Music Company, Music 70/80 and Coronet Press; and a woodwind quintet and work for voice/flute/piano published by International Opus. He has received commissions from the Hampton Ministers Conference in Hampton, Virginia; Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia; North Carolina A&T; Clark Atlanta University; Benedict College; San Joaquin Community College of Stockton, California; the All City Performing Ensembles of Chicago for their 25^th Anniversary; Rejoice Ensemble of New York City; Grand Prairie High School in Texas; Ebony Chorale of West Palm Beach, Florida; Wooten Choral Ensemble of Chicago; Brandon High School in Tampa, Florida; Lodi High School in California; the 1996 Interfaith Olympic Committee in Atlanta; North Park College; New York State Women’s Honor Chorus; VIDEMUS; and most recently for the 150^th anniversary of the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina. His orchestral works have been commissioned by California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California, for their tour of the Soviet Union; and from Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing Arts in Dallas. His orchestral works have been performed by the Stanislaus Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Petersburg Symphony.

Dr. Curtis was co-choral director for four years at the Virginia Governor’s School for the Humanities and the Performing Arts. During the summer of 1998, he was a guest pianist in Caux, Switzerland for the Moral Re-Armament International Conference. During the summer of 2000 he performed for the Women’s International Club and at the residence of the American Ambassador to the European Union, both in Brussels, Belgium.

He is published in scholarly journals and continues to serve as guest conductor at numerous choral festivals. He led the FSU choirs on their first European Tour to Paris and Belgium in May of 1998. He returned to Belgium and France, by invitation of Transmusical International, for an all-expense paid tour with the Fayetteville State University Chamber Singers during December of 1999. He conducted the Fayetteville State University Concert Choir with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Vancouver, B.C. in 2003 and at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in April of 2004.

Dr. Curtis is the recipient of the 2004-05 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award, was named the 2003-04 FSU Teacher of the Year, received the 2002 BC Powder Excellence in Teaching Finalist Award from GlaxoWellcome, and received the Teacher of the Year Award for the year 2000 from the Department of Performing and Fine Arts and the College of Arts and Sciences of Fayetteville State University. Other awards include: The Minority Enterprise Development Education and Cultural Development award from the Cumberland Regional Improvement Corporation, the Noah Ryder Composer Award from the Norfolk Chapter of Norfolk State University; the 1997 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the College of Arts and Sciences of Fayetteville State University; the 1992 Research Achievement Award from NAFEO; Key to the City of Savannah, Georgia; Medallion of the City of Richmond, Virginia; and Distinguished Alumnus Award from North Park College and the University of the Pacific.

Curtis is listed in the 2000 and 2002 editions of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, the 1999 and 2002 editions of Who’s Who in America and the 8th edition of Who’s Who in Black America. His choral work for President Clinton is housed in the Smithsonian Institute’s National African American Project Archives. Dr. Curtis served as Guest Conductor/Artistic Director for the In-Harmony Series sponsored by the Richmond Symphony.

He is the current host of The Classical Sampler on public radio station WFSS, 91.9 FM, on Sundays from 11a.m.-3 p.m.; Past-President of the Board of Directors of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (2003-05); Member of the Board of Directors of the Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council; Member of the North Carolina Humanities Council.; and Director of the Sanctuary Choir at John Wesley United Methodist Church.

Mokale Koapeng, South African Classical Composer

Mokale Koapeng is a South African composer and choral director who was born in 1963. He is a Music graduate of The University of Witwatersrand. Mokale has conceived a long-term project which he calls “A Hidden Cultural Picture”. He came across the phrase on the page devoted to the African American composer Edmond Dede (1827-1903) at AfriClassical.com, where a visitor remarked:

"That is most fascinating - it reveals a previously hidden cultural picture which far too few of our contemporaries could conceive. This suggests a rarely seen dimension to that epoch, and raises a lot of questions."

Mokale explains that "A Hidden Cultural Picture" aims to bring classical music of composers of African descent to the music public in South Africa, in part by incorporating it in established national choral festivals..

In 2000 he was appointed as conductor of the University of Pretoria Chorale. Mokale is also the Music Director of SDASA Chorale, drawn from the Seventh Day Adventists' Student Association. It released the CD Simunye to international acclaim in partnership with a British vocal group, I Fagiolini. The website of I Fagiolini explains the title:

“Simunye is a Zulu word meaning 'we are one' and is the name given to a project developed by I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale of Soweto. It resulted in a CD and joint concert tours to South Africa, the UK, Scandinavia and Bermuda.”

I Fagiolini's website provides several glowing comments on the CD from the press:

'This remarkable record' – The Times of London

'Audience smiling from ear to ear with sheer pleasure' - Business Day, South Africa

'Left seduced, enchanted and spiritually moved' – Daily News, South Africa

'A Simunye concert is an unforgettable experience. Don't miss it.' - Classical Music

Brett Pyper wrote the liner notes for the CD and has written additional comments at the website of I Fagiolini, including this overview of the SDASA Chorale of which Mokale Koapeng is Music Director:

“The SDASA Chorale is an amateur gospel group which draws its members from the Seventh Day Adventists' Students Association (SDASA) in Soweto. In recent years it has earned the reputation as one of South Africa's mostly highly regarded Gospel ensembles. The group was selected as the only South African choir to be featured on the main programme of the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in 1996. It has also performed at the Johannesburg Arts Festival alongside the celebrated Wendy Mseleku and Gloria Bosman. SDASA Chorale has performed with Sibongile Khumalo, Mimi Coertsee and shared stage with some of the well-known musicians in the country like Benjamin Dube and Tshepo Tshola. It has performed all over South Africa including Botswana and Lesotho.

A male-voice ensemble comprising nineteen members, the SDASA Chorale has been in existence for fourteen years and is committed to rendering community service. The group often performs for charities, and has initiated projects like visits to prisons and the upgrading of hostels. It is also involved with educational programmes like the Catch Them Young and Project Sunrise initiatives in Soweto. What distinguishes the group further is the fact that it has a number of talented composers within its ranks. The group's repertoire includes original compositions by four talented songwriters, all of whom sing in the group as well: G.M. Mojapelo (regrettably deceased in 1994), Mokale Koapeng, Boyce Monkitsi Seoketsa and Bheka Dlamini. These composers write in widely divergent styles, and the group is renowned for the versatility of its repertoire, while remaining firmly rooted in the bedrock of indigenous church music.”

The CD has 17 tracks, opening with Egolgotha (At Golgotha) and closing with Home. Mokale wrote two of the pieces and arranged a third. All of the tracks can be sampled at the Music section of Amazon.com Brett Pyper comments on the two works Mokale composed, Khutsho and Kgosietsile:

Mokale Koapeng (b.1963) / Roderick Williams (b.1965) – Khutsho
Mokale composed this heartfelt chant for peace in 1988, after years of intense political oppression and resistance in South Africa with no end in sight. When he introduced the piece during one of the first sessions that the two groups spent together, Roddy was moved to write a part for I Fagiolini that would combine Mokale's piece with another chant for peace with a text from the heart of the Western liturgy, the 'Agnus Dei'.
Mokale Koapeng - Kgosietsile (Kingdom Come)
Perhaps the most eclectic of the SDASA Chorale's resident composers, Mokale combines his interest in international gospel and jazz styles with a deep love of indigenous African music. He has based this swinging setting of "the Lord's Prayer" on a shifting whole-tone bass pattern that is typical of traditional Xhosa music. Above this, he has written a sophisticated blend of parts that exploits the respective vocal idioms of I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale.

Excerpts from Mokale's bio summarize his many musical works and performances:

Mokale has performed with some of the best known musicians in the country, these include Sibongile Khumalo, Bheki Khoza Motsumi Makhene, Wendy Mseleku, Gloria Bosman, Khaya Mahlangu and many more.

He has directed musical productions like “Rainbow of Hope” (a dance revue by Nomsa Manaka, Wits Theatre 1991), “Swing High, Sweet Gospel” (Arts Alive, 1993/4), “Sellout” (Grahamstown 1995) and arranged the music of Sibongile Mngoma’s performance at the Grahamstown Festival (1997). Mokale founded the Soweto Youth Jazz Orchestra. He toured England and West Africa. He also toured Canada, USA and Wales as the pianist of Imilonji Ka Ntu Chorale Society.

Together with Motsumi Makhene, Sibongile Khumalo and Hugh Masekela, Mokale co-composed the music of “Milestones”, a musical by Mandla Langa. The musical premiered at the Grahamstown Festival and had a run at the State Theatre. The musical won 1999 FNB SAMA’s Best Soundtrack Award.

In October 1999, he held workshops on South African vocal, choral and jazz styles at the Sibelius Academy and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

He developed a concept called “Intyilo Kantu: Melodies of the Wise”. The concept involved a French solo ensemble Musicatreize and the University of Pretoria Chorale. The performances were held at the Standard Bank National Festival, Grahamstown and Octobre -en-Normandie, Rouen, France in 2001.

Together with the University of Pretoria Chorale and the Eastern Cape Philharmonic, Mokale performed the South African premiere of Stanley Glasser’s cantata; “The Chameleon and the Lizard”. The performance was at the 2003 New Music Indaba Festival in Grahamstown.
He composed and conducted the world premiere of “CANTUS IN MEMORIA ‘76”. The work commemorates the 30^th anniversary of events of June 16, 1976.

"Landscapes of Africa: Music for Orchestra" by Fred Onovwerosuoke

Landscapes of Africa: Music for Orchestra by Fred Onovwerosuoke (52:18), AGCD 2071 (2007) is a vibrant new CD of musical compositions largely salvaged from the rubble left by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The composer was born in Ghana to Nigerian parents and is Founder and Director of the St. Louis African Chorus. For me, the African tone was set before I opened the disc, by the well-traveled composer's back cover photo of the exotic lavender-tinted Temple des Pythons at Ouidah, Benin Republic. Two of the ten instrumental works were commissioned, including Rhapsody on Nketia's Republic Suite (5:04), commissioned by Prof. Emeritus J. H. Kwabena Nketia of Ghana for last month's Ghana Jubilee Celebrations. The recording has received a very favorable review by James Manheim at AllMusic.com It is excerpted here:

Music written by Africans for Western symphonic ensembles is not common on recordings or Euro-American concert programs, but several African countries have conservatories with music-making that would seem worthy of further investigation. Fred Onovwerosuoke was born Fred Okorefe Kwaku Onovwerosuoke in Ghana in 1960. His family was Nigerian, and his education in African idioms encompassed the music of many different ethnic groups. At the University of Ife in Nigeria he conducted a choral group, and he studied with Ghana's most famous musical scholar, J.H. Kwabena Nketia. Onovwerosuoke now lives in New Orleans, where many of his manuscripts were nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; admirers recopied them off the soaked pages. The orchestral works heard here are strongly recommended to anyone interested in fusions between the European and African musical languages, for Onovwerosuoke's thinking is subtle and original. His music strikes the listener as characteristically West African, but at first it's hard to tell why this should be -- the traditions out of which his music grew are all heavily dependent upon percussion instruments, but he uses them only sparingly.

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.”

"What a mighty God; Spirituals and gospels for chorus" by Dominique-René de Lerma

Introduction

Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is an oboist and musicologist who has been a Professor of Music and a prolific author for more than half a century. For the past four decades he has specialized in Black classical music. The review of the series of four CDs appears in the August 2007 eNewsletter of the Myrtle Hart Society and is used by permission of its Founder/Director, Rashida Black, an African American harpist. The eNewsletter is free and may be requested by E-mail to enewsletter@myrtlehart.org

Witness, the soul of American music
By Dominique-René de Lerma; Part 3 of 4

What a mighty God; Spirituals and gospels for chorus

VocalEssence Ensemble; Philip Brunelle, conductor; liner notes by Dominique-René de Lerma; texts; series note; performer bios.

Abels, Michael. What a might God. Moore by Four; VocalEssence Chorus; Sanford Moore, piano; Joe Pulice, drums; Gordon Johnson, double bass. (4:14).
Adelmann, Dale. Swing low, sweet chariot. Steve Burger, baritone. (3:27).
Burleigh, Harry T. My Lord, what a morning. (3:40).
Dennard, Brazeal W. Hush! Somebody's calling my name. Yolanda Williams, soprano. (4:40).
Hailstork, Adolphus. Crucifixion. (5:14).
Hairston, Jester. In dat great gittin' up mornin'. Yolanda Williams, soprano. (3:03).
Halloran, Jack. Witness. Sigrid Johnson, conductor. (3:27).
Harris, Robert A. Go down, Moses. Yolanda Williams, soprano. (5:12).
Hogan, Moses. Elijah rock. (3:42).
Moore, Sanford. Go, tell it on the mountain. Robert Commodore, drums; Jay Young, double bass. (5:04).
Moore, Sanford. This train. Moore by Four. (7:39).
Scholz, Robert. Were you there? Brian Link, Tenor. (4:00).
Smallwood, Richard. Jesus, lover of my soul. Moore by Four; Philip Brunelle, piano. (5:22).
Smith, William Henry. Walk together, children. Sanford Moore, piano. (2:33).
Thomas, André. Death is gonna lay his cold, icy hands on me. James Bohn, baritone; Sanford Moore, piano. (3:45).
Thomas, André. Go where I send thee. Michael Morgensen, baritone; Charles Kemper, piano. (3:27).

Non-Black choruses and soloists are either fearless or inhibited when it comes to the performance of spirituals or texts with dialect. Is there any reason why they should avoid this music? If so, then in a parallel situation, a Black singer should avoid German Lieder and Italian opera, but what a loss it would be had Leontyne Price or Jessye Norman followed that restriction! Of course, these ladies had to deal with diction in the foreign language, but that is an obligation every singer must face. It is not a linguistic barrier facing the non-Black singer when the repertoire is enriched, it is political. Jessye Norman's French is so flawless that she was called on to participate in the 200^th anniversary of the French revolution, and no protest was registered to my knowledge from France, which has a very strong protectionist policy about its culture.

Brunelle's singers face the dialect straight on, and replicate the sonority of a fine Black college chorus. So also do the singers from St. Olaf, guided by Dr. Anton Armstrong.

The question arises about the setting of a traditional spiritual by one who is not Black, and that is exemplified in a few instances with this recording, but a critical listener would be no more able to identify those composers than one can signal the gender of a composer by the sound of the music.

Of course, we are blessed by the masterful settings of such classic figures as Burleigh (his My Lord might well be the most marvelously performed work here), Hairston, and the more recent figures such as Thomas, Dennard, Hailstork, and Harris. The gospel element enters with the performances of Moore by Four, a well-established ensemble, although some might feel this idiom is in strange company here.

Bach's Sheep may safely graze is merged with Jesus, love of my soul, a gospel synthesis so often beautifully performed in recital by the late Pearl Williams-Jones.

But who is Michael Abels? We first encountered his work in Detroit some years back, when Global warming heralded the emergence of a quite gifted young man. We do not even yet have a proper perspective on his output, where are found pieces for children performers and now he appears in gospel guise. One yearns to have him better represented on recordings.