Albany Records: Paul Freeman Conducts 'Sonata da Chiesa' of Adolphus Hailstork in YouTube Video (19:24)

[Paul Freeman conducting Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman Introduces...Adolphus Hailstork; Albany Records Troy499 (2002)]

The internationally renowned African American conductor Paul Freeman has conducted the Czech National Symphony Orchestra for many years. In 2002 Albany Records released a CD in the series Paul Freeman Introduces, Troy499, on which Maestro Freeman conducts Adolphus Hailstork's Sonata da Chiesa (Church Sonata) written in homage to cathedrals such as the one in which he sang as a young chorister in Albany, New York. The entire Sonata da Chiesa (19:24) can be heard in this Aug. 5, 2011 YouTube posting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANxqIgHgxpA

[Maestro Paul Freeman (b. 1936) is profiled at AfriClassical.com along with composer Adolphus C. Hailstork (b. 1941)]

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 'Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 10,' at Sunflower Music Festival June 12

[African Heritage Symphonic Series, Vol. 1; Danse Nègre From African Suite (6:14); Petite Suite de Concert (13:36); Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, Conductor; Cedille 90000 055 (2000)]

The 24th Annual Sunflower Music Festival of Topeka, Kansas takes place from June 11-19, 2010. The Festival has announced that Darker America of William Grant Still (1895-1978) will be performed at 7 PM, Saturday, June 19, 2010. Music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) will be heard this week on Saturday, June 12, 2010:

The Topeka Capital-Journal

cjonline.com

“Think of Carnegie Hall Midwest

Sunflower Music Festival draws world-class musicians to Washburn

By Bill Blankenship

June 9, 2010

Although White Concert Hall is more than 1,200 miles from Carnegie Hall, you might have to travel that far to hear a higher caliber of classical music than will be played Friday through June 19 at the 24th annual Sunflower Music Festival. This year, those attending the chamber music festival will see 42 professional musicians from 28 cities in 13 American states and one Canadian province perform at three concerts as a chamber orchestra under the direction of Alex Klein, a world-class oboist, educator and conductor.

“The musicians, who the rest of the year can be found in orchestras around the country or on stage as soloists or recitalists, also will perform in smaller ensembles at three evenings of chamber music. Here is the schedule for the 2010 Sunflower Music Festival, details of which can be found at http://www.sunflowermusicfestival.org:

Saturday Chamber Ensembles

Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 10, by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, played by Agnes Marchione, clarinet; Eric Tanner, violin; Hye-Jin Kim, violin; Gina Coletti, viola; and Jonathan Tortolano, cello. [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), William Grant Still (1895-1978) and Paul Freeman (b. 1936) are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Pianist Richard C. Alston Has Arensky CD & Performs African American Composers on YouTube

[Anton Arensky: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 2; Twelve Etudes for Piano, Op. 74; Etude Op. 36, No. 13; Etude Op. 25, No. 3; Richard Alston, piano; Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Paul Freeman, conductor; Centaur Records CRC 2307 (1997)]

The African American pianist Richard C. Alston has performed widely in the United States and Europe in solo recitals and concerts with orchestras. His website tells us: “A native of East Orange, NJ, Richard received his first instruction from Dorothy Earley, and by the age of eight, was playing organ and piano for the First Baptist Church in Union, NJ. He later continued with Sylvia Rabinof of New York and received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School of Music, in New York City, where he studied with Irwin Freundlich and Josef Raieff. He was later awarded the highly prestigious Maria Guerra Judelson Scholarship in piano to return to Juilliard for his Master’s degree as well.” Richard Alston played the role of Jasbo Brown in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of “Porgy and Bess”. Richard Alston is Professor of Music at Essex County College in New Jersey and has frequently served as a part-time instructor at Rutgers University's Newark Campus. He is also on the Board of Music Advisors of the Education Opportunity Program (EOP) at Westminster Choir College, a division of Rider University in Princeton.

Anton Stepanovich Arensky (1861-1906) was a Russian composer of the Romantic Period. Richard Alston is the piano soloist on a recording of Arensky's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 2; Twelve Etudes for Piano, Op. 74; Etude Op. 36, No. 13 and Etude Op. 25, No. 3. The Czech National Symphony Orchestra performs under the direction of Paul Freeman, conductor, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com, on Centaur Records CRC 2307 (1997). Alston also performed two of the etudes on NPR's classical music program Performance Today for a broadcast on July 28, 1998. The program's website gives this background: “Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov predicted that his former student Anton Stepanovich Arensky would be 'soon forgotten' as a composer. Pianist Richard Alston proves him wrong with his performance of two Arensky etudes. (Centaur CRC 2307)” Alston says he met Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma “...when I made my debut with the Symphony of the New World, Everett Lee conducting.” Dr. De Lerma wrote this note of thanks for a copy of Arensky CD Alston sent him: “Thank you so very, very much for the Arensky CD! This healthy romantic literature I had not known before. You have performed a great service in bringing it to light..........you play so totally musically! It is a splendid recording! Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music, Lawrence University”

Richard Alston specializes in repertoire of composers of African descent. An example of his many recitals is one listed in the April 2009 E-Newsletter of Essex County College: “Professor Richard Alston, music coordinator at ECC, will be the featured pianist in the concert/lecture 'Classically Black' on April 9, 2:30 p.m. in the Dasher Student Center, Newark campus. He will perform the works of composers of African descent.” Composers of African descent in Alston's repertoire range from Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) to George Walker (b. 1922). The pianist has 13 concert videos, including Adagio in F Minor of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, at: http://www.youtube.com/rcapno

Chicago Sun-Times: “Sinfonietta makes Pritzker debut beneath the 'Planets'”

[Dr. Paul Freeman (b. 1936), Founder/Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta]

Chicago Sun-Times
August 22, 2008
BY WYNNE DELACOMA
The Chicago Sinfonietta is having another go at the solar system. In May 2006, the orchestra gave two performances of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" that featured an elegant video movie of the planets using images photographed over the years by NASA space probes. With its gigantic images of roiling sunspots and orbs that looked like art objects hung against deep, black space, the video, created by Jose Francisco Salgado of the Adler Planetarium, deftly enhanced Holst's dramatic score.

CHICAGO SINFONIETTA
Paul Freeman, Conductor
7:30 tonight
Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Michigan and Washington
Audiences at those concerts at Dominican University and Symphony Center were enthralled, and the Chicago Sinfonietta staff immediately started thinking about a repeat performance. That performance will happen at 7:30 tonight in Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Admission is free. Tonight's concert, conducted by the Sinfonietta's founding music director, Paul Freeman, also includes the Overture to Ulysses Kay's "Theater Set," a four-section work composed in 1971, and "Estancia Dances" by Ginastera. [Maestro Paul Freeman (b. 1936), Founder/Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta; and Ulysses Simpson Kay (1917-1995), are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Chicago Sinfonietta Plays 'Overture to the Theater Set' of Ulysses Simpson Kay Aug. 22

[Ulysses Kay: Works for Chamber Orchestra; Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra; Kevin Scott, Conductor; Troy 961 (2007)]

The Planets at Millennium Park
Friday, August 22, 2008
7:30 p.m.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park

The Adler Planetarium and Chicago Sinfonietta present an encore presentation of Gustav Holst's The Planets on Chicago's most spectacular outdoor stage.
Adler astronomer Dr. Jose Francisco Salgado's breathtaking video suite is projected on a giant screen while the orchestra performs Holst's masterpiece. Immerse yourself in this unforgettable pageant of sight and sound. The concert is free and open to the public.

Adler telescope volunteers will be stationed at the southeast corner of the Great Lawn (by the entrance to the BP Bridge) from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. to facilitate free telescope-viewing.
Kay: Overture to the Theater Set
Ginastera: Estancia Dances
Holst: The Planets
This program is generously supported by the Pritzker Foundation. [Ulysses Simpson Kay (1917-1995) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, along with Paul Freeman (b. 1936), Founder/Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta]

The History At Home 7. My Own Spades Dig Deeper

[Dr. Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork]

On Feb. 7, 2008, Springer's Journal: The History At Home posted a story on a January 2008 concert by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra: “A Tribute To African American Heroes”. Here is an excerpt from “The History At Home 7. My Own Spades Dig Deeper”:

My criticism of PSO stems largely from how unchallenging this concert was. How they stayed so safe. How they scratched at the surface of Black history and chose to deliver something they must have perceived as accessible. Rather than innovate they chose to placate.

Jazz may have been uniquely our own, but, it is not the only classical form to which we have made extensive contributions. Any serious presentation of our African-American heroes would have recognized this.

A simple trip to AfriClassical.com shows a list of over 38 composers of African descent from the early 1700’s forward. And limiting the composers to the United States Of America does not limit - in any manner - the breadth and scope of work available.

Regardless, there are African-Americans whose work more closely resembles the traditional fare of the PSO. How might the evening have been changed by the pieces below?

“An American Port of Call” by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork.

Maybe the contrast of Strayhorn’s piece with Hailstork’s “Epitaph for a Man who Dreamed – In Memoriam: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” may have been a fitting contrast in styles which could demonstrate our unique and individual voices. Find these on: African Heritage Symphonic Series, Vol. II; Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, Conductor.

How would the concert have differed and become more resonant if they had included the works of Edmond Dede or William Grant Still? How would things change if they'd used my spades to dig deep enough to understand that our collective work would thrill their audiences for years whilst simultaneously developing new ones.

Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago Sinfonietta takes King tribute to lofty new heights

January 23, 2008

BY BRYANT MANNING

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. championed a message of peace and equality, and people of all backgrounds and ages made their way Monday night to Symphony Center to celebrate it. Founder and director Paul Freeman and his Chicago Sinfonietta's creatively charged programming elevated this annual civil rights tribute to lofty new heights.

The orchestra opened with the brief "Celebration!" by Adolphus Hailstork, a colorful Coplandesque setting that evoked the deep American Southwest. The famed Broadway composer Morton Gould set six spirituals to orchestra in his "Revival," which showcased the Sinfonietta's warm, luxuriant strings.

An inspiring programmatic inclusion was music by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a black composer/violin virtuoso in Mozart's day, who now rarely finds his way into the concert hall. The Symphonie Concertante in G Major for two violins sang admirably under its soloists Christina Castelli and Melissa White. Full Article

[Dr. Paul Freeman is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

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.”