Pianist Helen Beedle Performs Works of Francis Johnson & Thomas Wiggins in Jim Thorpe, PA Feb. 20, 6 pm

[Portrait of Frank Johnson, from a Lithograph by Hoffy, 1846 (Penn Library)]

The Morning Call

Jodi Duckett

Feb. 16, 2011

“Winter is a fine time — make that a great time — to visit historic Jim Thorpe, according to the Jim Thorpe Chamber of Commerce, which is holding its 17th annual WinterFest this weekend.”

“At 6 p.m. Feb. 20, pianist Helen Beedle will perform 19th century classical salon music, including L.M. Gottschalk's 'The Banjo,' works by African American composers Thomas Greene Wiggins and Francis Johnson and the songs of Stephen Foster. She will be accompanied by Jari Villanueva on cornet. Tickets to each show are $18. Info: 570-325-5810 or http://www.JimThorpe.org. [Francis B. Johnson (1792-1844) and Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) are profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features research and Works Lists by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music, Lawrence University Conservatory, Appleton, Wisconsin.]

Deirdre O'Connell Tells of 'poem and performance piece written by Tyehimba Jess' on Thomas Wiggins

[The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius; Deirdre O’Connell; Overlook Press (2009)]

Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) is featured at AfriClassical.com, which presents a complete Works List compiled by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University Conservatory. The most recent biography is the critically acclaimed 272-page work The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius. The author is Deirdre O'Connell, a documentary filmmaker in Australia whose informative website is http://www.BlindTom.org. Her book was published by Overlook Press (2009). Deirdre O'Connell writes AfriClassical about a poem in Nashville Review, a publication of Vanderbilt University, and a performance piece. Both are by Tyehimba Jess, M.F.A., who teaches Poetry and Fiction at CUNY College of Staten Island:

"Hello Bill,

Appreciate the focus you are placing on dear Tom and his long suffering parents. And fantastic that John Davis secured the NYT review too. I just became aware of a poem and performance piece written by Tyehimba Jess about Tom. Hope you enjoy.

Best wishes,

Deirdre"

Scott Joplin, Thomas Wiggins & Michael Abels On WETA 90.9 FM In June

[Michael Abels]

Classical WETA 90.9 FM is an NPR affiliate located in Arlington, Virginia and serving Washington. D.C.
WETA.org
“This Month's Focus: American Music
A vast richness of expression is found in American music for the concert and recital halls, and Classical WETA 90.9 FM invites listeners to explore it with us from June through the Independence Day holiday, including Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 9 p.m. when we’ll air works not usually heard on Classical WETA — and on our weekly Sunday night 9 p.m. broadcast Choral Showcase.

“When Antonin Dvorák was in the United States for a few years late in the 19th century (to head up the National Conservatory of Music in New York), he said that what American classical music needed was its own voice — that we shouldn’t simply imitate European music of the time.” “American composers such as Scott Joplin and Thomas Wiggins helped stretch our musical vocabulary during Dvorák’s time — Joplin, for example, with ragtime including his masterpiece, the opera Treemonisha, and Wiggins, with descriptive piano pieces about slavery and the Civil War. They and others blazed the trail for many more to come, including Gershwin, who would integrate jazz into the symphony orchestra, Aaron Copland and Charles Ives who included many American sounds in their music, and Leonard Bernstein, who combined absolutely everything American and made it fit together perfectly.

“From June through July 4, we’ve scheduled works by John Corigliano, John Adams and Michael Abels, plus Joplin and Wiggins and Ives and Copland, Alan Hovhaness, David Diamond, and Roy Harris symphonies, and works for singers (on Classical WETA’s Choral Showcase) by Bernstein, Randall Thompson and William Schuman.” Each day's “Theme Month Selections” are found at the WETA website. [Scott Joplin and Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins are profiled at AfriClassical.com, while Michael Abels has been featured on AfriClassical for Delight and Dances, which was premiered last October]