CD HotList: 'composers from the worldwide African diaspora' on Nyaho's CD 'ASA'

 [ASA: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent; William Chapman Nyaho, piano; MSR Classics MS1242 (2008)]

CDHotlist.btol.com
“Asa: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent; Label: MSR Classics (dist. Albany);
Composer: Various Composers; Performer: William Chapman Nyaho;
Cat.#: MS 1242; Period: Contemporary; Genre: Classical; Release type: New; Comments:
This is a fascinating and mostly impressive collection of brief pieces for piano by a variety of composers from the worldwide African diaspora; six of the eleven selections are world-
premiere recordings. Nyaho is an excellent pianist and gives each piece a bright and
enthusiastic reading. Not every composition is top-notch, but many are excellent, and taken
together as a survey they provide a very interesting picture of Africa's influence on
contemporary art music around the world. (RA)”

William Chapman Nyaho was born in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 28, 1958. He was to become a virtuoso pianist, gifted professor of music and dedicated collector and editor of piano music of the African Diaspora. Dr. Nyaho's website is http://www.nyaho.com/   His credits include a remarkable 5-volume anthology of sheet music published by Oxford University Press, Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora.  His first solo piano CD of works of composers of African descent is Senku: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent, Musicians Showcase 1091 (2003).

Richmond Punch: Mozart & Saint-Georges 'are more alike than people think'

[Richmond Punch, Violist/Violinist]

Et Cetera

Eastfield College

Mesquite, Texas

African-American Read-In informs all

Erica corbin-Reed

Issue date: 3/2/09 Section: The News

“To celebrate Black History Month, SPAR held an African-American Read-In February 25 in S100, and attended by approximately 50 people. This year's theme was 'A Celebration of Firsts' and college staff and students were invited to present a work of literature, be it a poem, book excerpt, or speech by an African-American writer.” “Elsa Hernandez of the DCCCD District Service Center was one of the speakers. She presented two poems; The Blues by Langston Hughes, and America.” “Another presenter was soloist Richmond Punch, a graduate of Yale's School of Music. Rather than present a literary work, he performed violin pieces. He compared the works of Mozart and le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the former of Caucasian background, the latter of French-African descent. 'I wanted to show people that these two different composers are more alike than people think,' he said.” [Full Post]  

RichmondPunch.com

“Richmond Punch is a graduate of Yale University School of Music with a Master of Music degree in Viola in 2005 and Bachelor of Music degree from Juilliard in May 2003. He was the 2004-2005 recipient of the Moses Scholarship at Yale University and was the 2002-2003 recipient of the Juilliard Scholarship and the Dallas Juilliard Scholarship at The Juilliard School. At Yale, he served as Principal of Yale Philharmonia and studied viola with Jesse Levine. Richmond has performed with artists such as pianist and composer Marvin Hamlisch.” “Currently Richmond teaches privately in Plano ISD, is a teacher, performer, and he performs with the Las Colinas Symphony. In his spare time he enjoys Salsa Dancing and Foreign Films.” [Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Pianist Leon Bates Performs 'African-American Originals' at Haverford College

[Leon Bates]

BiCoNews.com

Bryn Mawr & Haverford Colleges

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Section: Arts

“Guest Artist Series Presents 'African-American Originals'

By Kelly Ka Wai Lam

This Friday night, while the battle of 12 bands commenced in Lunt, the crowd at Haverford’s Marshall Auditorium was treated to a no less lively performance by Leon Bates. The Philadelphia-born concert pianist has won honors and awards locally since his student days at Temple University and has toured internationally, including in Europe and Africa. Looking around, there was a good turnout by both students as well as community members, ready to embrace some great music belonging to a genre called ragtime that was a precursor of jazz. Entitled 'African-American Originals' the concert was part of the American Roots concert series, running in conjunction with Professor Curt Cacioppo’s piano class of the same name.

“The first half was comprised of unfamiliar, mid- and late-20th century works by George Walker and Leslie Adams, whom Bates described in his extensive introduction as 'two living African-American composers writing in the classical tradition.'” “Both ‘The Baltimore Todolo' and 'The Charleston Rag' by Eubie Blake were immediate hits with positive responses from the audience, many of whom were animatedly tapping their feet to Bates’ rhythmic playing. The atmosphere continued to heat up with 'Juba Dance' from the suite 'In The Bottoms' by R. Nathaniel Dett, which Bates ended with a slow spread chord and a wry smile, inducing laughter from his listeners.” “Next came a bold and enthralling rendition of James P. Johnson’s 'Carolina Shout.' Cacioppo was highly impressed, saying that he thought it ‘the highlight of the program.' To the audience’s satisfaction, four Duke Ellington tunes that were arranged by Bates himself followed, all of which were keenly played and caused some enthusiasts to stand up and rock to the beat. The nearly two-hour program ended with a tune called 'Things Ain’t What They Used to Be' by Mercer Ellington, the son of Duke Ellington."  [H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932), R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943), Duke Ellington (1899-1974), James P. Johnson (1894-1955) and George Walker (b. 1922) are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

African-American Originals
Pianist Leon Bates
H. Leslie Adams
George Walker
James P. Johnson
Classical Music

Philadelphia Orchestra Performs George Walker's 'Lilacs' March 12-14

[Photo Courtesy of George Walker]

BroadwayWorld.com

“Dutoit Leads Philly Orchestra For Three Concerts 3/12-14

Monday, March 2, 2009; Posted: 03:03 PM – by BWW News Desk

Philadelphia Orchestra Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser Charles Dutoit leads the Orchestra in three concerts in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center celebrating the influence of African-American culture on classical music (March 12-14). The program features Milhaud's jazz-inspired The Creation of the World; George Walker's 1996 Pulitzer Prize-winning work Lilacs for voice and orchestra, with tenor Russell Thomas as soloist in its first Philadelphia Orchestra performances; Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer, a work for which the late, great contralto Marian Anderson was known, with Philadelphia-native bass-baritone Eric Owens as soloist; and Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor ('From the New World'). Mr. Dutoit also leads the Orchestra in the same program at New York's Carnegie Hall (March 17) as part of Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy, a citywide festival presented by Carnegie Hall and curated by renowned soprano Jessye Norman.”

“George Walker's 1996 Pulitzer Prize-winning Lilacs for voice and orchestra consists of four songs set to verses 1, 2, 3, and 13 of Walt Whitman's 'When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom'd.' The poem, an elegy to fallen president Abraham Lincoln, is one of the most frequently set poems in the English language. Born in 1922 to parents of West Indian heritage, Mr. Walker has been a trailblazer throughout his illustrious career. He became the first black graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1945, earning Artist Diplomas in piano and composition. With his debut performance with The Philadelphia Orchestra (also in 1945), he became one of the first black musicians to appear as soloist with the Orchestra. He was also the first black composer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The composer's works, which number more than 90, have been performed by virtually every major orchestra in the United States and by many in England and other countries. More than sixty years into his career, Mr. Walker continues to compose. The Philadelphia Orchestra will give the world premiere performances of his Violin Concerto, with the composer's son Gregory Walker as soloist, in December 2009.” [Full Post]  [George Walker is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a Works List by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma can be found]

CincinnatiSymphony.org: 'Celebrating the CSO’s world premiere by...Jeffrey Mumford'

[Jeffrey Mumford; Photo: Al Fuchs, courtesy Oberlin Conservatory of Music]

Friday, March 27, 2009

CincinnatiSymphony.org

“Jeffrey Mumford Composer Residency

Celebrating the CSO’s world premiere by award-winning composer Jeffrey Mumford

Born in Washington, D.C., composer Jeffrey Mumford has received numerous awards, grants and commissions. He was also the winner of the inaugural National Black Arts Festival and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Composition Competition. Mumford’s works have been performed extensively in the United States and abroad including Vienna, Paris, London, Helsinki, Mexico, as well as at the Library of Congress, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the National, Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. '…this music…has a deeply thoughtful, even soulful integrity…Mumford is a composer to watch.' —Robert Carl, Fanfare

“Fri March 27 at 8 PM, Sat March 28 at 8 PM Music Hall

James Gaffigan conductor 

Colin Currie percussion

J. Mumford …and symphonies of deepening light…expanding …ever cavernous 

(World premiere commissioned for the CSO by Ann and Harry Santen in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary)

J. Higdon Percussion Concerto

Beethoven Symphony No. 5

Jeffrey Mumford creates a rich orchestration and a sophisticated rhythmic interplay in this new work commissioned for the CSO. Jennifer Higdon wrote her Percussion Concerto in 2005 as a thrilling showcase for Scottish percussionist Colin Currie. The concert is capped off with perhaps the most famous symphony of all time. Join us in Corbett Tower after the Saturday performance for a free post-concert reception with the composer.”

Washington Post: 'The IBIS provided a glimpse of Still's wide spectrum of styles...'

[William Grant Still (1895-1978); (Photo is the sole property of William Grant Still Music, and is used with permission.)]

WashingtonPost.com

“Music Review: IBIS Chamber Music Society at Lyon Park Community Center

Cecelia Porter

Monday, March 2, 2009; 11:22 AM

Every seat was filled for Friday's splendid concert by the IBIS Chamber Music Society at Lyon Park Community Center in Clarendon. IBIS is a group formed by musicians from the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. Friday's performance gave listeners a chance to hear these players up close in a chamber group with frequent chances for solos. Far off the beaten path, the program drew music from two relatively obscure composers -- American William Grant Still and William Alwyn of Britain.

“A pioneer in many ways, Still (who died in 1978) was the first African American to write a symphony played by an major orchestra and one of the first to compose for film, radio and television. The IBIS provided a glimpse of Still's wide spectrum of styles, ranging from neoclassicism, French impressionism, jazz and gospel in unusual juxtapositions overlaid with unmistakable individualism. Most evocative was his dark-toned 'Incantation and Dance,' played with molten phrasing by flutist Adria Sternstein Foster and harpist Susan Robinson. Violinist Joel Fuller and Robinson underlined the gospel-infused mood of 'Here's One,' while Fuller joined with violinist Joseph Scheer, violist Jennifer Ries and cellist Amy Ward Butler in capturing the coloristic exoticism and enticing Latin rhythms of 'Danzas de Panama.'" [Full Post]  [William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a complete Works List by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is also found]

Margaret A. Bonds, African American Composer & Pianist Born March 3, 1913

Margaret Allison Richardson Bonds was an African American composer, pianist and musical director who was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 3, 1913. Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University has kindly made his research entry on Margaret Bonds available to AfriClassical.com: “She was born in Chicago as Margaret Jeanette Allison Majors to Dr. Monroe Majors and Estella C. Bonds...”. “Her parents separated in 1915 and, when her parents divorced in 1917, her mother resumed her birth name, assigning this also to her daughter.” “By the time she had begun the study of composition in 1926 with Chicago newcomers William Dawson and Florence Price (with whom she also studied piano), she was a charter member of the Junior Music Division of the National Association of Negro Musicians, and had been a student at the Coleridge-Taylor Music School, where her mother and Tom Theodore Taylor served on the faculty.” Bonds entered Northwestern University at 16, in 1929, and studied piano and composition. Dr. De Lerma continues: “A Rosenwald Scholarship was awarded for graduate study at Northwestern in 1933, when she had been awarded the B.M. degree.”

Prof. Rae Linda Brown wrote the liner notes for the CD Black Diamonds: Althea Waites Plays Music By African-American Composers, Cambria 1097 (1993): “Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) achieved national recognition when she won the Wanamaker Prize in 1932 for the song Sea Ghost, the same contest in which her teacher, Florence Price, received her coveted awards.” Dr. De Lerma relates: “She gave her debut in Town Hall on 7 February 1932...”. “She was pianist with the Chicago Women’s Orchestra the next year in the D minor concerto of Florence Price, conducted by Ebba Sundstrom and broadcast on CBS. She now had her M.M. degree from Northwestern (1934) and had already performed John Alden Carpenter’s concertino with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933, with Frederick Stock as conductor.”

A look at AfriClassical posts on Margaret Bonds in the past year shows her music is very much a part of contemporary performances and recordings. On June 8, 2008 we wrote of Gerald Blanchard's new CD With A Song In My Heart, which includes The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Bonds, Blue Griffin Records BGR 117. An Aug. 21, 2008 post announced “Art Song: 56^th Annual Noon Concert Series” at U.C. Berkeley, at which music of Margaret Bonds was among the works performed by Angela Arnold, soprano; and Jeffrey Sykes, piano. Others who performed the composer's works last year included Lesa Terry and the Women's Jazz Orchestra, and the Berklee College of Music. We also posted a review of Vol. 4 of Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, edited by Dr. William Chapman Nyaho and including music of Margaret Bonds.

Ritz Chamber Players Play Perkinson's String Quartet No.1 “Based on Calvary!” April 8

[Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004): A Celebration; Chicago Sinfonietta et al.; Paul Freeman, Conductor; Cedille 90000 087 (2005)] 

AfriClassical has received this news from Terrance Patterson of the Ritz Chamber Players: “Greetings Bill – As always, I thank you so very much for always including the Ritz Chamber Players programs on your fantastic AfricClassical Blogspot. I wanted to let you know of our upcoming concert that will feature the Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson String Quartet No.1 'Based on Calvary!' who was the first Composer-In-Residence for the Ritz Chamber Players."

Here is the complete program:

Ritz Chamber Players Spring Concert

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 7:30 p.m.

Jacoby Symphony Hall |Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, Jacksonville, Florida

Crusell (1775 – 1838) Clarinet Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 7

Perkinson (1932-2004) String Quartet No.1 “Based on Calvary!”

Piazzolla (1921 – 1992) Four for Tango

Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) String Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op.87

Ritz Chamber Players: Kelly Hall-Tompkins and Kyle Lombard – Violins; Chauncey Patterson and Amadi Hummings – Violas; Kenneth Law – Cello; and Terrance Patterson – Clarinet. [Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a Works List and Bibliography by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma are found]

Ritz Chamber Players
Spring Concert April 8
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
String Quartet No. 1
Based on Calvary
Cedille 90000 087 (2005)

InterchangingIdioms: 'American Symphony Orchestra Plays Works by Composer William Grant Still'

[Africa: Piano Music of William Grant Still; Denver Oldham, piano; Koch 3 7084 2H1 (1991)]

InterchangingIdioms.blogspot.com/ 

Friday, 27 February 2009

“March 22 Concert at Lincoln Center Conducted by Leon Botstein: 'RevisitingWilliam Grant Still' Presents Still’s Remarkable Darker America, Africa, and Symphony No. 2

Complemented by Edgard Varèse’s Offrandes and George Whitefield Chadwick’s Rip Van Winkle Overture

"The pioneering African-American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) ranks among the greatest composers born and educated in the United States, rivaled only by Leonard Bernstein in the variety of his output. On March 22 the American Symphony Orchestra celebrates his under-appreciated genius with its Lincoln Center concert 'Revisiting William Grant Still'. Performing three of Still’s landmark compositions – Darker America, Africa, and Symphony No. 2 – along with works by two of his great influences, George Whitefield Chadwick (the concert overture Rip Van Winkle) and Edgard Varèse (Offrandes), the ASO acknowledges Still’s important position in musical and African-American history.

"Often referred to as the dean of African-American composers, Still was the first African-American to conduct a major symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony of his own performed by a leading orchestra and the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company. Yet despite these achievements, concertgoers today know little about him and rarely encounter his works. True to its mission, the ASO seeks to redress that injustice with this program, which also poses questions about how race has impacted Still’s musical legacy."   [William Grant Still is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a complete Works List by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is also found]

American Symphony Orchestra
William Grant Still
Darker America
Still's Africa
Still's Symphony No. 2
Song of a New Race

Leo Brouwer, Afro-Cuban Composer & Classical Guitarist Born March 1, 1939

Leo Brouwer is an Afro-Cuban composer, conductor and classical guitarist who was born March 1, 1939 in Havana, Cuba. Young Leo's father, Juan Brouwer, was a doctor and an amateur guitarist. Leo first learned music from his father and his aunt, Caridad Mezquida. His great-uncle was the well-known composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona. Leo began playing the guitar himself at age 13. His first significant teacher was Isaac Nicola, a virtuoso guitarist who also composed for his instrument and arranged the music of others for guitar. Leo was only 17 when he made his own professional debut. Early compositions include Prelude (1956) and Fugue (1959), both influenced by Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky. His academic training took place in the U.S., at the Julliard School of Music and the Hartt College of Music, where his major subject of study was composition.

After completing his music education, Brouwer returned to Cuba. There he immediately became a major figure in his country's music establishment. From 1960 to 1961 he was the Music Advisor to the National Radio and Television Company in Havana. In 1960, Brouwer became Director of the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematograficos [Cuban Institute of Film Arts and Industry]. That position is one of the reasons that the composer has written more than 30 film scores, some of which were box-office hits around the world. An example is the award-winning 1993 film of Alfonso Arau, Like Water for Chocolate.

Brouwer was also a Professor of Composition at the Conservatorio Nacional [National Conservatory] from 1961-67. He is the Founder and Director of Spain's Orquesta Cordoba. Brouwer is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where six audio samples of his recordings can be heard. His enormous influence on guitar music in particular and classical music in general is demonstrated by more than a hundred recordings on which he has played, composed or conducted. Brouwer's compositions reflect classical, Afro-Cuban, jazz and avant-garde influences. Brouwer enjoys arranging the classical and popular music of other composers for classical guitar. He has arranged Scott Joplin's The Entertainer and Elite Syncopations for solo guitar. His recorded Beatles arrangements include an album entitled From Yesterday to Penny Lane: Seven Songs After The Beatles, Arc Music 1247 (1994).

Leo Brouwer
Afro-Cuban Composer
Afro-Cuban Guitarist
Orquesta Cordoba
Like Water for Chocolate
Born March 1, 1939