'Nocturne for the Left Hand Alone' of Fred Hersch on Pianist Awadagin Pratt's Program, 7:30 PM Friday, July 19, 2013 in Austin, Texas

Brahms: Works for Cello and Piano
Zuill Bailey, Cello

Awadagin Pratt, Piano

Telarc Records (2011)

Awadagin Pratt combines an academic teaching career with regular solo piano recitals as well as duo recitals with cellist Zuill Bailey, with whom he has recorded a CD of Brahms. 

PROGRAM

Impromptu No. 1 in C minor, from Op. 90 | Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Sonata in B minor | Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

• Lento assai – Allegro energico
• Andante sostenuto – Allegro
• Energico – Stretta quasi presto –
• Allegro moderato

Allegro from Sonata in D Major, K. 509 | Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Allegro from Sonata in B minor, K. 497

L’Enchanteresse; Rondeau | François Couperin (1668-1733)
Les Barricades Mystérieuses; Rondeau

Méditation sur un motif de Claude Debussy | Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967)

Intermezzo from The Nutcracker | Pyotr Ilyick Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) | arr. M. Pletnev b. 1957

Nocturne in B, Op. 62, No. 1 | Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)


Nocturne for the Left Hand Alone | Fred Hersch (b. 1955)

Shadow and Act: "Doc 'Ndiphilela Ukucula' Spotlights 3 Black University of Cape Town Opera School Rising Stars" on THIRTEEN July 18 at 9 PM

"The Rake's Progress"

Sergio Mims sends this link:

Shadow and Act
by Tambay A. Obenson
July 9, 2013 

Coming to public media channel THIRTEEN is the feature documentary Ndiphilela Ukucula: I Live To Sing, which spotlights rising stars of The University of Cape Town Opera School. 

It premieres on Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday, July 18 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN. It'll also air on Sunday, July 21 at 11 p.m. on WLIW21; and Thursday, July 25 at 9 p.m. on NJTV.

Directed by Julie Cohen and introduced by Grammy award-winning bass-baritone Eric Owens, the film follows three top opera school students through a year in the program, a once all-white opera school, nearly two decades after the end of apartheid in South Africa, as the nation struggles to fulfill the promise of a transformed society.

Samuel Thompson: 'Bold New Horizons: Renee' Baker And The Chicago Modern Orchestra Project'

Renee' Baker

Violinist Samuel Thompson sends us an article on Renee' Baker:                                                                                                              

Mr. Zick - I trust that this finds you well and enjoying the summer.   Many thanks to you for having taken the time to include me as one of the many people about whom you write at Africlassical.com.   

As you may know, I have been doing a fair amount of writing over the past few years, and recently had an opportunity to speak with and write about Renee Baker.    This is a very recent piece, and she did ask if I could send it to you for inclusion on your site.

All best,

Samuel Thompson

TRAILBLAZER: one word to describe Renee' Baker. The words “polyproductive” and “prolific” can also be used to describe Ms. Baker, founder and music director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project. During the final months of the 2012/2013 season Ms. Baker conducted the premieres of three original compositions inspired by the life and work of Mark Rothko and recently received the Charles E. Walton Black Music Month Award from Chicago’s Vivian G. Harsh Society.

Renee' Baker is a very active figure in the cultural life of Chicago, having been a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta since 1987 and having appeared as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician throughout Chicago, including a Ravinia debut as viola soloist in Strauss’ Don Quixote, partnering with John Sharp, cellist of Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In tandem with her career performing “traditional classical music”, Ms. Baker has been making great strides both as a conductor and as a composer of modern music.

Ms. Baker is a person who maintains a deep sense of reverence to those who were influential in her development as an artist. “I am incredibly grateful to Paul Freeman for serving as a stalwart mentor to me as a conductor, composer and musician,” she said. “I was groomed over 25 years in the Chicago Sinfonietta – Paul first hired me as a violist in the orchestra in 1987 when it was founded, and was the first conductor both to ask for and premiere two symphonies that I had written.”

Those premieres include the October 2010 world premiere of Ms. Baker’s “Sundown’s Promise” - a thirteen section work inspired by the Japanese rice harvest and spotlighted by Japanese Taiko drums – and the May 2011 premiere of “Divertimento Notte blu” for Orchestra and six jazz soloists. Commissioned by the Chicago Sinfonietta, both works received great critical acclaim, and the May 2011 premiere of “Divertimento Notte blu” marked another high point in Ms. Baker’s steadily growing career, as it was in that performance that she made her Symphony Center debut as a conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

To have been the recipient of such a tremendous opportunity from a mentor was indescribable for Ms. Baker, as both premieres took place during Maestro Freeman’s final season as music director of the orchestra that he founded. Symbolically, one could refer to that season as Mr. Freeman’s “passing the baton” to an emerging visionary. It was also during the 2010/2011 season that Ms. Baker was hailed as “the latest AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) visionary” by Downbeat Magazine.

Renee' Baker is definitely riding a wave, becoming one of the influential and important proponents of modern music of the twenty-first century. In recent years, new music ensembles including Washington DC’s Great Noise Ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble and three-time Grammy Award winning Eighth Blackbird (also based in Chicago) have captured the attention of concertgoers and musicians worldwide. Renee' Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project are soon to join the ranks of the aforementioned ensembles, as CMOP is now positioned to establish a true international presence and reputation the go-to orchestra both for new music and for composers of color.

The reverence that Ms. Baker holds for her mentors is in tandem with her insatiable curiosity. “About seven years ago I started looking at both the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the American Composers Orchestra, as I wondered if both those groups and orchestras that were programming ‘traditional classical music’ were attracting audiences for modern music.” Continuing, she shared that in the formative years of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project she purposefully sought out people who were at the top of their game and who had an authentic interest in what she was trying to learn. “These people, some of the most foremost jazz and creative musicians - including composer and MacArthur Foundation Fellowship recipient Anthony Braxton and flutist/composer and Doris Duke artist Nicole Mitchell - were able to answer the questions that I had.”

The Chicago Modern Orchestra Project is a special ensemble in many ways. “I believe in inclusion,” Renee' said, “and many of these people are people that I have been grooming since 1991. We have managed to marry the best of traditional classical musicians and the best of the avant-garde jazz players in Chicago, and we’re rapidly increasing our reach outside of the United States. CMOP’s roster includes musicians who are also members of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and freelance with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony, Chicago Opera Theatre, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra and many other fine ensembles. This is why we can do absolutely authentic presentations of classical music, jazz and modern concert music. I am able to get a flavor that most ensembles are not able to.” With CMOP, Ms. Baker has shown herself to be a leader in developing true orchestral diversity, as no other orchestra in the United States can boast the authentic inclusiveness of the ensemble in both musical expertise and demographic: in addition to being an awesome mix of classical and jazz musicians, CMOP membership is a true reflection of our nation’s ethnic diversity.

“During our first season, we presented a total of fifteen concerts including both large ensemble concerts and smaller community concerts. The ensemble has performed at both Dominican University and the South Shore Cultural Center, and our first ‘laboratory’ was held at Velvet Lounge.” Ms. Baker’s belief in inclusion pervades the work of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, as CMOP has since its inception premiered an average of ten works each season, including compositions by Ms. Baker and others received through the ensemble’s open score project. “It is truly wonderful not only to have created an opportunity to continuously hone my skills as a composer, but also to constantly introduce fresh music to our audience.”

Ms. Baker’s reach as composer has grown steadily over many years. Her works have been performed by groups including the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Southeast Symphony (Los Angeles), DanceWright Project (San Francisco), Great Black Music Ensemble /AACM(premiered in Umbria, Italy, 2009) and presented both by the Joffrey Ballet Chamber Series and the Museum of Contemporary Art/Chicago. Ms. Baker continues to secure performances of her works both nationally and internationally, including the upcoming 2014 premiere of “blu Samsara” in Zolle (Netherlands) and the anticipated premiere of “Sunyata” in 2015.

In recent years, CMOP has garnered attention from many people and organizations dedicated to the composition and performance of modern music, and the 2013-14 season will mark the beginning of a three-year period of great expansion. Between 2013 and 2016 the ensemble is slated to present an exciting assortment of new works by some of the most interesting and innovative composers working today.

“Our 2013/2014 season begins with the premiere of my Simple Consciousness: Painted Scores Exploratorium at Chicago’s Out of Line Gallery,” Ms. Baker said, “and during that season we shall also give the Chicago premiere of Nicole Mitchell’s When Life's Door Opens for Chamber Orchestra and 3 Vocalists. This piece was commissioned and premiered in New York by the Tri-Centric Orchestra and Nicole, having very deep roots in Chicago, offered us the chance to give the Chicago Premiere.” The organization New Music USA has also paired CMOP with 2008 Rome Prize finalist Gregg Wramage for a series of premieres to take place between January 2014 and May 2015. The three year period 2013-2016 also includes works by UK-based composers Mark Yeats (who has recently become Composer-In-Association with Atlanta’s Chamber Cartel) and Alistair Zaldua.

When asked how she manages such an involved, diverse and innovative career, Renee answered in very simple yet profound manner: “You find time to eat, right? For the things that are vital to our existence – that we identify as vital – we find time. This is all about quality of life – a life filled with art, and creativity. If you are a cultural creative, everything is open to you.”

As they stand on the precipice of tremendous growth, everything is definitely open both for Renee' Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project – a woman and an organization that stand for growth, discovery, inclusion, and true openness.

- Samuel Thompson

PBS Green-Lights Updated Format of HISTORY DETECTIVES – New Format Investigating Iconic Mysteries Debuts in 2014

History detectives Wes Cowan, Kaiama Glover and Tukufu Zuberi
(Photo Credits: Stephanie Berger, Asiya Khaki)

Alexandria, VA -- July 8, 2013 -- PBS announced today a new format of HISTORY DETECTIVES to air in 2014. Comprised of four one-hour programs, HDSI—HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATION (w.t.), introduces the fresh perspective of a new detective and focuses on a single story per episode. The new episodes will air as part of a block of history programming and offer viewers a night of intriguing glimpses into our past.

Kaiama (ki YA ma) Glover will join forces with two veteran History Detectives, Wes Cowan and Tukufu Zuberi to collectively investigate each mystery from all angles. Glover is a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she teaches literature of the French-speaking Caribbean and sub-Saharan West African cinema.

Each new hour-long episode will ask probing questions behind a single iconic mystery from America's past. What was behind the tragic sinking of the SS Sultana at the end of the American Civil War? Can we solve the mystery of the Austin Servant Girl Murders of the 1880s? Did a Mafia kingpin’s darkest secret trigger Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance? And what led to the mysterious disappearance of big band leader Glenn Miller during World War II?

The HDSI team will bring cutting edge tools to some of our biggest historical mysteries. As they unearth fresh evidence, sift through clues and crisscross the country in search of answers, they reveal new perspectives on stories we thought we knew. 

“We are thrilled to bring the detectives back to solve famous mysteries from American history,” said Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming for PBS. “With the new program format and a fresh face added to the team, HDSI sheds new light on historical moments and revamps a treasured show.”

PBS will announce airdates as soon as they become available. 

View past episodes of HISTORY DETECTIVES on our website at http://pbs.org/historydetectives. “Like” HISTORY DETECTIVES on Facebook and follow the detectives on Twitter. HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATION will be a co-production of Lion Television and Oregon Public Broadcasting for PBS.

BlackPast.org now has the most complete list of National and State Landmarks on the Internet related to African American history.

This landmark is found on the BlackPast.org list for the State of Ohio:

National Park Service: Paul Lawrence Dunbar Memorial 

Photo courtesy of National Park Service Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park 

Dr. Quintard Taylor of BlackPast.org writes:

Folks:
Thanks primarily to the efforts of Maria Quintana, the BlackPast.org webmaster, BlackPast.org now has the most complete list of National and State Landmarks on the Internet related to African American history.  These 96 landmarks are in 33 states stretching from Maine to California.

 

Here is the link to the list:

http://www.blackpast.org/?q=national-african-american-historic-landmarks-state

You may also reach the link by going to the blue navigation bar near the top of the BlackPast.org (www.blackpast.org) home page.

Do include these sites in your summer vacation plans or simply resolve to visit the one nearest you.  Like the entries, articles, primary documents and indeed all the information on BlackPast.org, these landmarks help tell the history of black America.

Quintard

Free Tickets for 7th Annual 'Chicago Dancing Festival' Become Available Next Week

Chicago Dancing Festival 

Visiting Companies Include
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

On May 30, 2013 AfriClassical posted: 7th Annual Chicago Dancing Festival August 20-24, 2013 Includes Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Ticket Release: July 16, 17 & 18

Chicago Dancing Festival: August 20–24

CHICAGO (July 8, 2013) – Tickets for the 7^th annual Chicago Dancing Festival, the “Free-to-All” Festival at venues across downtown Chicago, become available to the general public next week, beginning Tuesday, July 16 at noon.  During the Festival’s five-day run there are five completely free performance showcases, though tickets for indoor events must be reserved in advance.  Co-produced by internationally renowned choreographer and native Chicagoan Lar Lubovitch and highly esteemed Chicago dancer Jay Franke, the 2013 Chicago Dancing Festival features top ballet, modern, ethnic and rhythmic dance companies from Chicago and across the country, set to take place August 20 – 24.

Tickets will be released in a staggered format so that each venue releases its tickets on a different day, as follows: 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 12 Noon

Tickets for the “The Harris at 10! Anniversary Special” performance on Tuesday, August 20 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance will be available in person at the Harris Theater Box Office, 205 E. Randolph Drive or by calling (312) 334-7777.  Limit two (2) tickets per order.

Wednesday, July 17 at 12 Noon

Tickets for the “Dancing in Chicago” performance on Thursday, August 22 at the Auditorium Theatre will be available in person at the Auditorium Theatre Box Office, 50 E. Congress Parkway, online at www.ticketmaster.com/auditorium or by calling (800) 982-ARTS.  Not available at Ticketmaster Outlets.  Limit two (2) tickets per order.

Thursday, July 18 at 12 Noon

Tickets for the “Solitaire – A Game of Dance” performances on Friday, August 23 at the Museum of Contemporary Art will be available in person at the MCA Stage Box Office, 220 E. Chicago Avenue or by calling (312) 397-4010.  Limit two (2) tickets per order.

No tickets are needed for the outdoor “Celebration of Dance” Grand Finale performance at the Pritzker Pavilion, Saturday, August 24. 

Any tickets unclaimed at 15 minutes prior to curtain time will be released to those in a Stand-by line.  Stand-by lines begin one hour before the performance, in person only.  All tickets will be held at Will-Call.  All seating for all venues is general admission. 

The full 2013 Chicago Dancing Festival schedule is below – program updates include the addition of Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet and Tamako Miyazaki from Columbia Classical Ballet/Dortmund Ballet to the Tuesday and Saturday programs.

CHICAGO DANCING FESTIVAL 2013 SCHEDULE

Tuesday, August 20, 7:30 pm – “The Harris at 10! Anniversary Special”

Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive

·        Brian Brooks of Brian Brooks Moving Company, I’m Going to Explode by Brian Brooks

·        Chicago Human Rhythm Project, In the beginning…^ by Lane Alexander and Bril Barrett (Premiere)

·        Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Little mortal jump by Alejandro Cerrudo

·        The Joffrey Ballet, Son of Chamber Symphony by Stanton Welch

·        Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Crisis Variations+ by Lar Lubovitch

·        Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet and Tamako Miyazaki from Columbia Classical Ballet/Dortmund Ballet, pas de deux from Diana and Actaeon by Agrippina Vaganova.

Wednesday, August 21, 6:30 pm – “Solitaire – A Game of Dance” (Gala Performance & Benefit)

Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Avenue

·        The Chicago Dancing Festival celebrates seven years with its annual Gala, an evening celebrating solo artists from the world of classical, contemporary, Bharata Natyam and Flamenco dance.  This fundraising benefit includes a performance and benefit with an opportunity to mingle with many of this year’s participating artists.  Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased by emailing info@chicagodancingfestival.com.  Space is limited.

Thursday, August 22, 7:30 pm – “Dancing in Chicago”

Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway

• Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater* in residence at Northeastern Illinois University, Bolero by Dame Libby Komaiko

·        Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, piece to be announced

·        The Joffrey Ballet, Episode 31^ by Alexander Ekman (Chicago Premiere)

·        Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Transparent Things+ by Lar Lubovitch

Friday, August 23, 6 pm and 8 pm – “Solitaire – A Game of Dance” (The Art of the Solo)

Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Avenue

·        Samuel Lee Roberts of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, In/Side by Robert Battle

·        Brian Brooks of Brian Brooks Moving Company, I’m Going to Explode by Brian Brooks

·        Camille A. Brown of Camille A. Brown & Dancers, The Real Cool (a solo excerpt from Mr. Tol E. Rance) by Camille A. Brown

·        Julia Hinojosa of Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater*+, Ensueños de mi Caribe by Julia Hinojosa

·        Johnny McMillan, David Schultz and Jonathan Fredrickson of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacopepepluto by Alejandro Cerrudo

·        Victoria Jaiani of The Joffrey Ballet, The Dying Swan by Mikhail Fokine

·        Krithika Rajagopalan of Natya Dance Theatre*, Sthithihi by Krithika Rajagopalan

Saturday, August 24, 7:30 pm – “Celebration of Dance”

Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph Street

·        Samuel Lee Roberts of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, In/Side by Robert Battle

·        Chicago Human Rhythm Project, In the beginning…^ by Lane Alexander and Bril Barrett

·        Giordano Dance Chicago, Two Become Three by Alexander Ekman (2012 CDF Commission)

·        Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater*, Bolero by Dame Libby Komaiko

·        The Joffrey Ballet, Interplay by Jerome Robbins

·        Philadanco*, Wake Up by Rennie Harris

·        Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet and Tamako Miyazaki from Columbia Classical Ballet, pas de deux from Diana and Actaeon by Agrippina Vaganova.

All programs are subject to change.

*CDF Debut

^CDF Commission

+Presented with live music

About the Chicago Dancing Festival

Established in 2007, the Chicago Dancing Festival was founded to elevate awareness of dance in Chicago, to increase accessibility to the art form and to provide inspiration for local artists.  Its mission is to present a wide variety of excellent dance, enrich the lives of the people of Chicago and provide increased accessibility to the art form, thereby helping create a new audience.  Its vision is to raise the national and international profile of dance in the city, furthering Chicago as the “dance capital of the world” (as Mayor Rahm Emanuel put it at the 2012 Chicago Dancing Festival). 

Lar Lubovitch (Founder, Artistic Director) is one of America's most versatile and highly acclaimed choreographers and founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company 45 years ago.  In the years since, he has choreographed more than 100 dances for his New York-based company, which has performed in nearly all 50 American states as well as in more than 30 foreign countries.  Born in Chicago, Mr. Lubovitch was educated at the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School in New York.

Jay Franke (Founder, Artistic Director) began his formal training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas.  In 1993, he was selected as a Finalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts and accepted into the Juilliard School.  Upon receiving his BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School, Mr. Franke went to work with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, “THARP!”  Mr. Franke has since danced with The 58 Group, Lyric Opera Ballet Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and was a leading dancer in the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company from 2005 to 2010.

The Chicago Dancing Festival is grateful for its 2013 supporters including: InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Official Hotel Partner; Chicago Sun-Times, Print Media Sponsor; Museum of Contemporary Art; Harris Theater for Music and Dance; City of Chicago, Millennium Park; The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University; The Robert and Jamie Taylor Foundation; David Herro and Jay Franke; Illinois Arts Council; National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development; The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; and the Irving Harris Foundation.

For more information on the Chicago Dancing Festival, its history and 2013 offerings, check out the newly redesigned www.chicagodancingfestival.com. 

Send Oakland Youth Music Ambassadors to Peru via Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign

    Angela M. Wellman, Founding Director:

• Greetings!

  It is my distinct pleasure and honor to share this information with you. The Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC) has been invited to Peru as the official representatives from the U.S. in a very important cultural exchange that highlights the music and dance of Africans in the Latin Diaspora. This has come to fruition through the residency at OPC of world-renowned Afro Peruvian musician, Juan Medrano Cotito. He and his wife spent 4 weeks with us last summer and upon their return to Lima in August, they quickly got busy working on garnering support from the American Embassy in Lima to bring OPC students and me to share the vibrant story of the Public Conservatory. They told me that this action taken by our embassy in Lima is unprecedented. In the past the embassy has covered costs for one person, but to cover all expenses for FOUR persons breaks the paradigm. They want us to share the story of OPC with the AfroPeruvians and especially wth the youth. 

  
  

  
  

  As well, I have been invited to present a scholarly paper about the Public Conservatory Movement, focusing on the establishment of the country's first Public Conservatory of Music in Oakland, CA. The title of my paper is: 

  
  

  Music of the People, for the People, by the People: The Birth of the Public Conservatory Movement.

  
  

  Musica de la Gente, para la Gente, por la Gente: El Nacimiento del Movimiento del Conservatorio Publico

  
  

  There is so much more to share, but that will come later. I write you now to ask for your support. Give what you can and forward the indiegogo campaign link to others who believe in supporting young artists as they work toward accomplishing their goals. Enjoy the video and let us know your thoughts.  

  Thanks in advance for helping us fund this project.

  Musically yours,

  Angela

  
  

  http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/send-oakland-youth-music-ambassadors-to-peru/x/393604

--
Angela M. Wellman

Founding Director 

awellman@opcmusic.org

Music is eXtraordinary dba/ Oakland Public Conservatory of Music

1616 Franklin Street

Oakland, CA  94612

(510) 836- 4MIX (836-4649)

http://www.opcmusic.org

http://www.angelawellman.com

WQXR.org: 'Top Five Visions of America in Classical Music' include 'William Grant Still and his Afro-American Symphony'

Statue of Liberty

(Flickr eschipul)

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

WQXR.org

In honor of our nation’s birthday, we present five pieces of classical music that are both American in sound and in subject matter.

1. Charles Ives: Fourth Symphony

2. John Alden Carpenter: Skyscrapers: A Ballet of Modern Life

3. Elliott Carter: A Symphony for Three Orchestras

4. William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony

5. Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein: The Mother of Us All

William Grant Still and his Afro-American Symphony inserted frequently neglected black culture into American classical music. When the Rochester Philharmonic premiered the work in 1931, it marked the first time that an American orchestra played a piece by a black composer. The symphony introduced an African-American vernacular taken from the blues, jazz, and spiritual music into the classical concert hall, providing a multicultural rendering of American music.

[William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com Recordings, sheet music and books of William Grant Still are available at www.WilliamGrantStill.com, which is operated by the composer's daughter Judith Anne Still]

Cast Bio of Mezzo-soprano Nicole Mitchell in AOP Production 'The Blind' of Lera Auerbach at Lincoln Center Festival

Nicole Mitchell, Mezzo-soprano

AOP

Nicole Mitchell (Mezzo-soprano) is a native of Brooklyn and has performed regularly with AOP and the Walt Whitman Project promoting the works of New York composers, including Gilda Lyons' Songs from the F Train cycle at Carnegie Hall. She has also sung Tituba in Robert Ward' Sarasota Opera, and Piedmont Opera. In 2008, while a Tanglewood Vocal Fellow, she sand in Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Earlier this year she was heard in recital at Brooklyn Navy Yard Center's BLDG 92 Museum. AOP credits include Songs from the F Train and This is the Rill Speaking.

Haitian Saxophonist Alland Lamour Travels to Wayne State University and Lawrence University Conservatory of Music for Lessons with Professors

Mr. Alland Lamour (L) and Prof. Jesse Dochnahl (R) at 

Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, Wisconsin

Aline BATARD of Jacmel Music School in Haiti writes:

Leaving for the United States on February 27th, Mr. Alland Lamour, a young saxophonist who also is one of the secretaries in the Dessaix-Baptiste Music School office, returned to us this past April 19th. He spent one month in Detroit, Michigan, where he studied jazz saxophone with Professor Ernie Rodgers at Wayne State University. Then he went further west to Appleton, Wisconsin where he explored the halls of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. He had a number of lessons with Professor Jesse Dochnahl, and observed several other musical activities. Alland Lamour was enchanted by the ambiance at Lawrence University that enables people to work and study and returned eager to share what he had learned.

An immense thank you to Ms. Cecelia Sharpe and Ms. Janet Anthony, who helped organize this visit and ensured that everything went well.