This is to share information from the Elie Siegmeister Centennial files by conductor Leonard J. Lehrman. Composer Elie Siegmeister I HAVE A DREAM was originally commissioned by Cantor Solomon Mendelson at Temple Beth Sholom in Long Beach, Long Island. In the text adaptation by Edward Mabley, authorized by Dr. King, the scope of the speech…
On June 7, 1979 President Jimmy Carter decreed that June would be BLACK MUSIC MONTH. However, the official presidential order announcing Black Music Month during the month of June wasn’t signed off on until 2000 when the House of Representatives approved House Resolution 509. President Barack Obama officially changed the name to African-American Music…
Please see Africlassical blog of 7-28-2014 https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2014/07/john-malveaux-recounts-plans-for-roy.html My last direct contact with the Harris family was a 4 party dinner as guest of Shawn Harris. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Harris
As a Christian celebrating April 12, 2020 Easter Sunday, I recalled violinist Annelle Kazumi Gregory (with piano collaboration) performing the instrumental version of William Grant Still HERE IS ONE (Talk about a child that do love Jesus) during video recorded END of SUMMER festival, Sept 2, 2018 at Exposition Park in front of the Los…
Part 1 of 2 In 1979 or earlier during a visit to the home of composer Roy Harris and wife, Johana Harris, atop a mountain in Pacific Palisades, Ca. with a striking view of the Pacific Ocean, I asked Roy Harris to write a symphony dedicated to me. After some thought, he told me that…
Please see passage from ‘In One Lifetime’, a personal perspective about composer William Grant Still by his wife Verna Arvey (pianist, librettist). “This reminded us of R. Nathaniel Dett’s strong plea, when he visited groups of Negro musicians in Los Angeles, for Negroes to buy and perform works by Negro composers. At the time, we…
The Politics of Music. Around 2008, I met an attractive, diminutive woman around 86 years of age that captured my attention. See brief bio https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4406619/bio. I was honored to present Soprano Hope Foye in numerous performances over the next five years.
Artist, scholar, and curator David C. Driskell died April 1, 2020 at age 88. David C. Driskell curated exhibit “Two Centuries of Black American Art: 1750-1950” attracted international attention and demonstrated that Black Art Matters. See http://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/david-driskell
POLITICS of MUSIC concert scheduled June 29, 2020, Music Centers’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, has been cancelled due to current health crisis. When more is known, an alternate date will be offered to featured Metropolitan soprano Latonia Moore. Violinist Annelle Kazumi Gregory and collaborative pianist James Lent were scheduled to open the 2nd half…
Greetings and Happy Passover to Jewish friends with interfaith respect. As a practicing Catholic, I recently attended mass at the iconic Lady of Angeles Cathedral in Los Angeles. My seat was near an African American gentleman who sang in the choir and came up front to lead the congregation in an opening song. He was…