Violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama was violinist for Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) Ballade for violin and piano in C minor, opus 73 during the 150th Anniversary Emancipation Proclamation Concert co-presented by KUSC Classical Radio & MusicUNTOLD.
DetailsRapper & songwriter SNOOP DOGG (Terence Blanchard – Trumpet) during the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors HERBIE HANCOCK.
DetailsAmanda Gorman, the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, wrote a 4th of July poem for CBS.
DetailsBaritone MLK Jr The three King children, including Martin Jr. took piano lessons from their mother, Alberta William King * MLK Jr. sang in his Father’s church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie ‘Gone with the Wind’ and in the Glee Club at Morehouse College. MLK Jr. wrote in his biography “On…
DetailsRemembering the birthday of Coretta Scott King born April 27, 1927. Coretta Scott graduated valedictorian from Lincoln Normal School in 1945, where she played trumpet and piano, sang in the chorus, and participated in school musicals and enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio during her senior year at Lincoln. She continued her education…
DetailsLittle Known deceased composer and friend Ed Bland’s wife, Mary Batten-Bland, recently shared the following with me “Cambria Records released a CD of Ed’s piano music, URBAN COUNTERPOINT, performed by Judith Olson, the pianist with whom Ed had been working for several years. He had planned to record it the summer that he passed away…
DetailsAccording to Thomas Jefferson in 1781: “The instrument proper to them (i.e. the slaves) is the Banjar, which they brought hither from Africa.” The 1984 television film Solomon Northup’s Odyssey and the 2013 feature film 12 Years a Slave are based on the memoir of violinist Solomon Northrup. Living & working violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama…
Details“LOS ANGELES (April 22, 2020) – The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Classical KUSC continue their annual radio broadcast partnership, reaching listeners across Southern and Central California. Concerts recorded during the LA Phil’s 2019/20 season feature the orchestra with an impressive roster of guest artists and conductors, and an eclectic repertoire including the world premiere of Esteban…
DetailsMy earliest recollection (about 1948) of attending music events as a child in Beaumont, Texas was zydeco dances presented at Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church. The Zydeco bands included violin players and I had several great uncles who played the violin. In 2019, I attended the Hollywood Bowl to see violinist Ray Chen and…
DetailsComposer Hale Smith completed RITUAL and INCANTATIONS in 1974. It is a piece which evokes an atmosphere of mystery and, perhaps, of impending evil.
DetailsPOLITICS of MUSIC Ed Bland was a composer and dear friend. We had extended conversations about categories of music. Growing up in Chicago, his first heroes were jazz artists such as Duke Ellington and Art Tatum. Ed Bland happened to hear a recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and sought to compose in newer and…
DetailsPOLITICS of MUSIC American composer Roy Harris was deeply inspired by poetry of Walt Whitman. I recall Roy Harris verbatim recitation of poems from Leaves of Grass during multiple visits to his home. I HEAR AMERICA SINGING! Choral Music of Roy Harris by The Robert Wesleyan College Chorale, Robert Shewan (conductor) include Roy Harris choral music…
DetailsPOLITICS of MUSIC-As previously reported, American composer Roy Harris 5th Symphony was boycotted due to communist scare of McCarthyism. Roy Harris Bicentennial Symphony (14th Symphony) has been boycotted for unspoken reasons. Please see https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2017/07/john-malveaux-year-2009-marked-200th.html. Please visit https://musicuntold.com/index.php/bicentennial-symphony-video-set/ for event flyer, Press Telegram interview, and event photos. Please see pic 1 An Act of Justice and pic 2 composer…
DetailsThis 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…
DetailsOn 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…
DetailsPlease 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
DetailsAs 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…
DetailsPart 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…
DetailsPlease 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…
DetailsThe 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.
DetailsArtist, 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…
DetailsGreetings 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…
DetailsAmerican composer Roy Harris Symphony ‘1933’ was the 1st commercially recorded symphony in the United States. Roy Harris 5th Symphony was commissioned by the Boston Symphony conductor Serge Koussevitzky, a close friend of Dmitri Shostakovich. Roy Harris dedicated his 5th Symphony to the Russian soldiers who were our allies during WWII. The work premiered Feb…
DetailsJudith Still, daughter of composer William Grant Still, shared: “I might mention that the Metropolitan Opera gave him (William Grant Still) an appointment to show them a score of TROUBLED ISLAND, but when he arrived and they saw he was the “wrong color” they left him in the outer office for four hours but would…
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