Murder of George Floyd and virus pandemic is historic period for people of African descent in OPERA
Murder of George Floyd and virus pandemic is historic period for people of African descent in OPERA https://outline.com/NH7WWv
Dana Canedy 1st African American to head major publishing imprint
Dana Canedy 1st African American to head major publishing imprint. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/08/888846267/dana-canedy-is-first-black-person-to-head-a-publishing-giant
MusicUNTOLD website now includes access to Afrocentric Sounds
To help increase awareness of recorded classical music and opera featuring composers, conductors, vocalist, and musicians from the African diaspora, MusicUNTOLD website now includes access to Afrocentric Sounds (365 Live internet radio). Please see www.musicuntold.com
Opera Wire interview with Bass Baritone Kevin Short
Opera Wire interview Bass Baritone Kevin Short https://operawire.com/q-a-kevin-short-on-systemic-racism-aida-the-future-of-opera/?fbclid=IwAR2B-gDhp3IoXVx0NmdDES9ioc6gPO7h9f7DFYcNXKNObGzNQ_BIKNF79Wo
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Relaunch of Afrocentric Sounds
Congratulations to Randye Jones for her relaunch of Afrocentric Sounds-a vital link to heighten awareness of artists and composers of African descent in classical music. See https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2020/07/randye-jones-re-launches-afrocentric.html
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NAACP IMAGE Awards
The NAACP has a seat at the table and receives funding from selected major US corporations seeking to redress systemic racism. However, the annual NAACP IMAGE Awards perpetuates systemic racism (omission of achievements by African American in classical music and composition). Please see https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2011/03/john-malveaux-asks-executive-director.html https://africlassical.blogspot.com/search?q=john+malveaux+%2B+image+awards https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2018/01/john-malveaux-michael-abels-is-2017.html https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2013/12/request-to-add-classical-music-to.html Classical music is subliminally associated with the…
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Confronting racism-comparative analysis
Confronting racism-comparative analysis https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-to-confront-a-racist-national-history?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200708&instance_id=20110&nl=the-morning®i_id=100290336&segment_id=32873&te=1&user_id=d5732803f67226a5cc64ea5c53c0e1d7
2014 Opera – Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom
Join Cincinnati Opera Zoom on Tuesday, July 7 at 5 PM for a conversation about American Opera Project’s 2014 opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom. The two-act work (available for free online streaming) tells of how a young girl born in slavery became Harriet Tubman, the legendary Underground Railroad conductor.…
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Blind Tom Wiggins
See New York Times article about composers of African descent. Slave Blind Tom Wiggins became an internationally recognized performer. By 1868 Tom toured the United States and Canada. He earned an average of $50,000 annually for the Bethune family in Virginia. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/arts/music/black-composers-classical-music.html?fbclid=IwAR3xX7mA4oaJ4G3HJrnLLxjeqFcpZBkVWqY91RdMl07O5DxKwXii76bE7xw
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Soprano Latonia Moore sings “Ave Maria” from Verdi’s OTELLO
June 21, 2020 – Soprano Latonia Moore with collaborative pianist Robert Berrocal sings “Ave Maria” from Verdi’s OTELLO during Concert in Memory of Pope John Paul ll Celebrating 100th Anniversary of His Birth. Ernie Gonzalez, video Martin Nusspaumer, sound Roberto Berrocal, piano St Hugh Catholic Church (Miami, FL)
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The Heart of a Woman – Florence B. Price Biography
The Heart of a Woman offers the first-ever biography of Florence B. Price, a composer whose career spanned both the Harlem and Chicago Renaissances, and the first African American woman to gain national recognition for her works. Price’s twenty-five years in Chicago formed the core of a working life that saw her create three hundred…
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Explore the music of WILLIAM GRANT STILL
Explore the music of WILLIAM GRANT STILL. See picture of William Grant Still with his publisher and daughter Judith Still https://www.laphil.com/about/watch-and-listen/get-to-know-william-grant-still-jr
DetailsChanging the game on the concert stage
Changing the game on the concert stage-please see world premiere of composer Nkeiru Okoye “Black Bottom” by the Detroit Symphony conducted by Maestro Thomas Wilkins. The composition for full orchestra and four African American solo voices was developed as from a nearly one-year-long study of a photographic exhibit of Black Bottom Street (predominantly Black…
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Violins of Hope
The inhumanity of man to man is shared in Violins of Hope https://www.violins-of-hope.com/ , and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWhxYQ_O5f4
Rhiannon Giddens sings slave narratives
Rhiannon Giddens sings slave narratives https://www.npr.org/2020/06/19/880242844/rhiannon-giddens-sings-slave-narratives?fbclid=IwAR36inleq6MIbDS0GZMfLYOaS_gJYV9oC9m79TvVrQUc1rdavyzYunnomzs
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Dave Brubeck’s THE GATES of JUSTICE
October 2019 was the 50th anniversary of Dave Brubeck’s THE GATES of JUSTICE. See https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2019/10/john-malveaux-50th-anniversary-of.html. African American baritone Kevin Deas was one of two soloists in THE GATES of JUSTICE and a later soloist during 2015 MusicUNTOLD concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. See https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2019/10/john-malveaux-kevin-deas-sang-during.html. In a recent statement, 130 Jewish organizations…
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Recollections of DC Emancipation Day
In April 2014, I visited Washington DC to prepare for a concert to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment in 2015 at Constitution Hall. I observed a FREEDOM Day Parade and was confused because I annually celebrated and had produced many JUNTEETH Celebration on June 19th in Long Beach, Ca and I was…
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LIVE with Carnegie Hall: Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi
LIVE with Carnegie Hall ‘Rhiannon Giddens is one of the most vibrant musicians of our time. With her partner, multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, she leads us through the music and history of minstrelsy’. Terrance McKnight, Moderator https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Watch-and-Listen/Live-with-Carnegie-Hall?fbclid=IwAR0WVzxxsEkmdpkA6tljfzSkrqRY8ER-vMp4fAm1_HCJ8EgdDfyu9rY_hEE Attachments area
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Long Beach Opera’s 2020 Community Conversations, Equity and Diversity in the Arts
Sunday June 14, 2020 was the first of Long Beach Opera’s 2020 Community Conversations, Equity and Diversity in the Arts featured a keynote speech by scholar Dr. Naomi André, performances by Solomon Howard, Julia Bullock and John Holiday. Panelists included Dr. André, Julia Bullock, Ailyn Pérez, Soloman Howard, Andrew Stenson, Kenneth Overton, Karen Slack,…
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Mezzo-Soprano J’Nai Bridges will sing the role of Nefertiti in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten
Mezzo-Soprano J’Nai Bridges will sing the role of Nefertiti in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten during FREE Met Opera Live stream Saturday June 20, 2020, 7:30 EDT. The performance will be available on demand for 23 hours on the Met website. The actual performance was recorded November 23, 2019. See picture of J’Nai Bridges and listen to Met interview https://metopera.org/discover/video/?videoName=jnai-bridges-on-akhnaten&videoId=6109192310001.
Pianist Lara Downes
MusicUNTOLD and Long Beach Public Library presented pianist Lara Downes in recital commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Billie Holiday at the Long Beach Main Library-Main Library Auditorium on March 7, 2015. . Please see https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2015/02/long-beach-public-library-musicuntold.html. See pictures 1 Lara with Library staff and MusicUNTOLD volunteers, pic 2 Lara signing CD’s June…
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JUNETEENTH UNTOLD story
Wikipedia: Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger led thousands of federal troops to Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended, and slaves had been freed. On June 17, 2004 I shared the UNTOLD Story…
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Composer Shelley Washington – Amplifying Voices Program
New York, NY – New Music USA announces six composers who have been co-commissioned to write new orchestral works through its Amplifying Voices Program, supported by the Sphinx Venture Fund. Composers Valerie Coleman, Juan Pablo Contreras, Tania León, Brian Raphael Nabors, Tyshawn Sorey, and Shelley Washington will each write new works to be premiered during the 2021-22 season and performed by a total of at least…
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History of “We Shall Overcome”
In April 1960, 126 young civil-rights activists joined together in Raleigh, N.C., for the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, better known as SNCC and sang “We Shall Overcome”. The song probably dates back to antebellum days, when slaves worked in fields making America great. Songs of slaves had roots in African songs…
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Racial disparity and inequity in Opera discussion moderated by J’Nai Bridges
June 5, 2020-Zoom conversation/discussion on racial disparity and inequity in Opera moderated by J’Nai Bridges -available on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=396366341279710&ref=watch_permalink
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