Perhaps you are curious to experience the overlooked work of important Black American composers. There’s a chance that you are a fan of classical songs, or intrigued to hear the works of poets including Langston Hughes in musical form.
If you’re someone with a bit of local Rochester pride, you might want to embrace achievements of musicians from our community; the performers on this new double-album of art songs include more than 30 students and faculty from the Eastman School of Music. Professors Joshua Conyers, Nicole Cabell, Kiera Duffy and Timothy Long highlight this list, joined by an impressive array of too many others to list.
Whatever draws you in at first, keep listening. You’ll find beauty in these songs, both the words and the music, and in the sensitive, striking performances that have been recorded here.
These songs are all drawn from the “Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers,” collected and curated in 1977 by Willis C. Patterson.
Some of the composers have become more familiar recently, including Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. You can find a few Rochester connections: Adolphus Hailstork (born here) and George Walker (Eastman alum and Pulitzer Prize winner). I’m particularly fond of the works of David Baker and Undine Smith Moore and happy to add to my playlists some new-to-me discoveries, including Howard Swanson, Noel DaCosta and Wendell Logan.
To have so many different voices singing this noted collection is an ambitious and rewarding project. It means students will continue to sing these songs and inspire others to sing them, too — all while we get the joy of listening.
You can experience the music in concert on September 15 at Eastman’s Kilbourn Hall, and on October 16 at New York City’s Merkin Hall.
