African American Music for Voice and Piano

How has African-American experience transformed the American art song? In this recital we trace several generations of Afro-American composers who each approached this question in different ways in their attempt to bring the hopes, frustrations and dreams of Black America vividly to life through the creation of something distinctly their own.

On this fascinating journey we discover how art song met spirituals; the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance; and later more contemporary perspectives that challenge traditional notions of the ‘black’ musical idiom - the most recent work, Moments in Sonder (Brittney Boykin), revealing a tradition that is still evolving and reinventing itself. The inclusion of Gershwin's 'Summertime' also adds an additional layer of complexity to this multi-faceted genre, posing additional questions such as: who gets to represent Black musical America, and how?

Performed by acclaimed soprano Roberta Philip and pianist Valentina Wang, this is a recital of extraordinary emotional range celebrating the music of struggle and resilience, love and longing, faith and aspiration — and a powerful celebration of how African-American composers have transformed the Black American experience into new musical forms to profoundly shape the classical sound of America.