Melanated Moments in Classical Music

Featuring some of the world's most talented and innovative Black composers and musicians from seasons 4 through 7, Melanated Moments in Classical Music wraps up its comprehensive recap. Joshua and Angela discuss the themes and trends that emerged in these seasons and reflect on Melanated Moments' impact on the classical music world. Both retrospective episodes encourage reflection on the progress that has been made in promoting diversity and inclusion in classical music while acknowledging challenges and barriers that remain. What a journey it has been...as always, we thank you for your support all along the way! Support the Show.

Join us for a recap of the first three seasons of the Melanated Moments in Classical Music podcast, featuring some of the world's most influential Black composers and musicians. From William Grant Still to Rosephanye Powell , these artists have made significant contributions to the world of classical music, and their work continues to inspire and amaze. Whether you're a longtime fan of the podcast or you're just getting started, we invite you to listen in on this retrospective celebration of the diverse and vibrant world of classical music. Support the Show.

Joshua and Angela examine the remarkable oratorio The Ordering of Moses by African-American composer Robert Nathaniel Dett. This powerful and moving work tells the biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and is considered one of the most important works of African-American classical music. Scored for chorus, orchestra, and soloists, Dett's oratorio features a variety of musical styles, including spirituals, folk music, and classical forms. It is a powerful work that explores themes of freedom, oppression, and hope while serving as an allegory of the Black experience of the 18th-19th centuries. Featured Music: The Ordering of Moses, The Ordering of Moses, The Ordering of Moses, The Ordering of Moses, Support the Show.

Pianist, music sociologist, and occasional trumpeter, Joshua Thompson, is an active change agent in the classical music world. Learn more about our host’s passionate advocacy for diversity and inclusion, his work to promote social justice through music, and his unique perspective on the role of music in society. Listen in as Angela teases out how Joshua got to where he is today and where he might be going next. Featured Music: Support the Show.

The international impact of pianist/composer, Oswald Russell, wows Joshua and Angela as they discuss his beginnings in Jamaica and a globe-trotting classical music career that followed. Oswald serves as an example of the highest level of musicality, life-long learning, and global citizenship. Featured Music: Three Jamaican Dances Les Vieilles Lunes Support the Show.

Angela and Joshua welcome opera superstar, arts administrator, and 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence winner, Karen Slack, to the Melanated Moments in Classical Music family. Bringing her dynamic, down to earth vibe and perspective, Slack details her beginnings in music and an illustrious career that keeps her in demand with leading artists and stages the world over. Equally devoted to music education and meaningful community engagement, Karen Slack reminds us of the personal power found in showing up and being your truest self both on and off stage. Featured Music: La Forza Del Destino Turendot Five Creek-Freedman Spirituals Support the Show.

Joshua and Angela discuss the foresight and impact of composer, musicologist, arranger, and premier torchbearer of Negro spirituals, William Levi Dawson. A protege of Booker T. Washington, the life and works of Dawson score an accurate narrative of Black people during the Great Migration. His symphony illustrates the cultural links that were lost and then found as a result of the colonial world’s Global Slave Trade. Revered internationally, Dawson’s tenure and role as an educator and choral director at the historic Tuskegee University cemented his legacy as a champion of Black music. Featured Music: Negro Folk SymphonySupport the Show.

In this episode, Angela and Joshua introduce our listening audience to 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, composer, and lyricist, Nkeiru Okoye. As one of the most sought after composers and creative minds of the 21st century, Okoye provides an exuberant account into her musical influences, training, and invaluable approach to scoring Black history as a way to engage, educate, and entertain audiences of the future. Featured Music: Harriet TubmanBlack Bottom SymphonyHome of My Ancestors Support the Show.

Angela and Joshua open Season Seven with an exposé on pianist, musicologist, and The First Lady of Jazz; Mary Lou Williams. This stunning artist’s impact crosses multiple genres from jazz to classical and sacred to bebop. She navigates compositional shifts seamlessly all while providing the world of classical music with a much-needed approach to archival, analysis, and expansion to welcome those previously left out of the industry. An undisputed artistic prodigy, Williams’ expansive influence on Black music positions her as one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary musicologists. Featured Music: Zodiac Suite - Mary Lou’s Mass - Support the Show.

Season Six wraps with a high-energy conversation with Grammy Award-winning baritone Kenneth Overton. Known for his rich and booming voice, Overton is booked and busy across the U.S. and around the world, yet still finds time to intentionally dedicate part of his career to the mentorship of the next generation of young Black vocalists in classical music. Featured Music: "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," arranged by George Crumb "There's A Man Goin' Round Taking Names" "Look to the Rainbow," from the album A Bright Tomorrow Support the Show.

Joshua and Angela delve into the many facets of Paul Robeson, the man behind the voice that made him a household name on stage and screen. An academic scholar, bass-baritone concert artist, and stage and film actor, Robeson was as well-known for his artistic prowess as he was for his outspoken commitment to disrupting the hypocritical political strategies of the American government in the 1940s. Featured Music: "Scandalize My Name," arranged by Harry T. Burleigh, performed by Paul Robeson live from Carnegie Hall "No More Auction Block" "Ol' Man River" Support the Show.

Dr. Portia Maultsby, ethnomusicologist and curator of the inaugural exhibition of the National Museum of African American Music, talks with Angela and Joshua about her influential work on throughlines between classical and popular Black music. An esteemed professor emeritus at Indiana University, her work is regarded as an integral component of research and study in ethnomusicology. She is the founder of the popular I.U. Soul Revue and the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University. With a growing list of famous vocalists and artists from Broadway to TV and film under her tutelage, Dr. Maultsby scores the blueprint for future preservationists, performers, and scholars committed to sharing the comprehensive story of Black excellence in music. Featured Music: "Summertime" "But Who May Abide," from Messiah, performed by Marietta Simpson and Robert Shaw "Ah, mes amis," from La fille de régiment, performed by Lawrence Brownlee Support the Show.

British-born composer, opera singer, and teacher Amanda Ira Aldridge is the topic of conversation for Joshua and Angela on this episode. A promising operatic contralto, Aldridge studied and performed the vocal works of compatriot Samuel Coleridge Taylor. A severe case of laryngitis ended her singing career but provided the catalyst for her to mold and teach vocal legends Roland Hayes, Paul Robeson, and Marian Anderson. Adaptable, resourceful, and musically imaginative, Aldridge created a lineage of melanated moxie whose influence spans generations of groundbreaking Black artists from the 20th century to the present day. Featured Music: "Prayer Before Battle," arranged and performed for harp by Elisabeth Remy Johnson "Carnival, Suite of Five Dances: I. Cavalcade," performed by Rochelle Sennet "Three African Dances, Mvt. 2: Luleta's Dance," performed by Bryan Chuan Support the Show.

Angela and Joshua welcome Maestro Marlon Daniel, a dynamic up-and-coming conductor and one of the leading scholars on the life of Joseph Bologne. Daniel discusses the life of the mixed-race aristocrat who single-handedly put French classical music of the 18th century on the map and helps our audience reframe and properly reposition the virtuosic composer and violinist as the leading influencer of some of classical music’s most recognized contributors. Featured Music: "String Quartet No. 1 in C-Major," by Joseph Bologne, performed by the Quatuor a Cordes "Symphony in G-Major Op. 11 Movement 1, part III," by Joseph Bologne, performed by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Support the Show.

This week’s episode features Hazel Scott, a child prodigy, piano virtuoso, and one of the most outspoken civil rights activists of the mid-20th century in the entertainment industry. Whether playing the classics on the nose or employing her fiery fingers to fuse jazz and classical music, Hazel Scott was as unapologetic in her talents as she was in her commitment to changing the way Black actors were portrayed on film and television which ultimately led to the demise of her short but illustrious career. Featured Music: "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt, arranged and performed by Hazel Scott "Fantaisie-Impromptu Op. 66" by Frederic Chopin, performed by Hazel Scott "A Foggy Day," performed by pianist/vocalist Hazel Scott, bassist Charles Mingus, and percussionist Rudy Nichols Support the Show.

In this episode, Angela and Joshua welcome Portia Dunkley, founder of the New Canon Chamber Collective. Sharing her all too familiar experience of young Black classical musicians being few and far between in the industry, Dunkley found her passion and motivation to create and cultivate an ensemble that identifies, elevates, and celebrates the contributions of the African diaspora within the genre in Miami, FL. Dunkley features "Symphony No. 5" by William Grant Still and "The Oaks" by Florence Price on the Collective’s inaugural concert, affirming the sounds of Blackness and Americana in classical music. For more updates and information, follow New Canon Chamber Collective on Facebook and Instagram. Featured Music: "Symphony No. 5 (Western Hemisphere) Mvt. 4" by William Grant Still, performed by the Fort Smith Symphony "The Oaks" by Florence Price, performed by the Women's Philharmonic Orchestra Support the Show.

Season Six debuts with a feature of Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime. Bridging the gap between the Reconstruction era and the early 20th century, Scott Joplin and his ragtime music became a genre-defining cultural phenomenon. In this episode, our co-hosts trace Joplin’s musical cultivation, which led him to position ragtime as an extension of the romantic stylings of classical music, as evidenced through the storyline and compositional makeup of his opera, Treemonisha. Featured Music: Houston Grand Opera Orchestra Houston Grand Opera Chorus MIDI re-creation from original piano scroll recorded by Scott Joplin Support the Show.

Angela and Joshua cap Season Five with Terri Allen, Executive Director of the Coalition for African-Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA). From humble origins to a nationally respected model, Terri details the 20-year journey of CAAPA's intentional strategies for leveling the playing field in the world of classical music. CAAPA's dedication to providing scholarships for burgeoning Black classical musicians and unwavering commitment to arts education at all talent levels exemplify the power of programming to create opportunities for real change in the performing arts. Featured Music: "Porgy and Bess," feat. soprano Angela Brown and baritone Kenneth Overton "Habanera," from Carmen, feat. mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges Support the Show.

Joshua and Angela discuss the life and times of Europe's most renowned virtuoso violinist of the 18th and 19th centuries, George Bridgetower. In the age of the global slave trade, competing empires, and revolution, Bridgetower exemplified the refinement, sophistication, and mastery of the classical era while rubbing elbows with the European elite. Featured Music: "Henry, A Ballade," by George Bridgetower, feat. soprano Benita Borbonus "Violin Sonata No. 9, Mvt. 3: Finale," by Ludwig Van Beethoven, feat. violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy Support the Show.

Angela and Joshua welcome dramatic soprano and Artistic Director of the Fort Worth Opera, Afton Battle. Known for her tenacity, vision, and unapologetic commitment to programming operatic works that are a true reflection of the communities they serve, Ms. Battle outlines the importance of intentionality in a field that continues to push Black and brown artists to the margins. Featured Music: "Fruhling," by Richard Strauss, feat. Jessye Norman "Agnus Dei," from An African-American Requiem by Damien Geter "Triumphal March," from Aida by Verdi Statement from Ms. Battle: "The most disrespected person in America, is the Black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman." - Malcolm X On July 5, 2022, I made the difficult decision to resign from Fort Worth Opera. I did not step into this lightly. However, when respect is no longer being served, I must protect myself, and leave the table." Support the Show.