Black History Month
Throughout the month of February, KMFA honors the contributions of Black and African American musicians, composers, and performers. In addition to regular selections featured throughout the month, we’ve set aside several opportunities for deeper listening.
FRIDAYS IN FEBRUARY
Friday mornings at 9 a.m., Reneé Beale features a series of performances by significant African American performers.
- 2/6: Awadagin Pratt plays Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition
- 2/13: The Imani Winds play music by Ravel and Jeff Scott, their horn player
- 2/20: André Watts plays Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- 2/27: Althea Waites plays the Piano Sonata in e-minor by Florence Price
At 11 a.m., Dianne Donovan spends the month honoring the late great conductor James DePreist.
- 2/6: Mozart’s Symphony No.29 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
- 2/13: Rodion Shchedrin’s arrangement of Bizet’s Carmen Suite, Carmen Ballet with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic
- 2/20: Sergei Prokofiev’s Cinderella Suite with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic
- 2/27: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.2 with the Oregon Symphony
In the afternoons at 3 p.m., Music Director Chris Johnson explores the great symphonic works of William Grant Still, the “Dean of African American Composers."
- 2/6: John Jeter leads the Ft. Smith Symphony in the symphonic poem Africa
- 2/13: Neeme Järvi leads the Detroit Symphony in the Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American)
- 2/20: Neeme Järvi leads the Detroit Symphony in the Symphony No. 2 (Song of a New Race)
- 2/27: John Jeter leads the Ft. Smith Symphony in the Symphony No. 5 (Western Hemispere)
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
February 1, 12 p.m.: You'll hear from Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Kathleen Battle, and Awadagin Pratt. The highlight of the afternoon is a selection of highlights from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess as performed in the seminal 1963 recording with Leontyne Price and William Warfield.
February 4, 11 a.m.: Introducing Black History Month with a selection of music featuring both Black and African American composers and performers. Performances featuring conductor James DePreist and pianist Awadagin Pratt in addition to selections by composers J. Rosamond Johnson, Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas and Antonin Dvorak, the composer who was invited to America and who was the first to suggest that classical composers of this country should look to sources such as Spirituals and Native American dance rhythms for inspiration.
February 7
8 a.m.: A Morning of Black and African American composers, performers, and artists. Includes a performance of the Nonet by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and John McGlaughlin Williams conducting music by American composer John Alden Carpenter.
3:10 p.m.: (after The Metropolitan Opera Broadcast) Kathleen Battle sings André Previn’s Honey and Rue
February 14, 3:40 p.m.: (after The Metropolitan Opera Broadcast) Jessye Norman sings Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs
February 15, 12-2 p.m.: Carmel O’Donovan brings you two hours of music featuring Black and African-American composers and performers. Highlights include music by Edward “Duke” Ellington, R. Nathaniel Dett, and a selection of spirituals sung by Austin’s own Conspirare. We also hear an aria by Richard Strauss sung by soprano Leontyne Price and an art song by American composer Derek Bermel sung by Texas-based baritone Timothy Jones.
February 22, 12 p.m.: Scenes from The Song of Hiawatha by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, performed by the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Soloists
Check back here throughout February for updates.
Photo credits:
Kathleen Battle | Author Unknown [Source]
William Grant Still | Carl Van Vechten [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor | Author Unknown via Wikimedia Commons
Jessye Norman | Photo by Carol Friedman