Celebrations & Revelations 2021

Pianist, organist and composer Rashaan Rori Allwood, violinist Tanya Charles Iveniuk, trumpeter William Franklyn Leathers and soprano Nadine Anyan will surprise and delight you with the music of Black composers whose names have been neglected in Western classical music tradition, and who you will want to add to your playlist. From the great Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a prolific composer, violinist and conductor who was born to an enslaved Black woman in 1745 in the French colony of Guadeloupe; to the self taught Erroll Garner, considered one of the most distinctive of all pianists, who was born in Pittsburg Pennsylvania in 1921. Garner proved that it was possible to be a sophisticated player without knowing how to read music yet he produced extraordinary jazz compositions such as the popular ‘Misty’. We add a special treat of poetry of Langston Hughes set to music. Then prepare to be awed by young Rashaan Allwood who offers a selection of his own compositions.

It is our great pleasure to continue to offer our audiences the important opportunity to reclaim a forgotten part of Black musical heritage and to discover great artists both of the past and the future.