The  University  Of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill  
Department  of  Music    
And  Videmus  
 
 
 
Present  
 
 
 
A  Symposium  of  Celebration:  
 
Margaret  Allison  Bonds    
(1913-­1972)    
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
  
Saturday,  March  2,  2013  
 
The  University  of  North  Carolina  Chapel  Hill  
                               Person  Recital  Hall  
 
9:30-­‐10:30   Welcome  and  an  introduction  to  Margaret  Bonds  
       
10:30-­‐11:15   Discussion:    Bonds,  Price  and  the  Researcher  
 
11:30-­‐12   Performance:  Discovering  Florence  Price  
      Richard  Heard,  tenor  (Wake  Forest  University)  
      Roy  Belfield,  piano  (University  of  Maryland,  Eastern  Shore)  
     
12:00-1:00 Keynote Address: Florence B. Price and Margaret Bonds:
Musical Lives and Enduring Friendship
Dr.  Rae  Linda  Brown  
Vice  President  for  Undergraduate  Education    
Loyola  Marymount  University    
 
1:30-­‐3:00   Brown  bag  lunch    -­  "The  Price  of  Admission"  
Terrance  McKnight  
 WQXR  host  and  former  Morehouse  Professor  of  Music    
 
3:30-­‐5:00   Discussion:  
Bonds  Between  the  Lines—Reflections  by  Her  Contemporaries  
Charlotte  Holloman  (Howard  University)    
    Elvira  Green  (North  Carolina  Central  University)  
 
5:15-­‐  6:30   Lecture/Recital:    The  Jazz,  Musical  Theatre,  and  Art  Songs  of  
Margaret  Allison  Bonds  
Alethea  Kilgore,  Mezzo-­Soprano  
 (Florida  A  &  M  University  and  ABD,  Florida  State  University)  
Lindsey  B.  Sarjeant,  pianist  (Florida  A  &  M  University)  
 
8:00                                  Concert  -­‐  Hill  Hall  Auditorium  
A  Concert  of  Celebration:  Margaret  Bonds  and  Florence  Price  
Darryl  Taylor,  countertenor,  Louise  Toppin,  soprano    
Jeanne  Fischer,  soprano,  Thomas  Otten,  piano,    
Karen  Walwyn,  piano,  and  Deborah  Hollis,  piano        
  

 
 
 
Sunday,  March  3,  2013  
 
North  Carolina  Central  University  
 
Edwards  Music  Building  Room  201  
 
 

12:00-­‐1:00   Lecture:  Reconstructing  the  Musical  Landscape  of  Margaret  Bonds  

      Tim  Holley,  (North  Carolina  Central  University)  
           
1:15-­‐2:15   Lecture:  Bonds  and  Price  at  the  Keyboard  
 Gregory  Thompson,  piano  (Winston  Salem  State  University)    
 
2:30-­‐3:30   Lecture:  The  Sacred  Works  of  Margaret  Bonds  
      Gerald  Knight,  (Elon  University)  
     
3:45-­‐4:45              Lecture:    The  Ballad  of  the  Brown  King  
    Ashley  Jackson,  (ABD,  Juilliard  Conservatory)  
   
5:00-­‐6:00   B.  N.  Duke  Auditorium  
Concert:  The  Sacred  Bonds  
                      Meisha  Adderly,  piano,  Tim  Holley,  cello  
  Lenora  Helm,  soprano,  Cornelius  Johnson,  tenor  
  Louise  Toppin,  piano  
  NCCU  concert  choir,  Richard  Banks,  conductor  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

 
 
 
Saturday,  March  2,  2013  
 
Person  Recital  Hall  
 
11:30-­12    
 
Performance:  Discovering  Florence  Price  
 
Richard  Heard,  tenor  
Roy  L.  Belfield,  piano  
 
 
An  April  Day  
Sunset  
 
Four  Encore  Songs  
Tobacco  
A  Flea  And  A  Fly  
Come,  Come  Said  Tom’s  Father  
Song  Of  The  Open  Road  
 
I’m  Working  On  My  Building  
My  Little  Soul’s  Goin  To  Shine  
Weary  Traveler  
I’m  Goin’  To  Lay  Down  My  Heavy  Load  
 
  

 
 
Student  Performances  
 
Saturday,  March  2,  2013  
 
1:30-­‐3:00   Brown  bag  lunch    -­  "The  Price  of  Admission"  
Terrance  McKnight  
 WQXR  host  and  former  Morehouse  Professor  of  Music    
 
 
At  de  Feet  o  Jesus       Florence  Price  
Trouble  Done  Come  My  Way  
 
Emily  Spokas,  mezzo-­soprano  
Valerie  Elvers,  piano  
 
 
 
 
3:30-­‐5:00   Bonds  Between  the  Lines—Reflections  by  Her  Contemporaries  
Charlotte  Holloman  (Howard  University)    
    Elvira  Green  (North  Carolina  Central  University)  
 
  From  Songs  of  the  Seasons     Margaret  Bonds  
    Young  Love  in  Springtime  
    Poem  d’Automne  
 
  Kayla  Hill,  soprano  
  Louise  Toppin,  piano  
 
 
 
  
 
 
The African-American Spiritual Arrangements, Jazz and Art Songs of
Margaret Allison Bonds (1913-1972)
Presented By:

Alethea Kilgore, mezzo-soprano

Lindsey Sarjeant, pianist

Saturday March 2, 2013

Person Recital Hall

5:15PM

PROGRAM:

I-Overview of Solo Vocal Works (1932-1972)

II-The Jazz Compositions:

A. Margaret Bonds and The Tin Pan Alley
B. Lyricist Andy Razaf
a. Peachtree Street, 1939*
C. Lyricist Harold Dickinson
a. Spring Will Be So Sad, 1941*
III-The Art-Songs
A. Overview
B. Margaret Bonds As A Poet
a. Bound*
C. The Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
a. Langston Hughes
i. Songs of the Season
ii. Three Dream Portraits
b. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps
i. Tropics After Dark
c. Countee Cullen

D. The Other American Poets

a. Marjorie May
b. Janice Lovoos and Edmund Penney
i. The Pot Pourri Songs
c. Robert Frost
d. Edna St. Vincent Millay
e. Roger Chaney
i. Mist Over Manhattan*
ii. Let’s Make a Dream Come True*

IV-The African-American Spiritual Arrangements

A. The Leontyne Price Commissions
a. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot: Fourteen Spirituals, 1962
b. I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel To Be Free, 1971

V-Conclusion
A. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand*

*Performed by Alethea Kilgore and Lindsey Sarjeant

  
 
Saturday, March 2, 2013

Hill Hall Auditorium

8:00pm

A Concert of Celebration: Margaret Bonds and

Florence Price
Darryl Taylor, countertenor
Louise Toppin, soprano
Jeanne Fischer, soprano
Thomas Otten, piano
Karen Walwyn, piano
Deborah Hollis, piano
Program

Hold Fast to Dreams Florence Price

Sympathy (1887-1953)
Louise Toppin, soprano
Deborah Hollis, piano

An April Day Florence Price

Out of the South Blew a Wind
Jeanne Fischer, soprano
Deborah Hollis, piano
Night Florence Price
To a brown girl dead Margaret Bonds
Four Encore Songs Florence Price
Tobacco(Graham Lee Hemminger)
A Flea And A Fly (Anon.)
Come, Come Said Tom’s Father (Thomas Moore)
Song Of The Open Road (Ogden Nash)

Darryl Taylor, countertenor

Deborah Hollis, piano

Sonata in E Minor Florence Price

Andante
Andante
Scherzo
Karen Walwyn, piano

Intermission

Spiritual Suite for Piano Margaret Bonds

The Valley of the Bones (1913-1972)
(based on the spiritual Dry Bones)
The Bells
(based on Peter go ring dem bells)
Troubled Water
(based on Wade in the Water)

Thomas Otten, piano

The Pasture Margaret Bonds

Feast
Little David
Stopping by Woods
Summer Storm from Songs of the Season
Louise Toppin, soprano
Deborah Hollis, piano

We would like to acknowledge the support and generosity of the Center for Black
Music Research, The Schomberg Collection, Classical Vocal Reprints, Dr. Rae
Linda Brown and Charlotte Holloman. All of these individuals were instrumental
in providing access to the rarely performed scores on this concert.

Following the concert, please join us for a reception in the Lobby.

  
 
Sunday,  March  3,  2013  
 
B.  N.  Duke  Auditorium  
 
5:00pm  
 
The  Sacred  Bonds  
 
Cornelius Johnson, tenor
Lenora Helm, soprano
Timothy Holley, cello
Meisha Adderly, piano
Aleen Pocock,  piano
Louise Toppin, piano
NCCU choir, directed by Richard Banks

Program

My Dream Florence Price

The Negro Speaks of Rivers Margaret Bonds
Lenora Helm, soprano
Aleen Pocock,piano

Troubled Water, for cello and piano Margaret Bonds

(c.1964, transcribed for Kermit Moore)
Timothy Holley, cello
Aleen Pocok,piano
Three Dream Portraits Margaret Bonds
Minstrel Man
Dream Variations
I, Too

Joshua Fit De Battle Margaret Bonds

You Can Tell The World
My Soul's Been Anchored In The Lord Florence Price
Cornelius Johnson, tenor
Louise Toppin, piano

Fantasie Negre Florence Price

Meisha Adderly, piano

Intermission

The Ballad of the Brown King (1954, rev.1960, text by Langston Hughes) Margaret
Bonds
I. Of The Three Wise Men
II. They Brought Fine Gifts
III. Sing Alleluia!
IV. Mary Had A Little Baby
V. Now When Jesus Was Born
VI. Could He Have Been An Ethiope?
VII. Oh, Sing Of The King Who Was Tall And Brown
VIII. That Was A Christmas Long Ago
IX. Alleluia!

NCCU Operatorio Ensemble and Centennial Choir

Richard Banks, conductor
Aleen Pocock, piano

We would like to acknowledge the support and generosity of the Center for Black
Music Research and Elvira Green for providing access to the rarely performed
scores presented on this concert.
 Program Notes

Dr. Timothy Holley

North Carolina Central University

Troubled  Water  

In the Appendix to her book on Black Women Composers: A Genesis, Mildred Denby Green includes mention of a fascinating
“hidden gem” of the repertoire of African-American recital music: an undated work, “Troubled Water” for cello and piano of
Margaret Bonds. While it was only mentioned as a piece for cello and piano, "Troubled Water" is originally the closing
movement of Spiritual Suite for solo piano composed between 1952 and 1967. (The first two movements of the Suite are Valley
of the Bones--based on "Dry Bones", and The Bells--based on "Peter Go Ring Dem Bells".) The solo piano suite received
performances by Bonds and Joan Holley on their respective Town Hall recitals (1952 and 1962). The cello-piano “arrangement
and transcription” of “Troubled Water” was done for the cellist Kermit Moore in the mid-1960s (an arrangement of “I Want Jesus
To Walk With Me” was also done that same year, but sadly it has disappeared). Both Moore and Bonds had the same artist
representative at the time, so they would get booked for tour dates together quite often. This work provided both “representative”
repertoire for their varied recital programs, and it certainly showcased their compositional and instrumental strengths, both
technically and musically. Like the original version for solo piano, it is based on the spiritual “Wade In The Water”; however,
this work’s sense of musical flow and phrasing must be approached and handled in a different manner since the cello is given a
variety of additional “chamber” and “orchestral” responsibilities. Aside from the reassignment of cello lines, two extra measures
of transition are added for purposes of more effective phrasing and proportion. Moore and Bonds performed this work often in
concert; Moore also performed it as part of Bonds’ ballet score, The Migration.

The Christmas cantata, The Ballad Of The Brown King, was composed in the early 1950s amid a flurry of musical, educational,
theatrical and administrative activities for Margaret Bonds. Having moved from Chicago to New York in 1939, she was already
a seasoned veteran of the busy life of a performing musician, balancing these and other activities that easily speak of a herculean
creative drive and accomplishment. A longtime friend and collaborator with Langston Hughes, it is quite probable that the
genesis of this work developed out of Hughes’ ongoing poetic expression of the desire to achieve and maintain social and
political equality among African-Americans in the United States. The focus on the “brown-ness and Afro-ethnicity” of one of the
wise men in Hughes’ adaptation of the original Biblical narrative is unmistakably reflective of that expressed mindset. Such
influence resident within the text and music also speaks of the growing push for national independence and colonial emancipation
in several African nations from European powers; it also forms a recognizable parallel to the Civil Rights Movement, both of
which would culminate during the 1960s.

The Ballad was originally composed as a large song cycle for voice and piano, and then revamped as a choral work with piano
(or orchestral) accompaniment. The music contains a variety of stylistic influences, but the popular Caribbean calypso melodies
and rhythms can be heard ostensibly alternating with the traditional hymn-like choral style practiced in churches and schools.
The narrative and contemplative focus of the text progresses like a silver thread between each of the work's nine movements;
however, interesting varieties of treatment and "narrative voice" emerge with each movement. The tenor solo in the first
movement announces the coming of the Brown King ("Of The Three Wise Men who came to the King, one was a brown man, so
they sing"), while the mixed chorus in the second movement is a "corporate" description of the gifts brought by the three Wise
Men, and their adoration of the Christ-Child. The third movement is a brief a cappella chorus of praise to the Christ-Child; its
early placement and brevity implies that it may have been intended for inclusion and "congregational" use in performance. The
fourth movement diverts attention away from the Wise Men to Mary and the baby Jesus in the manger. This movement takes on
the communal musical character of the Negro spiritual through its "conversational" dialogue between the soprano soloist and the
chorus, speaking of the joyous optimism coming into the world with the Nativity of Christ.

The men's voices are featured as "narrative elders" speaking in the fifth movement--as if they "just happened to be in the general
vicinity" when the Wise Men arrived inquiring, "Where is He that is born"? This movement's rolling accompaniment somehow
describes the astronomical "stellar association" of the Wise Men to the Star that led them to the town of Bethlehem. The central
question within the The Ballad Of The Brown King resides within the text of the sixth movement, which pays particular regard to
the ethnicity of the Brown King among the Wise Men ("Could He Have Been An Ethiope"?). The introduction contains a strong
Arab musical influence, clearly presaging specific mention of Arabia amid the line of questions that ensue between baritone,
soprano and tenor soloists and the chorus. A double-edged joy radiates within the music of “Oriental” tone and flavor, oscillating
reflectively between minor and major tonalities. As the men sang as "narrating elders" in the sixth movement, the seventh
movement features the women (as admiring "ladies a-waiting") singing in praise of the Brown King crossing the desert on a
caravan. The piano introduction contains some of the most harmonically arresting music of the entire work, reflecting the sheer
exotic flavor of Saharan culture the Brown King brought with him to Bethlehem. The abbreviated eighth movement returns to a
variant of the work’s opening melody as the narrative reprises itself in an effort to remind the listener of the whole story and the
Brown King's place in it. In the final movement the brevity of praise in the third movement gives way to unrestrained "angelic"
praise. In Langston's interpretation of Biblical narrative, the angels might have sung to those shepherds concurrently with the
journey of the Wise Men to Bethlehem!! The musical effect of unrestrained praise, however, is somehow strangely "deferred" in
its arrival: the praise starts at a pianissimo dynamic, taking almost half of the movement's duration to arrive at a forte--to the
exultation of the “orchestral” piano interlude, only to begin the ascent again with a much greater sense of dramatic arrival the
second time. The chorus--and full congregation indeed--share in the "total praise effect" of the completion of the Brown King's
Ballad as the opening melodies used to weave the story together are included in the final "Alleluias".

The original version of The Ballad Of The Brown King received its premiere on December 12, 1954, at the East Side Settlement
House in New York City by the George McClain Singers. This version would lay dormant for several years until Bonds returned
to it, having been inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King's growing prominence as the leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She
requested that Langston Hughes write two additional poems for her to set to music for inclusion in a revised version of the
Ballad. The sense of wordplay in the work’s title was most appropriate—it was dedicated to Dr. King. The second version
received its premiere on December 11, 1960, in New York City at the Clark Street YMCA, performed by the Westminster Choir
of the Church of the Master (conducted by Theodore Stemp) and the New York City College Orchestra, with the composer
conducting. The performance was also televised by CBS on a program Christmas U.S.A.

The choral score to The Ballad Of The Brown King was published by Sam Fox Publishers in 1961. A full orchestral score exists
in manuscript form among the Helen Walker Hill Papers at the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago. In light of the fact
that the score is in the CBMR Archives, the question remains a mystery as to whether of not any additional full choral and
orchestral performances were done in the composer's lifetime. Fortunately, there have been numerous choral performances with
piano, and there has been at least one performance in Chicago using a chamber orchestration by Michael Teolis (strings, piano,
timpani and percussion) in 2012.
 Artist Bios
MEISHA ADDERLEY is one America’s leading young pianists acclaimed by critics for her “calm restraint” and
“tempestuous and stormy” playing. Her virtuosity has led to performances across the United States and abroad
including Italy, Australia, and the United Kingdom. As an emerging artist,she won the Paul W. Hagan Concerto
Competition and, most recently, completed a residency as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the University of
Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music where she lectured and performed throughout the continent. Her first of a series of
compact discs of contemporary piano duo works entitled Adderley & Holliday: Piano Duo Project, on which she was
the first to record all of William Grant Still’s piano duo works among others by Afro-American composers, was
released by Albany Records in 2012. An accomplished pedagogue, Dr. Adderley has presented her research and
instructional methodology at national and regional conferences and symposia including those of the National
Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and Music
Educators National Conference. With an active schedule as clinician, adjudicator, and soloist throughout the nation and
abroad, her articles have been published in the Music Educators Journal and the Southern Music Education Journal. A
master teacher and dedicated educator, she was awarded the “Lois Bailey Glenn Award for Teaching Excellence” by
the National Music Foundation for a grant written for the implementation of an American Music project. She has
received additional grant awards from the Community Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, South Carolina
Arts Commission, and the Hamels Foundation for innovative educational projects for community music initiatives and
the Charleston (SC) and Philadelphia Public Schools. Dr. Adderley earned a Performance Diploma from the University
of Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Australia), the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in
performance and pedagogy from the University of South Carolina, and the Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana
State University in performance. She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) with the Music Teachers
National Association and holds a professional teaching certificate in music with the South Carolina and Ohio State
Departments of Education. She serves on faculty at the Capital University Conservatory of Music where she teaches
piano and music theory.

RICHARD BANKS, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is an alumnus of Lincoln University (MO) and The University of
Michigan. Mr. Banks has a wealth of performance experience on the recital and operatic stages such as Chautauqua
Opera (NY), Grand Rapids Opera (MI), and the Long Leaf Opera Company (NC); and including significant
performances at Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.,
Harlem’s Apollo Theater and New York’s Carnegie Hall. A highly experienced pedagogue, choral director and
conductor, Richard has conducted campus performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, William Grant Still’s Highway
One, U.S.A., and George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, in celebration of the NCCU centennial in 2010. He serves as
Assistant Professor of Music, Coordinator of Vocal Studies, and Director of the NCCU Touring Choir and Operatorio
Ensemble.

ROY L. BELFIELD, JR., a native of Petersburg, Virginia, began his undergraduate studies in Music at Dillard
University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Morehouse College in
Atlanta, Masters’ degrees in Choral Music Education and Organ Performance from Florida State University in
Tallahassee, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Conservatory of Music. He has done additional studies in vocal pedagogy and choral conducting at the University of
Alabama and Pennsylvania State University. Belfield studied choral conducting with David Morrow, Rodney
Eichenberger, and Lynn Drafall. His organ teachers have included Carl G. Harris, Jr., Clarence E. Whiteman, Herman
D. Taylor, Joyce F. Johnson, Michael L. Corzine, and John Obetz. Most recently, he accompanied Wake Forest
University music faculty member and tenor Richard Heard, as they recorded a CD of art songs and spirituals by
Florence B. Price. As composer and arranger, Dr. Belfield has written works for chorus, voice and piano, and organ.
His choral and organ works are published by Hal Leonard Corporation, MorningStar Music, GIA Publications, and
Wayne Leupold Editions. Dr. Belfield’s scholarly articles have been published in The American Organist and the
Choral Journal. His primary research includes the choral and organ works of Phillip McIntyre. Dr. Belfield is
currently Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Dr. Belfield frequently serves as a choral adjudicator, guest conductor, concert organist, and accompanist across the
country. His performances venues have included the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C, Carnegie Hall,
the Lincoln Center in New York, Bennett College, Fayetteville State University, Hampton University, Pennsylvania
State University, Salem College, Spelman College, Virginia State University, Wake Forest University, and Winston-
Salem State University. His European performances as a concert organist and accompanist have taken him to
Schorndorf, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. In 2006 and 2011, he was commissioned by Pennsylvania State
University to compose works for Essence of Joy, a choral ensemble that promotes the African-American choral
tradition.

MARGARET BONDS, received her music education from composers Florence Price, William Dawson, Robert
Starer, and Roy Harris, and at the Juilliard School of Music and Northwestern University, where she earned Bachelor
and Master of Music degrees. Bonds was prolific as a composer, performer, editor, producer, and teacher. Bonds was a
lifelong friend of Langston Hughes; and was inspired to set many of his poems to music, including The Negro Speaks
of Rivers (1942) and Three Dream Portraits (1959). Her arrangements of spirituals are renowned for their syncopated
rhythms, jazz chords, and ragtime influences. Her most frequently performed spiritual arrangement, He’s Got the
Whole World in His Hand, was commissioned by Leontyne Price and recorded by her on a RCA recording of spirituals
entitled Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Bonds’s compositions include art songs, choral works, orchestral works, piano
pieces, and popular songs. Her popular music was recorded by Glenn Miller and Woody Herman. Ms. Bonds was a
dedicated spokesperson for the dissemination of African-American music, was an active member of the National
Association of Negro Musicians, and supported the creation of wider opportunities for Negro artists and musicians.

RAE LINDA BROWN, PH.D., has completed a biography of composer Florence B. Price and has been involved in
editing many of Price’s scores for performance and recording, including on the Koch and Cambria labels. She works
with orchestras nationwide, as well as solo performers, who are interested in performing the music of Florence Price.
Dr. Brown has edited much of Price’s music for publication, including orchestral scores, art songs and arrangements of
spirituals, piano and organ music. Professor Brown lectures nationwide on American and African American music. Her
articles have appeared in American Music, Black Music Research Journal, Black Music in the Harlem Renaissance: A
Collection of Essays (1990), and the New Grove Dictionary of Music. She was the music editor of the five-volume
Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture (Macmillan, 1996). Prof. Brown serves as Associate Provost
for Undergraduate Education at Loyola Marymount University and holds the faculty position of Professor of Music. Dr.
Brown earned her B.S. in Music Education from the University of Connecticut, a M.A. in African American Studies,
and a Ph.D. in musicology from Yale University. Prior to coming to LMU she held full-time faculty and administrative
positions at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Michigan. In 2004-2005 she was a Fellow of the
American Council on Education and served as a member of the President David Oxtoby’s leadership team at Pomona
College.

Soprano JEANNE FISCHER sings in a variety of classical genres ranging from baroque to modern. Her
performances include appearances with The Bach Sinfonia, The Smithsonian Chamber Players, The Publick Musick,
The Dryden Ensemble, Ensemble Courant, the Magnolia Baroque Festival, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and the
Dartinton International Festival.
She is the winner of national and international voice competitions, including the Voce Young Soloists’ Competition,
the Royal Academy of Music’s Ethel Bilsland Singing Prize, and the University of Maryland’s Pomeroy Scholarship
for achievement in 18th-century music. A native of North Carolina, Dr. Fischer holds degrees from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA), the Royal Academy of Music (MMus), and the University of Maryland (DMA).
Following her undergraduate studies, she was awarded a British Marshall Scholarship for graduate work at London’s
Royal Academy of Music. There she received the DipRAM, the Academy’s highest honor, given for an exceptional
final recital. She was also selected to sing at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, as part of their Outstanding Young Artists’
Series. Her teachers and coaches have included Linda Mabbs, John Greer, Beatrice Unsworth, Ian Partridge, Iain
Ledingham, and Donald Milholin. Dr. Fischer is currently a Senior Lecturer in Voice at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches studio voice and diction. She has also served on the summer faculties of
Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute and the Magnolia Baroque Festival and Institute at the University of North
Carolina School of the Arts.

ELVIRA GREEN, a native North Carolinian and alumna of NCCU, spent more than forty years on the worldwide
operatic, concert and musical theatre stages. Two historical recordings featuring Elvira are housed at the Smithsonian
Performing Archives: Handel’s Messiah with original instruments, and Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta. While
living in New York City, Elvira premiered Music of Women of African Descent at Merkin Concert Hall, with
subsequent performances throughout the United States. In collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and Kathleen Battle,
Elvira organized and presented Sylvia Speaks--three evenings at CAMI Hall with the eminently renowned musical
coach, the late Sylvia Olden Lee. For the past seven years, Elvira has served on the faculty at her alma mater as Artist-
in-Residence.

LENORA HELM HAMMONDS is a jazz vocal musician, composer, lyricist and educator with over two decades of
performing and composing experience, garnering international acclaim. A former U.S. Jazz Ambassador under the
auspices of the State Department and Kennedy Center, With six solo recordings and her own recording and publishing
company, Zenzalai Music, she can be heard on numerous recordings with the biggest names in Jazz. Though most of
her 25-year span of musical achievements as a Jazz Vocal Musician specializing in traditional jazz standard and
original repertoire to critical accolades, she also has touring, recording and performing credits in many genres --
including R&B, Neo-Soul, and Pop, Theater and Opera. As a TV and film music composer, notable music credits
include several compositions featured in the 2012 Black History Month promo campaigns on ESPN. Amidst a busy
performance and composing career, Ms. Hammonds is passionately involved in a number of educational initiatives -
emerging as a respected leader in arts education and online curriculum development. In 2011, Lenora began working
on her new book, Vocal Jazz Performer Readiness Guidebook, and in 2012 was asked to write a vocal jazz
syllabus for the University of South Africa, Pretoria (UNISAThis work lay the foundation for the 2013 launch of
VocalJazzOnline.com, an online membership community of musicians and music educators committed to enhancing
musicianship for singers. A graduate from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in Film Music
Scoring/Voice, and a Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance from East Carolina University, Helm is on the music
faculty at North Carolina Central University in Durham, and co-directs their NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Her touring
trio includes pianist Ryan Hanseler, bassist Lance E. Scott, Jr., and drummer Larry Q. Draughn, Jr. Their latest release,
I Love Myself When I’m Laughing is available on CDBaby and iTunes and was noted amongst an elite list of jazz
releases (and the only vocal bandleader release) as "30 for 2012" recordings by Independent Ear. This recording also
joined the distinction with her previous releases (in 2003 and 2004) garnering inclusion on the 2013 Grammy ballot
for consideration of nomination in vocal jazz and arranging categories.
Visit her at www.LenoraHelm.com and www.VocalJazzOnline.com

Lyric tenor RICHARD HEARD, 2009 Silver Medal Winner in the American Traditions Voice Competition, is
Associate Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina. A regional finalist of the
Metropolitan Opera Auditions, he has received prestigious awards and grants from the National Society of Arts and
Letters, Rotary International, the Fuchs Opera Awards and Mu Phi Epsilon. A graduate of Southern Methodist
University and University of California, Mr. Heard made his operatic debut at the Aspen Music Festival and has since
won praise for his characterizations of leading tenor roles in Italian Bel canto opera and in all of the major Mozart
repertoire. His performance of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore was pronounced “… clear, strong and
effortless. He drew the most sustained applause of the evening when he unleashed his full power…” (Press Citizen,
Iowa City). As a concert singer, Mr. Heard has been engaged by orchestras across the western, mid-western, and
southern regions of the United States, specializing in the works of Back, Handel, Haydn and Mozart. Mr. Heard has
appeared with Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Charlotte Repertory Orchestra, Choral Society of Greensboro, Dallas
Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Lake Charles Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Mississippi
Symphony, Piedmont Chamber Singers, Raleigh Oratorio Society, Roanoke Symphony, Salisbury-Rowan Symphony,
Virginia Beach Symphony and Winston Salem Symphony. Mr. Heard’s recital appearances include Bennett College,
Cameron University, Davidson County College, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University,
Gardner-Webb University, High Point University, Grinnell College, Jackson State University, Mississippi College,
Morehouse College, North Carolina A&T University, St. Mary’s College of the Plains, Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, Southwest Missouri State University, Spelman College, Tougaloo College, University of Arkansas,
University of Northern Iowa, University of Southern Mississippi and Wake Forest University. Mr. Heard made his
European debut in December 1994, performing concerts in Merzig, Emden and Berlin. He has returned to Europe on
several occasions performing concerts of Spirituals with Spiritual Voices, an ensemble based in Dallas, Texas. In the
summer of 1996 he made his debut with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional in Costa Rica performing the role of Remus in
Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. In 2000, he gave the world premiere performance of William Banfield’s opera Luyala with
Triangle Opera Company. Mr. Heard released his first compact disc in October 1998 featuring Art Songs by African-
American Composers. He is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon, National Association of Teachers of Singing, National
Association of Negro Musicians, and serves as Director of American Singers Opera Project (ASOP), a two-week
summer opera workshop held at Wake Forest University. In June 2012, Mr. Heard released My Dream, a CD of art
songs and spirituals by Florence Price. An anthology of selected Florence Price art songs and spirituals will be
forthcoming in 2014.

TIMOTHY HOLLEY, cellist is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College and the University of Michigan where he
studied with Regina Mushabac, Jerome Jelinck, Jeffrey Solow and Erling Blondal Bengisson. He was a member of the
Toledo Symphony Orchestra for twelve years and also performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His doctoral
dissertation focused on the cello music of African-American composers and he remains active in the study and
performance of African American concert music. He has given lectures on the poetry of Langston Hughes and its
connective influence on the music of Howard Swanson, and the “misconnected history” of Beethoven, Bridgetower and
the Kreutzer Sonata. He has made cello transcriptions of works by William Grant Still, and contributed encyclopedia
entries on the Negro String Quartet and the Symphony of the New World. He has given premiere performances of
works by T. J. Anderson (Spirit Songs, written for the cellist Yo-Yo Ma), William Banfield (Soul Gone Home for
soprano and chamber ensemble with Nneena Freelon), and Trevor Weston (Life Goes for soprano and chamber
ensemble with Louise Toppin). He has also performed Valerie Capers’ Song of the Seasons for soprano, cello and piano
with Louise Toppin, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. He is an Associate Professor of Music at
North Carolina Central University.

CHARLOTTE WESLEY HOLLOMAN, soprano, holds a bachelor of Music from Howard University, a Master of
Arts in Voice and Music Education from Columbia University, wih additional studies at the Guildhall School of Music,
London, England, and the Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood, MA. She was awarded a grant from the Martha Baird
Rockefeller Foundation for study and concert appearances in Europe which led to study with master teachers and
coaches in New York, London, Berlin and Milan, and continuous contracts with the German Opera. Her concert debuts
in New York and London brought extraordinary acclaim. The New York Times reported a "vocal range and facility
nothing short of phenomenal", and the Times of London headlined its review "a rare Strauss voice." Her other
appearances include concert performances as soloist with the Boston Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the
Cosmopolitan Symphony of the Air, and the New York Chamber Players. Among other performances, Holloman
created major operatic characters in more than thirteen operas in Germany, Switzerland and France with distinction and
praise. Her extensive repertoire includes twenty-two operas. She also generated credits for her roles in musical theater,
both on Broadway and off, as well as on tours. Upon her return from Europe, Holloman joined the adjunct faculty of
Lehman College (CUNY), where she served for five years and initiated her long carerr in higher education. She has
further had the privilege of associations and service on the faculties of The Catholic University of America, Northern
Virginia Community College (Annandale), the University of the District of Columbia and Howard University.
Spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, she continues with the last named institutions, while maintaining a
full private voice studio. A native of Washington, DC, Charlotte Holloman is the daughter of Dr. Charles H. Wesley
who was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers (1908-1911) and appeared alongside the famed tenor Roland Hayes, and
who served Howard University for thiry years as professor, head of the History Department and dean of the Graduate
School.

Pianist DEBORAH LEE HOLLIS has established herself as one of North Carolina Triangle’s most prominent
pianists. Esteemed by colleagues for her sensitivity and skill as a collaborative partner, she is in demand by singers and
instrumentalists alike. Hollis began her career in Chicago where she was pianist for the Chicago Symphony First
Chair Series. She served as the official accompanist for the Long Leaf Opera Company, the Eastern Music Festival
master classes with Ryan Anthony and David Krakauer, and is currently pianist for VOICES, the Chapel Hill
Community Chorus and Cantari. More recent concert highlights include performances with soprano Lucy (100) Hoyt
at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, Houston Orchestra flutist Aralee Dorough, and Elizabeth Pitcairn
performing on the Stradivarius “Red Violin.” Hollis holds piano performance degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and
the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has participated in master classes with collaborative pianists
Rudolph Jensen, Martin Katz, John Wustman, Warren Jones, and Clifford Benson. Previously on faculty at Guilford
College and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Dr. Hollis is currently a collaborative pianist and coach at
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ASHLEY JACKSON, harpist, age 26, is a resident of New York City. She is currently a candidate for the Doctor of
Musical Arts at the Juilliard School, studying with Nancy Allen. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale
College and a Master of Music degree in harp performance from the Yale School of Music. During her five years at
Yale, Ashley was the winner of the William Waite Concerto competition, the Berkeley Orchestra concerto competition,
and the Yale Friends of Music Recital competition. Upon graduation from Yale College in 2008, she was the recipient
of the Bach Society Prize from the Yale Department of Music and received an award for excellence in artistry from the
Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale University. In April 2012, Ashley received an award from the Theodore
Presser Foundation to present a series of lecture recitals titled “Music, Society, and the New Negro.” Ashley has
performed with the New York Philharmonic and the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed at Avery
Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space. As an educator, Ashley is an Adjunct Artist at
Vassar College, and she currently writes program notes for Bowdoin International Music Festival.

Tenor CORNELIUS JOHNSON’S voice has been described as “expressive and soaring” (The Post
Standard). Operatic career highlights include performances at the Opera Bastille in Paris, La Scala in Milan, the
Bunkamura Theater, with the Tokyo Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago “Opera In The
Neighborhoods”, Chautauqua Opera, Connecticut Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, Elgin Opera, Lake George Opera
Festival, Opera Memphis, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Shreveport Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Ravinia Music
Festival. Mr. Johnson has performed both leading and supporting roles in Carmen, La Boheme, The Magic Flute,
Porgy and Bess, Tosca, and Don Pasquale. On the concert stage Mr. Johnson has performed at Atlanta's Symphony
Center, and Spivey Hall, in New York at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall and The Schomburg Center for Research
in Black Culture, and with the Racine, Wheaton, New Millennium, Chicago Chamber and the Robert Shaw Festival
Orchestras. A classically trained tenor, Mr. Johnson performs a wide variety of genres of music with a particular
interest in music of the African-American experience. In addition to a busy performance schedule, Mr. Johnson is also
the Artistic Director of the South Shore Opera Company of Chicago and an Assistant Professor of Music with the City
Colleges of Chicago. Mr. Johnson holds memberships in several organizations including the Chicago Music
Association (Branch #1) of the National Association of Negro Musicians. A native of Chicago, Mr. Johnson received
degrees from Morehouse College and Northwestern University.

ALETHEA KILGORE is an Assistant Professor of Vocal Studies at Florida A & M University. Kilgore is also a
member of the National Association of Teachers for Singing and the Florida Music Educators Association. She holds a
Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music
from Florida State University College of Music where she will complete her Doctor of Music. She has performed as a
jazz and classical artist in Haiti, Europe, and the United States. Kilgore’s Doctoral Treatise is entitled, The Life and
Solo Vocal Works of Margaret Allison Bonds (1913-1972).

GERALD R. KNIGHT earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Benedict College, a Bachelor
of Music Degree in Voice Performance and a Master of Music Education Degrees from the University of South
Carolina, and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Music Education / Choral Conducting from The Florida State
University. Additionally, Knight has studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, The Citadel, Charleston, South
Carolina, Salzburg College in Salzburg, Austria, and the Studio Lirico, Cortona, Italy. Knight has spent recent summers
studying in Europe at the Goethe Institute in Freiburg, Germany and studying voice and vocal pedagogy with renowned
opera singer Ms. Grace Bumbry. Knight currently is Assistant Professor of Music at Elon University and he serves as
the Coordinator of the Music Education Program and Associate Director of Choral Activities. He teaches courses in
music education, voice, and he directs the Elon University Chorale

THOMAS OTTEN, pianist and Associate Professor at UNC Chapel Hill, has appeared in recital and as orchestral
soloist in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the National Press Club, the German
Embassy, and the Chautauqua and Brevard Summer Festivals; he has also performed at Severance Hall with the Miami
String Quartet. His performances have been broadcast on both coasts, including WQXR New York, WGMS
Washington, and KUSC Los Angeles. He has concertized in Germany numerous times, including a television
performance and a debut at the Gasteig in Munich. Dr. Otten has been the recipient of numerous national and
international prizes. A student of master teachers John Perry and Nelita True, Dr. Otten holds performance degrees
from the University of Southern California (DMA, MM) and the University of Maryland, College Park (BM, summa
cum laude). Dr. Otten chaired the piano division at UNC Chapel Hill for five years, where he is currently on the
faculty. From 1997-2002, he headed the piano area at Kent State University. His students have been prizewinners in
competitions throughout the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Otten is in demand as a performer and clinician, giving recitals,
master classes, and workshops throughout the U.S. He has performed at the national conventions of the Conductors’
Guild, the National Federation of Music Clubs, the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, and the American Liszt
Society. Dr. Otten’s debut CD, Tristan und Isolde: Piano Transcriptions of Franz Liszt, was released by MSR Classics
in 2005.

FLORENCE PRICE, born in 1888, is considered the first black woman in the United States to win recognition as a
composer. Her parents, both artistic, carefully guided her early musical training, and at age fourteen, she enrolled in the
New England Conservatory of Music with a major in piano and organ. She studied with George Chadwick and
Frederick Converse, writing her first string trio and symphony in college, and graduating in 1907 with honors and an
artist diploma and a teaching certificate. She taught in Arkansas from 1907-1927 and married Thomas J. Price, an
attorney, in 1912. After a series of racial incidents in Little Rock, the family moved to Chicago where Price began a
new and fulfilling period in her compositional career. She studied composition, orchestration, and organ with the
leading teachers in the city and published four pieces for piano in 1982. Her friendship with the young composer,
Margaret Bonds, resulted in a teacher-student relationship and the two women began to achieve national recognition for
their compositions and performances. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frederick Stock, premiered her
Symphony in E Minor on June 15, 1933. Price wrote other extended works for orchestra, chamber works, art songs,
works for violin, organ anthems, piano pieces, and spiritual arrangements. Some of her more popular works are: Three
Little Negro Dances, Songs to a Dark Virgin, My Soul’s Been Anchored in de Lord, and Moon Bridge. Florence Price
died in 1953.

LINDSEY SARJEANT is an Associate professor at Florida A&M University and serves as Director of Jazz Studies,
director of jazz ensembles and arranger for the famous March “100” Band, symphonic Band and jazz ensemble. He is
a brilliant jazz pianist, composer, jazz lecturer, jazz historian, adjudicator and jazz keyboard clinician. Mr. Sarjeant has
played with many professional jazz roups and has accompanied jazz greats such at Nat Adderley, Archie Shepp, Larry
Coryell, Phil Wilson, Slide Hamilton, Della Reese, Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Angela Winbush, Jean Kahn,
Phil Perry, Ronnie Laws and many others. His group toured the Soviet Union and gave five major performances in
Leningrad and Moscow.

DARRYL TAYLOR’S performances have been noted for their compelling artistry and authority. His is an
international career highlighted by performances of art song, opera and oratorio. His repertoire extends from Bach to
Britten, and beyond. Recent performance highlights include singing the title role in Phillip Glass’s Akhnates for Long
Beach Opera, Pergolesi and Vivaldi Stabat Maters with Lyra Baroque Orchestra of St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also
heard with composer Robert Owens at the piano, for Radio Bavaria, with jazz great Kenny Burrell at Royce Hall in Los
Angeles, and in recital at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.,DC.. Founder of the African
American Art Song Alliance (www.darryltaylor.com), Taylor has debuted numerous works. His recordings on Naxos
and Albany record labels have received critical praise. He is currently Vice President of the Board of Videmus.

Pianist, GREGORY THOMPSON, is Associate Professor of Music at Winston Salem State University in Winston
Salem, NC. He received the Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Limestone College, Gaffney, SC, the Master
of Music in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, and the
Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. Dr. Thompson has held professorships
at Morris College, Benedict College, Claflin University, Johnson C. Smith University, and Central State University. Dr.
Thompson has performed as a solo and collaborative artist in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His New York
Debut at Carnegie Hall was praised for his “intuitive feeling for phrase shapes, how to make a melodic line sing and
how to inflect it with delicate rubato effects”. Thompson’s performance career has afforded him the opportunity to
perform in many important venues including The Steinway Gallerie, Schloss Leopoldskron, and The Marmolle Hall in
Salzburg Austria. He has also performed with the Peabody Symphony, The Baltimore Symphony, The Charlotte
Philharmonic, and The South Carolina Philharmonic. In June of 2012, Dr. Thompson performed in recital in Paris,
France. His US performances have included Southern and Midwest regions of the country. As a collaborative artist,
Dr. Thompson has collaborated with various artists, including Tayo Aluko, Grace Bumbry, Derek Ragin, Wilhelmenia
Fernandez, Louise Toppin, Alvy Powell, Gordon Hawkins, Allan Glassman, Don Krim, Sam Cook, Leslie Burrs, and
other vocalists and instrumentalists. Thompson has presented master classes in the US and Asia. He is also Head of
Staff Pianists for the University of Miami at Salzburg Summer Program in Salzburg, Austria.

LOUISE TOPPIN has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United
States, Europe, Asia, South America, the Caribbean and New Zealand. Recital appearances include Carnegie Hall,
Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and Merkin Hall. Orchestral appearances include: the Czech National Symphony,
Mälmo Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), Tokyo City Orchestra (Japan), The Montevideo Philharmonic (Uruguay), and
the Scotland Festival Orchestra (Aberdeen) and many US orchestras. Opera roles include: the title role in the world
premiere of the opera Luyala by William Banfield; Treemonisha in Scott Joplin's Treemonisha; Mary in William Grant
Still’s Highway One, USA; Maria in the world premier of Joel Feigin’s opera Twelfth Night; The Queen of the Night in
Mozart’s Magic Flute; Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni; and Clara in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Recently, she
was contracted to sing Clara for Opera Carolina and Baltimore Opera. She toured with “A Gershwin Party” with pianist
Leon Bates and Bill Brown and appeared on such series as the Minnesota Pops Cabaret and NPR’s Performance Today.
She appears on 16 commercial CDs including: Songs of Illumination, (Centaur Records), Ah love, but a day (Albany),
More Still (Cambria), Witness (Albany) with the Czech National Symphony, Highway One (Albany), Poetry Preludes
(Albany), He’ll Bring it to Pass (Albany), A Hall Johnson collection published by Carl Fisher (2003) and Heart on the
Wall with the Dvorak Symphony Orchestra (2011) Represented by Joanne Rile Artists Management, she is Professor
and Area Head of Voice at UNC-Chapel Hill and the Director of Videmus. www.louisetoppin.com and
www.videmus.org (respectively)

KAREN WALWYN, concert pianist/composer and recording artist for Albany Records, recently premiered the
Florence Price Concerto for Piano (Albany Records) reviewed by Bob McQuiston at NPR “Walwyn provides a
magnificent account of the concerto displaying her considerable technical skills. “ Walwyn also made her
compositional debut at the Kennedy Center. Her debut received a tremendous standing ovation for her work for solo
piano entitled “Reflections on 9/11” “Imaginatively conceived and executed it is both disturbingly transposes the
catastrophe into appropriately cataclysmic sound and artistically suggests the aftermath’s lingering sense of numbing
devastation.” (Reviewed by Robert Schulslaper of Fanfare Magazine.) The demand for concerts of this seven-
movement ‘tour de force’ work continuously takes her across the nation for command performances. Walwyn is also
well for her recordings of two volumes of music by American composers entitled Dark Fires which she has performed
at her New York recital debut and on National Public Radio, (NPR) and on WFMT, Chicago, IL. Walwyn has received
splashing reviews and accolades as she has performed these works: “Walwyn was fearless throughout, managing every
challenge with precise fingers and heroic command of textures.”... “The pianism of Karen Walwyn lends to her artistic
abilities as a communicator.” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer). The American Record Guide says, “Walwyn is a confident
and impressive pianist…”. According to the Washington Post, “Karen Walwyn shows considerable range...she is
virtuosic, meditative, energetic...and vividly evocative ....”. Currently Walwyn was awarded the Mellon Faculty Award
Fellowship at Duke University for which she now on Sabbatical from Howard University. www.karenwalwyn.co
 Special Thanks:
Mark Katz, Dean Terry Rhodes,Ben Haas and Susan Williams and The Music Department
of The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

The Music Department of North Carolina Central University

Performing Arts Special Activities Fund

The Center for Black Music Research

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Janet Olsen, The Bonds Collection at Northwestern University

Classical Vocal Reprints

Helen Walker Hill

Dominique Rene DeLerma

Charlotte Holloman

Rae Linda Brown

Alethea Kilgore, Darryl Taylor

Maria Palombo and Kaswanna Kanyinda

Marquita Lister and Marvin Mills

RyOne (Natasha Gilliam and Ryan Stewart)

QueBee Cakes
 And all of the wonderful performers, presenters and participants.