On February 24th, the Church of the Holy Spirit of Lake Forest, Illinois presented a panel discussion on "The History and Evolution of the Negro Spiritual." Panelists included former Fisk Jubilee Singers Delano O'Banion, George Cooper, Robert Denson, and E.J. Murray. Nina Kennedy was the only non-Jubilee Singer panelist, as her father served as director of the group from 1957 to 1986. The Reverend Mother Jihan Murray-Smith, Associate Rector at the Church of the Holy Spirit, - and also a former Fisk Jubilee Singer - served as moderator. The conversation included much history of the Negro Spiritual starting with its origins on American plantations during slavery, and the importation of African melodies during the Middle Passage. Several recordings were heard including those of Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson.
Delano O'Banion
While the famous portrait of the Fisk Jubilee Singers commissioned by Queen Victoria was on the screen, Nina Kennedy shared information on Ella Sheppard, seated at the piano in the painting, who should be celebrated as an African-American woman composer of the 19th century, who notated arrangements of the spirituals sung by the group. It is no coincidence that George Cooper is the director and founder of the Ella Sheppard School of Music in Chicago.
George Cooper
Toward the end of the discussion, the Reverend Mother Murray-Smith played a video of the Fisk Jubilee Singers performing the spiritual "Steal Away." Nina Kennedy pointed out that the arrangement performed was her father's, and provided information on acquiring the sheet music for that arrangement. Several questions from the audience followed, including requests for an explanation on the difference between spirituals and gospel, and inquiries as to how many enslaved Africans were practicing Muslims. Kennedy clarified that the only legal gathering place for the enslaved was the church where biblical passages encouraging servitude were stressed. Delano O'Banion pointed out that gospel songs were composed in the 20th century, as opposed to spirituals that were sung on plantations and varied depending upon which plantation one came from.
E.J. Murray Jihan Murray-Smith
Order Matthew Kennedy's arrangements of "Steal Away" and "Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit" here.
Watch Nina Kennedy's master class with the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
James Baldwin As we are nearing the end of Black History Month, I find myself reading and listening to the words of James Baldwin. He became one of the most articulate voices of the Civil Rights Movement, yet it is hard to find any description or discussion - in his own words - of his life as a gay man. One could guess that he describes some of his gay life in the novel Giovanni's Room , which can easily be dismissed as a work of fiction. We know that he met the man who became the love of his life, Lucien Happersberger, in Paris in 1949, when Lucien was 17 and James was 25. The fact that Lucien was white could have served as proof that, at least in Baldwin's mind, black men and white men could love each other. But unfortunately, Baldwin chose to remain in the closet, using references to "... my wife" and "... my woman, my children..." in his interviews. The truth is, the most significant woman in his life was his mother, and the children he referred to were ...
Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili April Gibson and Nina Kennedy both contributed to this article to share their respective insights and opinions. April grew up listening to Hip Hop, Pop, R&B, and Hair Bands. Nina, herself a classical pianist, grew up listening to jazz and R&B, as well as symphonies and opera. Nina: While living in Paris I got in the habit of watching the news channel “France24,” and was delighted to find that I continued having access to France24 here in Manhattan. Now that most American news channels have become The Trump Show, I became more dependent on France24 to be able to hear some authentic international news. One day this summer while going about my business with the TV on, I heard the news anchor announce a feature story on “The Beyonc é of the Piano.” I stopped what I was doing to sit down and watch. The subject of this segment was world-renowned Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili, who has been referred to ...
I finally got the chance to sit down and watch the Oscar-winning film Green Book , on the life of African American concert pianist Don Shirley . As I had written in an earlier blog ( "Ebony and Ivory: A Dissonant Truth" ), I had visited with Dr. Shirley in his apartment above Carnegie Hall when my parents were in New York with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The film gave a very accurate depiction of his home and the extravagant, ostentatious décor. The Real Don Shirley in his home Don Shirley was praised early in his life as a genius, a wunderkind whose forte was the traditional classical repertoire. Composer Igor Stravinsky said of him: "His virtuosity is worthy of Gods." But his record label forced him to play jazz, and sent him on tour with a jazz trio. In an interview, Shirley said that his record label wanted him to appear in overalls with a red bandana around his neck on the album cover. He refused. In my own book I have written about facing racism as an African Am...
Since Wikipedia refuses to publish this article because they claim, "The subject's references do not adequately show the subject's notability," I am publishing it myself. I'd like to see any of those editors try to survive as a Black female in the American South during the 1940s and 50s. Anne Gamble's accomplishments are notable as HELL! Anne Gamble Kennedy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Anne Gamble Kennedy (25 September 1920 – 11 June 2001) was an American classical pianist , piano professor, and accompanist for the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville, Tennessee . Anne Gamble Kennedy Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Selected discography 4 Notes Early life Anne Lucille Gamble was born in Charleston, West Virginia to Dr. Henry Floyd Gamble and the former Nina Hortense Clinton of Zanesville, Ohio. She was the younger of two children born to that union. She also had two o...
Granted, most Hollywood films about American celebrities of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s are going to be about white people. But in a film about Leonard Bernstein, there were several opportunities to tell the story about Lenny marching with Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama, or Lenny introducing young André Watts to the world concert stage, or even Lenny conducting Marian Anderson with the Israel Philharmonic. But no. The producers of Maestro chose to ignore the existence of African Americans, except when Bernstein's wife, Felicia (portrayed by Carey Mulligan), needed a nurse more than an hour and forty-five minutes into the film. At the very end, Bernstein directs his drunken, romantic attention toward a young black male conducting student, whom he had just instructed in a conducting master class. I suppose this young conducting student represented the future of classical music. But for a people who had been so discriminated against after the Second World War that young Ber...
As you probably know, I am currently going through boxes and papers preparing for the publication of my first book of memoirs. Today I thought I would share with you this New York Times review of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' 1980 Carnegie Hall concert with my father as director and my mother as piano accompanist.
On April 23rd, I received an email from the Juilliard Alumni Association director. In it was an email from the president of the school addressing an issue concerning a workshop conducted by the Drama Division. Evidently, the Drama Division invited a guest lecturer who conducted a workshop on the African American experience during slavery. In the words of President Woetzel to students, faculty, and staff: "I write to you to address a September 2020 Drama Division workshop that has impacted our school community. While I am s haring a message below that was sent to the drama community by Evan Yionoulis, dean and director of the Drama Division, I believe it is important for our school community to hear directly from me. To live our values requires an acknowledgment of mistakes we have made. To that end, I want to state unequivocally that this workshop was ill-conceived and should not have occurred in the manner that it did. I extend a heartfelt ...
Love, Like Music A joint review by Dean and Petra Aldrich of Practicing for Love , Nina Kennedy’s richly detailed and frank memoir. “For those in the world of classical music, Kennedy’s book is a winner. Her musical talent and technical achievements are obvious to anyone familiar with the works in her repertoire. Moreover, her descriptions of the challenges she faced as a Black woman in classical music provide essential, timely, and pointed critiques of the field. Musicians, composers, conductors – take note!” - Dean Aldrich, father, trained concert pianist, teacher of music and history, and graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in piano performance and music education (Bachelor and Master degrees). “Kennedy’s memoir provides fascinating and essential insights into lesbian history and the experiences of lesbians in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s. Truly, the value of this opportunity to see such a pivotal period in LGBTQ+ history through Black and lesbian...
Matthew Kennedy directing the Fisk Jubilee Singers of 1971-72 Again for posterity (since all of the articles appearing in this blog can be found online in perpetuity), here is the review of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. as it appeared in Down Beat Magazine in 1972. It is listed in the Down Beat magazine archives .
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