“Roots and Branches” - Music - University of California, Irvine

R. Nathaniel Dett
Born in 1882, R. Nathaniel Dett received his musical education at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory in Lockport, NY, Oberlin College (BM, 1908,
composition and piano), and the Eastman School of Music (MM, 1938). During the years 1920 - 1921, he studied with Arthur Foote at harvard, winning
prizes for his choral compositions and for his essay, "The Emancipation of Negro Music." Dett did further study with Nadia Boulanger in France during the
summer of 1929. His teaching tenures included Lane College in Tennessee, Lincoln Institute in Missouri, Bennett College in North Carolina, and Hampton
Institute in Virginia. He was an instructor of Dorothy Manor at Hampton and developed the choral ensembles which received international acclaim and
recognition. Dett was a protege of E. Azalia Hackley, who helped to encourage his interest in Black folk music. His compositional works reflect the melodic
and rhythmic sounds of Black music. Among his larger works were The Ordering of Moses, Magnolia Suite and for piano. He died in 1943.
Harry Lawrence Freeman
Harry Lawrence Freeman was one of the first important black composers for the operatic stage, and his first work, The Martyr, was the first opera ever
produced by all-Black forces. Athough he was more successful in his lifetime than many of his contemporaries, his work has since faded into obscurity. In
addition to composing and conducting, he was an impressario and a teacher, teaching at Wilberforce University in Chicago and the Salem School of Music,
and founding the Freeman School of Music and the Freeman School of Grand Operas. Many of his works were premiered by companies he founded, and
starred his wife, Carlotta. As a prominent black musical citizen and opera composer, Scott Joplin consulted him regarding Joplin's opera, Treemonisha.
Freeman's three operas, Nada the Lily, Allah, and The Zulu King, formed a trilogy of Zulu history called Zululand, after the Zulu history novels of H. Rider
Haggard. (Haggard's books are entitled Nada the Lily, Marie, Child of Storm, and Finished.) It is likely that Chaka, The Ghost Wolves, and The Storm
Witch (all given in Hipsher but not in other sources) are early or inaccurate titles for these four operas. New Grove gives the total number of his operas at 14.
In addition to his operas, Freeman composed many works for other genres, including his symphonic poem, "The Slave", for orchestra and chorus.
Contemporary reviews are often examples of the racist code used by the newspapers of the time; for example, one review of Voodoo was headlined:
"'Voodoo,' Bizarre Work of Basic Music, In Premiere", and called the opera "a thing so hideously bizarre that it was beautiful."
Adolphus Hailstork
Adolphus Hailstork received his doctorate in composition from Michigan State University, where he was a student of H. Owen Reed. He had previously
studied at the Manhattan School of Music, under Vittorio Giannini and David Diamond, at the American Institute at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger,
and at Howard University with Mark Fax. Dr. Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band,
and orchestra. His works for solo voice include the cycles: SUMMER. LIFE. SONG., THREE SPIRIT SONGS, VENTRILOQUISTS ACTS OF GOD,
SONGS OF LOVE AND JUSTICE, and FOUR ROMANTIC LOVE SONGS. Additionally, prominent solo roles are included in large choral works such as
I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES, DONE MADE MY VOW, and CHRISPUS ATTUCKS. His operas include PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR:COMMON
GROUND, JOSHUA’S BOOTS, and RISE FOR FREEDOM (JOHN P. PARKER).
Jacqueline Hairston
Jacqueline Hariston, pianist, composer and arranger, received her musical training at the Julliard School of Music and at Howard University School of
Music. She earned a Masters degree in music and music education from Columbia University in New York City. In addition to her work as a pianist and
vocal coach, she is a prolific composer and arranger. Her works have been recorded by the London Symphony and the Columbia Symphony Orchestras and
have been performed by the San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Hertiage Choir, Kathleen Battle (with the Collegiate
Chorale and Pro Arte Chorale at Carnegie Hall), Metropolitan Opera mezzo soprano Denyce Graves and the Orlando Opera Chorus and Orchestra and many
other singers worldwide. Her compositions include musical settings for the inspirational words of Howard Thurman, her chaplain at Howard University. In
2001, Ms. Hairston was artist-in-residence at Northern Illinois University conducting choral classes culminating in a concert commemorating her cousin, the
late Dr. Jester Hairston, the “Amen” man who directly impacted her choral arrangements of spirituals. Her recent teaching posts have included Oakland’s
new School of the Arts, the University of Creation Spirituality and the University of California, Berkey’s Young Musicians’ Program.
Charles Ingram
Charles Ingram (b. 1951) is a native of Gulfport, Mississippi. In 1968 he won first place in the state composition contest for high school students, which was
sponsored by the Mississippi Arts Council and the University of Southern Mississippi. In 1969 he attended USM where he majored in Theory-Composition.
In 1975 he completed the Master of Music degree in choral music at the University of Southern California. He began teaching at Los Angeles Southwest
College in 1976. In 1985, he returned to USM for doctoral studies in composition with Luigi Zaninelli. He has composed for chorus, orchestra, wind
ensemble, solo voice and various chamber ensembles. He retired Los Angeles Southwest College in 2008. His song cycle, Six Songs for Kimberley were
premiered by soprano, Dr. Kimberley Davis in January 2010. Dr. Davis also premiered Songs of Solomon in April 2011. His latest songs are on poems by
Langston Hughes, A Dream Deferred and Dream Boogie. His setting of Go, Lovely Rose for SSAA and solo horn and his arrangement of the spiritual, I
Wanna Be Ready were premiered by Miami University of Ohio Choraliers and Chamber singers in 2011.
Lena McLin
Lena McLin attended the public schools of Atlanta and Chicago and received the B.M. in piano and violin from Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia. Her
teachers were Florence Brinkman Boyton in piano and Leonora Brown and Willis Lawrence James in theory and composition. She studied electronic music
and voice at Roosevelt University, Chicago. She completed her M.M. at the American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, where she studied music theory and
counterpoint under Stella Roberts and piano under Howard Hanks. McLin's compositions include cantatas, masses, solo and choral arrangements of
spirituals, anthems, art songs, rock operas, soul songs, works for piano and orchestra, and electronic music. Among her compositions are: Gwendolyn
Brooks: A musical portrait (SATB); Song Cycle (SATB); Free At Last, cantata; Psalm 117 (SATB); The Little Baby (SATB). Her musical style reflects but
is not limited to the influence of the church and gospel music. Her choral works include natural word rhythms, syncopated rhythms, and imitation.
Undine Smith Moore
Born in 1904, Undine Smith Moore began publishing relatively late in her career and belongs to that group of Black composers who had long teaching
careers at Black colleges in the South. She taught music for forty-five years at Virginia State College, Pertersburg, Virginia, where her students included
such outstanding musicians as Billy Taylor, Leon Thomspon, Louise Toppin, and Camilla Williams. Moore graduated with highest honors from Fisk
University, Nashville, Tennessee, and was awarded the first scholarship to Julliard School given to a Fisk graduate. She received the MA and a Professional
Diploma in Music from Columbia University, New York. An honorary Doctor of Music degree was awarded to Moore by Virginia State College (1972) and
Indiana Unviersity (1976). Moore's compositional output includes choral works, solo works for voice, flute, piano, and chamber works. Some of her more
familiar compositions are Afro-American Suite for flute, violoncello, and piano; Lord, We Give Thanks to Thee for chorus, "Daniel, Servant of the Lord," for
chorus, and "Love, Let the Wind Cry How I Adore Thee." Her oratorio, Scenes from the Life of a Martyr, on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., was
nominated for a Nobel Prize. She died in 1988.
Gary Powell Nash
Gary Powell Nash is Associate Professor of Music at Fisk University in Nashville, TN where he teaches and coordinates courses in music theory,
technology, applied woodwinds and conducts the Fisk Jazz Ensemble. Nash has composed musical works for orchestra, band/wind ensemble, choir, art
songs, electroacoustic works and instrumental chamber compositions, including two short film scores. His music has been performed in all major regions of