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

Thomas Young, tenor
• Generation IV: Contemporary Composers of the United States include:
Lettie Beckon Alston (b. 1953)
Dwight Andrews (b. 1960)
Regina A. Harris Baiocchi (b. 1956)
William C. Banfield (b. 1961)
Charles Brown (b. 1940)
Wallace Cheatham (b. 1945)
Anthony Davis (b. 1951)
Cedric Dent
Roger Dickerson
Adolphus Hailstork
Jacqueline Hairston (b. 1936)
Moses Hogan (1957 – 2005)
J. S. Mzilikazi Khumalo (b. 1932) – South African composer/ conductor
James Lee III
Tania Leon (b. 1944)
Charles Lloyd, Jr (b. 1948)
Nkeiru Okoye (b. 1972)
Rosephanye Dunn Powell
George Walker (b. 1922)
Mike Woods
• Ground-breaking accomplishments and performances include:
1990 – Olly Wilson writes a song cycle for baritone, tenor and soprano voices, Of Visions of
Truth;
1992 – William Banfield completes a commission from soprano Louise Toppin, composing a
song cycle, The Prophetess (Psalms for voice and piano);
1994 – South African composer J. S. Mzilikazi Khumalo writes the opera Ushaka
KaSenzangakhona: An epic in music and poetry on Shaka, son of Senzangakhona. The work
is premiered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
1996 – George Walker becomes the first African American composer to receive the Pulitzer
Prize in music for Lilacs (written for soprano and orchestra);
1998 - The Marian Anderson Award is created in Philadelphia, to celebrate the unique power
of the artist to change the world. Awards have been given to Harry Belafonte (1998),
Gregory Peck (1999), Elizabeth Taylor (2000), Quincy Jones (2001), Danny Glover (2002)
and Oprah Winfrey (2003), Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis (2005) and Sidney Poitier (2006);
2001 – Denyce Graves appears in several venues in programs that respond to the tragic events
of September 11, including the internationally televised National Prayer Service in
Washington’s National Cathedral.
• Contemporary Opera and The Art Song (1990 – Present)
1992 – Anthony Davis’ opera, Tania, is premiered;
1995 – 1996 - Denyce Graves makes her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of
Carmen.
1995 - The Houston Grand Opera produces Porgy and Bess with co-production/touring
agreement with the Cleveland Opera, Dallas Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Los Angeles Music
Center Opera, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera and The
Orange County Performing Arts Center. For the first time in history the production is stage
directed by a black woman – Hope Clarke, and stars Terry Cook or Alvy Powell as Porgy,
Luvenia Garner or Angela Simpson as Serena, Kimberly Jones as Clara, Jeffrey LaVar or
Stacey Robinson as Crown, Larry Marshall as Sportin’ Life, and Roberta Laws or Marquita
Lister as Bess.