Black Composers Matter by Liane Curtis (Excerpt)
“In a season when major Boston institutions such as the BSO and Handel and Haydn Society continue to assert that women and minorities wrote no music worth hearing (with the BSO offering only occasional tokens as exceptions that prove the rule), it is important to notice the efforts being made by organizations that celebrate the works of usually marginalized groups. Castle of Our Skins is such an organization, offering both concerts and educational programming. On Saturday at the Boston Public Library (McKim Building), they offered an “edu-tainment” string quartet event of just over an hour that was mostly concert, but framed with insightful and lively remarks by violist Ashley Gordon (Artistic & Executive Director). The other musicians were Megumi Stohs Lewis and Mina Lavcheva, violins, and Michael Dahlberg, cello. COOS’s name is drawn from the 1972 “Poem (for Nina)” by Nikki Giovanni, that urges a celebration of black identity.”
Many thanks to Liane Curtis for this wonderful article on the work of Castle of Our Skins and their efforts to share and educate around black composers. Please read the full article for more information on the wonderful composers highlighted. This is a great resource for students, scholars and teachers when trying to incorporate more black composers into the classical cannon.
Full Article: http://www.classical-scene.com/2016/10/03/black-composers-matter/
And for more information on Castle of Our Skins and their work: http://www.castleskins.org
And thanks Dr. Dell’Antonio for the share!