The Negro spiritual was a central medium slaves used to express the suffering of an inhuman existence. Saint Helena Island, one of the largest of the Sea Islands, has provided the most studied body of Negro spirituals first captured in the 1867 publication Slave Songs of the United States. This compilation contained Gullah Geechee-infused texts, rhythms and melodies of the enslaved that drew attention from white audiences, helping to inspire black college touring groups such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers and Hampton Singers. Over the past two decades, leading scholars have connected the Gullah Geechee culture to West and Central Africa, especially the language.
In this presentation, I will discuss the early transcriptions by the Slave Songs editors and the Sierra Leone musicologist George Ballanta-Taylor, who visited Saint Helena Island in the early 1920s, giving insight into the manner in which the enslaved sang their songs. Later, I will present my recent transcriptions on Saint Helena Island as a comparative analysis to the historical review and to contemporary spiritual arrangements. I hope to show the audience the extraordinary adaptability of the slave songs but also the immense rhythmic, linguistic, and melodic challenges often overlooked in their performance. Current Gullah Geechee research offers help to those teachers seeking authenticity in performing Negro spirituals and provides a wealth of unexplored music waiting to be performed.
Please view Eric Crawford’s presentation on our MAR NATS YOUTUBE channel
Dr. Bianca Jackson and Professor Gregory Gardner, both of Norfolk State University will be presenting a lecture entitled African American Spirituals: Inspirational Voices Old and New.
Please view Bianca Jackson’s and Gregory Gardner’s presentation on our MAR NATS YOUTUBE channel
Roundtable Discussion on Spirituals with Prof. Gardner and Dr. Jackson who will be joined by Dr. Crawford as well as additional guests, Dr. Tommy Watson, Associate Professor of Music at Anderson University and Dr. Lori Hicks, singer, composer and Chair of Humanities and Performing Arts at Kentucky State University. This event will be live and open to questions. Questions for all panels will be solicited in advance from social media for those who cannot attend the sessions live.
Please view our Round Table on Spirituals our MAR NATS YOUTUBE channel
This Roundtable discussion features select representatives from the Summer Program Auditions recently hosted by NATS national. Guests include Ariel Strasser of ArtsBridge, Bruce Earnest of International Performing Arts Institute, Cindy Sadler of Spotlight on Opera, and Sarah B. Halley of AIMS Graz. This is a chance for students and teachers to get up to speed on best audition practices for summer programs. This will also be open for questions.
Please view the Round Table on Auditions on our MAR NATS YOUTUBE channel
The title “From the Black Church to the Opera Stage” greatly reflects the experiences of not only the vast majority of my students at HBCUs, but also my own personal journey in singing. When researching the matter further, I found the same journey applied to many of the Black singers in the classical field today. I noticed so many similarities in the struggles to transition not only technically, but mentally, physically, and spiritually as well. In this presentation, we will examine the vocal and cultural habits of growing up singing in the black church, and how that identity strongly influences vocal perception and development. We will also examine the relevance of these influences as it pertains specifically to vocal training and the music industry today.
Please view Lori Hick’s presentation on our MAR NATS YOUTUBE channel
Please view Lori Hick’s Q & A on our MAR NATS YOUTUBE channel