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LIFE & DEATH: Art Songs by African American & African Diaspora Composers

The music includes works by American composers Harry T. Burleigh, Howard Swanson, William Grant Still, Robert Owens, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Rosephanye Powell, Undine Smith Moore, and Jacqueline Hairston; Caribbean composers Joseph Bologne, Carmen Brouard, and Mariela Rodríguez; and British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Texts are by Harlem Renaissance poets and various other writers (Black and white) from the U.S., Europe, and the Caribbean.

LIFE & DEATH: Art songs by African American & African Diaspora composers is a performance by Cherry Duke, accompanied by Esequiel Meza, Jr. on piano. It was recorded by the UTEP Department of Music and produced by KTEP for broadcast.

Life & Death” showcases works for voice and piano by underrepresented composers, specifically art songs by African American and African diaspora composers, including several women and two Latin American composers. In addition to English language pieces, the program includes songs in Italian, German, French, and Spanish, some of which have never before been performed in the United States. The texts address the gamut of life experience, including daily existence, celebration, passion, indecision, heartbreak, grief, and death.

The intention of this program is to demonstrate the availability, beauty, and universality of art music by Black composers, and generally to showcase lesser-known works. I urge you to take time to read about these composers and poets, and to learn even more about their lives after you leave today. Today’s program is just a snapshot of their output, and these composers deserve to be more fully integrated into traditional vocal repertoire.

Program of "Life & Death: Art songs by African American & African Diaspora composers." Performed by Cherry Duke, accompanied by Esequiel Meza, Jr. on piano. October 8, 2022, at Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall at The University of Texas at El Paso.

For the complete program visit cherryduke.com/recital

The performance was recorded on October 2, 2022 by the Department of Music at University of Texas at El Paso.

Special Thanks to:

  • Stephen Haddad
  • Josh Lintz
  • UTEP College of Liberal Arts
  • UTEP Department of Music
Cherry Duke, accompanied by Esequiel Meza, Jr. on piano. Performing, "Life & Death: Art songs by African American & African Diaspora composers," in October 8, 2022, at Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall at The University of Texas at El Paso.

This show originally aired on February 24, 2023