A Texarkana College music program Wednesday puts the focus on composers who may not be as celebrated as others, but who are nonetheless just as accomplished musically.
TC's music department presents "Songs of African-American Composers" at 11 a.m. in the college's Truman Arnold Student Center Great Room. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
Musical artists leading the way with this program are baritone Robert Allen, soprano JoLaunda Kings-Adams and pianist Sydney Barber. Allen, a TC grad, and Kings-Adams are both part of the organization Styles of Artistry.
Together, all three will perform selections by composers like Scott Joplin, Arkansas-born Florence Price, Cecil Cohen, Leslie Adams, Hall Johnson ("Ride on, King Jesus") and more. Here in Texarkana and worldwide, Joplin is known and celebrated, primarily for his ragtime music. But he also wrote opera, evidenced by his work "Treemonisha."
Mary Scott Goode, professor of music at TC, said the program offers a mix of young composers, living composers and composers of the past. She said Styles of Artistry aims to show there are composers beyond Joplin and Moses Hogan worthy of being featured in concerts and recitals.
"The idea is to shine a light on African-American composers who have composed art songs that may seem lost in the world of vocal repertoire," she said.
One of them is The Natural State's own Price, of whom Goode said, "She lived in Little Rock. A very fabulous piano player who wrote a lot of great piano music. Really really a fine composer. I would say she is more known for her piano music than her voice pieces, so this will be really interesting to hear some of that."
Having a TC alum return for this show makes it even more special.
"We're real proud of this concert because first of all Robert is an alumni of TC. In fact I remember him as a student here. He was in our choir for all of his time here, took voice," Goode said. He served in the Army, returned to TC and achieved degrees in music, she said. That includes a Master of Arts degree in music with an emphasis on pedagogy from Texas Woman's University.
"He's sort of at the start of his professional life and we are real proud of him," she said, noting he teaches in the Texas community college system.
Everything performed will be songs, apart from one Joplin piano piece, Goode said, noting her excitement that both a man and woman will sing.
Kings-Adams' experience includes worship music and singing a large repertoire of opera selections, such as the Countess in "The Marriage of Figaro."
For students to see and hear music written and performed by African-Americans, it's meaningful, the professor said. And it's work worthy of attention.
"This concert is going to be in the Great Room inside the student center it's a bigger room because we're anticipating a bigger audience for this one," Goode said, adding, "The whole idea of Black History Month is to showcase so much talent and so many great works of art that so many of us just don't know about. It's just a shame. To have those works performed live by African-Americans is the very best possible scenario."
(More info: Contact Mary Scott Goode at [email protected] or 903-823-3371, or Dee Dee Jones at [email protected] or 903-823-3360.)