Afro Classical

01/04/2024

Sabine Deveilhe sings ‘An Chloë’ - Mozart’s setting of Johann Georg Jacobi’s poem from Göttinger Musenalmanach - accompanied by pianist Mathieu Pordoy.https:...

25/03/2024

27/02/2024

Hazel Dorothy Scott (June 11, 1920 – October 2, 1981) was a Trinidadian-born jazz and classical pianist and singer; she also performed as herself in several films.
Born in Port of Spain, Hazel was taken at the age of four by her mother to New York. Recognized early as a musical prodigy, Scott was given scholarships from the age of eight to study at the Juilliard School. She began performing in a jazz band in her teens & was performing on radio at age 16.
She was prominent as a jazz singer throughout the 1930s & 1940s. In 1950, she became the first woman of color to have her own TV show, The Hazel Scott Show, featuring a variety of entertainment. Her career in America faltered after a scandalous affair with the married preacher & politician Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., & after she testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era. Scott subsequently moved to Paris in the late 1950s & performed in France, not returning to the United States until 1967.

22/02/2024

A musical smile for Monday.....thanks to 'Classical Music' for sharing.....♫

08/02/2024

All the music I like

07/02/2024

Misty Copeland, "an unlikely ballerina," who went from poverty to making history, as "only the second Black woman in the history of the American Ballet Theatre to gain the status of soloist."
Photo by Henry Leutwyler

08/01/2024

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05/01/2024

Bernie Williams will make his debut in the New York Philharmonic! Legend!🔥⚾️ New York Yankees

02/01/2024

Matilda Sissieretta Jones was an “internationally acclaimed black opera singer.” She was the first African-American singer to perform at Carnegie Hall.

You are invited to join Old black Hollywood Private Group for only $4.99 a month. Be part of our live discussions about an actor/actress on the last Friday of each month beginning this year and watch old movies every Saturday afternoon that will be posted. I personally take the time to research films with black actors or all black cast movies to share with the private group. Hope to see you in the private group. If you are having technical issues with the link, try again later.

https://www.facebook.com/Old-Black-Hollywood-401636123323977/support/

29/12/2023

Beautiful Sand Art! 😍😍

29/12/2023

Riding into 2024 like...

20/12/2023

Mamie Hilyer was born on this date in 1863. She was a Black pianist and promoter of classical music.

Mamie Elizabeth Nichols was born in the District of Columbia. An accomplished pianist, she was an 'active member of the city's Black upper class. Hilyer became a devoted champion of 'good music' and its cultivation among Black Washingtonians. She married Andrew Franklin Hilyer, a businessman, author, and civil rights leader, in 1886. The couple had a son, Gale Pillsbury Hilyer. He attended Howard University, followed by the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1912 and becoming a lawyer. He helped to establish an NAACP branch in Minneapolis. The Hilyers also had a daughter, Kathleen.

In 1897, Hilyer founded the Treble Clef Club, an 'important group that offered leadership in the community by presenting annual concerts and encouraging young musicians. She also created the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society. The Treble Clef Club brought together professional women musicians and teachers of music interested in study and self-development. Hilyer described it in 1900 as a small band of married women who were music lovers. Another founding member was Harriet Gibbs Marshall. With an emphasis on Black composers, the Treble Clef Club sought to bring the 'best music' to the community.

This paralleled the founding of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) in 1896. The Club’s annual public recital was 'the only high-class musical entertainment that was free in Washington at that time. In 1961, the Treble Clef club was described as having 'made notable contributions to the cultural life of Washington, D. C., during its long lifetime.' This, after having met Coleridge-Taylor on an overseas trip, a meeting facilitated by Frederick J. Loudin. On her return to the United States, she established a choral group that might perform Coleridge-Taylor's compositions, promote and fundraise for society through piano performances, and more.

The Treble Clef Club helped to generate public interest and raise funds through activities, including musical teas and salons. Hilyer, Emma Williams, Josephine Ball, and Amanda Gray formed the Chibiabos Quartet, a reference to Longfellow's 'The Song of Hiawatha.' The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society numbered between 160 and 200 voices, generating praise from local and national Black newspapers and welcoming multi-racial audiences, which were sometimes so large that people had to be turned away.

In 1904, Coleridge-Taylor came to Washington D.C. to conduct the society in performing his cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast. His public praise for accompanist Mary Europe enhanced her reputation and diversified her audience within Washington's musical circles. Mamie Hilyer, who played a significant role in nurturing the district's musical culture, died on December 14, 1916. Her death was reported in the Minneapolis/St. Paul's paper, The Appeal, as being 'rather sudden, following a supposed successful operation several weeks ago.' It noted Hilyer's prominent role in the 'musical life of the capitol.'

18/12/2023

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra today announced Kwamé Ryan as its new music director. Ryan is currently based in Freiburg, Germany, and tours the world as a guest conductor. He’s served in roles similar to his Charlotte appointment in both Freiburg and Bordeaux, France. Ryan, who was born in Can...

18/12/2023

07/12/2023

Victory Brinker is not your typical opera singer. She became the world’s youngest opera singer (female) at seven years and 314 days old

02/12/2023

THE JOURNEY: A MUSIC SPECIAL WITH ANDREA BOCELLI is on digital December 1!---Merging world-class music with intimate conversations in the awe-inspiring Itali...

24/11/2023

22/11/2023

The birth of Edmund Dédé in 1829 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American violinist and composer.

The son of free Black West Indian parents, Dédé first studied the violin in New Orleans then in Mexico. In 1850, he left for Paris, completing his musical education and beginning a career that lasted for nearly fifty years. As a violinist, musical director and composer, Dédé developed a considerable reputation abroad.

He composed Mon pauvre coeur: Mélodie 1852, Le Serment de l'Arabe: Chant dramatique, 1865 and Chicago: Grande valse à l'américaine, 1892. He returned to New Orleans only briefly in the winter of 1893-94 for a series of successful concerts. Edmund Dédé died in 1903.