Tag Archive for: Kellen Gray

The Opera about Fannie Lou Hamer

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Photo by www.ireneyoungfoto.com

After reading numerous articles about our shorter than short attention spans, I’ve decided to split this, the August 2024 Classical Music in Color into two parts. It may be a permanent fixture. Let me know what you think.

The first part is an interview with 85 year old composer Mary D. Watkins who’s about to premiere her latest opera “Is This America” about the Mississippi Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer. 

Mary D. Watkins is a Colorado native who earned a degree in classical composition from Howard University in Washington, DC.  She started getting noticed later in life.  She won a Female Composer grant from Opera America in 2020, has previously won composer fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, along with various other grants.  AND She received a 2021 Artist Legacy Award from the California Arts Council.  She was also recognized with a 2022 Composers Now Visionary Award. She says her composition of this opera was a long time coming.

The Second part of this, the August 2024 edition of Classical Music In Color is what I’m calling for now, the Albums, Opportunities, Events and Milestone section of the show.

Here are the links:

Sphinx – SOPA

Black Violin Foundation Grants

Castle Of Our Skins Give Black

Kellen Gray

Lara Downes

Click Here

New Album:  African American Voices II With Conductor Kellen Gray.

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Prepare to hear the sounds of three very different African-American composers from different eras of classical music in the 20th century.  On the album African-American Voices II, curated and conducted by Kellen Gray, there’s Margaret Bonds and the music of Ulysses Kay and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. 

Kellen Gray is coming stateside next month (January) to work in Minnesota and in Washington, DC. 

Here are the links to the opportunities I mentioned.

Winston-Salem Symphony and UNCSA to Launch Fellowship for String Players

The National Academy Orchestra of Canada is looking for members.

For our African listeners, Spotify has a SSA Early Career Program.

The National Association of Negro Musicians is calling for proposals for its 2024 convention.