Tuesday, February 11, 2025
11 a.m.
Kopleff Recital Hall
Lift Every Voice
JAMES WELDON JOHNSON & J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON
ARR. BY JEREMIAH BROWN
Voices of Victory
Jeremiah Brown, conductor
Often referred to as "The Black National Anthem," Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics. A choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal, first performed the song in public in Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
Romance
WILLIAM GRANT STILL | 1895-1978
José Antonio Miranda, saxophone
Miya Sun, piano
Learn about this important hsitorical figure on "Open Ears," a series that highlights the many artists and composers who made invaluable contributions to classical music, but music were under-appreciated in their time.
Walk with Me
TRADITIONAL SPIRITUAL | B. 1956
ARR. JOEL RANEY
Dr. Marva Griffin Carter, piano
Text is from scriptural references Matthew 14:13, Matthew 19:21, Luke 5:11, Hebrews 11:13, and 1 Peter 2:21.
The National Gallery of Art has acquired The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding (1967), its first painting by Faith Ringgold (b. 1930). This pivotal work by a leading figure of contemporary art exemplifies the artist’s skill in using art as a vehicle to question the social dynamics of race, gender, and power.
Theme for Malcolm
DONALD BYRD | 1932-2013
Johnny Mercer Combo
Joshua Huffman
Omie Crockett
Ryan Walton
Hyewon Kim
Joel Powell
Three Silhouettes, op. 38
II. Lament
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR | 1875-1912
ARR. KATHERINE NEEDLEMAN
Ayahnah Glymph, oboe
Miya Suen, piano
British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a standout both for his talent, and also because he was a Black artist who moved in almost entirely white circles. Learn more in this short video.
James Lesesne Wells was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1902. African Nude, which Wells created late in life, reflects his skill, interest in traditional African aesthetics, and commitment to representing African American history and experiences. The woman in African Nude, with eyes downcast, she appears unhappily submissive and ill at ease amid the oversize lush plants and gala colors of the background. The viewer is thus left unsettled, as if unwelcome despite the outwardly inviting scene.
Walk in Jerusalem
ARR. ROLLO DILWORTH | B. 1970
GSU Tenor-Bass Choir
GSU Treble Choir
Fernanda Miranda, piano
Dr. Patrick Freer, conductor
The Bamboula
Rhapsodic Dance, Op. 75
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
GSU Symphony Orchestra
Garrett Clay, conductor
Before I Let Go
BEYONCÉ
Voices of Victory
Personnel
Jeremiah Brown
Jeremiah Brown is an Atlanta native, and sophomore at Georgia State University majoring in music education with a concentration in voice. Last spring, he made his opera debut playing the role of Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro. Mr. Brown continues to cultivate his passion for community advancement and impact through several engagements in the Metro Atlanta area including teaching voice, piano, and leading local choirs, accompanying as a percussionist, and serving as a choral scholar at the Saint James United Methodist Church.
José Antonio Miranda
Jose Antonio Miranda is a Cuban saxophonist currently based in Atlanta. He studies Music Performance at Georgia State University. Jose was a member of The National Band of Cuba and is now a member of the Georgia State Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. He has won multiple awards for his musical talent in the United States and in Cuba. Most recently, he was a winner of Georgia State's annual Honors Recital Competition, Concerto Competition, American Protege at Carnegie Hall, Grand Virtuoso Competition in the United Kingdom, among others. Jose is a recipient of the Undergraduate Music Excellence Award (UMEA), a four-year scholarship and is in the Honors College. In 2017, Jose was invited to New Orleans Jazz Fest as an ambassador and performer representing Cuba, where he was awarded the Recognition of Excellence by the musicians of Preservation Hall and Lincoln Center. He has performed in masterclasses for Timothy McAllisterRobert Young, the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet, and Stephen Page. José's major teachers are Brandyn Taylor , Jack Thorpe, Javier Zalba and Ahmed Lopez
MARVA GRIFFIN CARTER
MARVA GRIFFIN CARTER is an Associate Professor of Music History, Popular and World Musics in the School of Music, with joint affiliation in the Department of Africana Studies at Georgia State University. Carter is a graduate of Boston Conservatory at Berklee (B.M.) and of New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.) in piano performance. While at NEC, she heard musicologist Eileen Southern lecture from her bestselling book, Black American Music: A History, and was recruited by her to become a musicologist, concentrating on African Americans. Subsequently she took Southern’s course in African American music at Harvard. Later, Marva graduated from Boston University (M.A.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana (Ph.D.) in musicology, where she also studied ethnomusicology with Bruno Nettl and jazz history with Lawrence Gushee. She is the school’s first and only African American Ph.D. graduate in musicology.
Carter’s administrative/teaching career included: Coordinator, African American Studies Program at Simmons University (Boston); Chair, Music Department at Morris Brown College (Atlanta); Assistant Director, later Director of Graduate Studies, and currently, Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in the School of Music at Georgia State.
Dr. Carter is the author of the biography, Swing Along: The Musical Life of Will Marion Cook – a pioneer composer of Broadway Black musical comedies at the turn of the twentieth century (Oxford University Press). She is completing a book for the University of Illinois Press which examines the sacred musical traditions and repertoire of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Carter was organist for a decade. Her article on this history was included in “Colloquy: Shadow Culture Narratives: Race, Gender, and American Music Historiography” in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Fall 2020.
Marva Griffin Carter has been active for more than four decades in the American Musicological Society and the Society for American Music, presenting papers and serving on editorial boards, including the Committee on the Publication of American Music. She received the Society for American Music’s coveted Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020. In 2022, Dr. Carter was featured in Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s webinar on Black Music and the American University: Eileen Southern’s Story.
Johnny Mercer Combo
Joshua Huffman, Omie Crockett, Ryan Walton Hyewon Kim, Joel Powell
The Georgia State Johnny Mercer Jazz Combo, a graduate ensemble directed by jazz pianist Kevin Bales, is quickly gaining recognition. Comprised of top GSU jazz studies majors Ryan Walton, Joel Powell, Omie Crockett, Joshua Huffman, and Joshua Barnes, the group showcases the university's premier jazz talent. The combo is supported by the GSU Library’s Johnny Mercer Special Collections, which preserves Mercer’s legacy and supports music education.
The group debuted at the 2024 Savannah Jazz Festival, sharing the stage with artists like Gino Castillo & the Cuban Cowboys. Percussionist Ryan Walton, a recipient of a Savannah Jazz Festival scholarship, reflected on the experience: “It was a great time bonding with the band and reconnecting with Savannah.”
In October, the combo performed at Gallery 992 in Atlanta’s West End as part of Music in the Park, founded by saxophonist Kebbi Williams to provide cultural experiences to underserved residents.
Walton shared the combo’s commitment to original music: "We’ve been able to bring in our own compositions and work together to create fresh material. It’s a great opportunity to grow as musicians and explore new directions."
Looking ahead, the group will perform at GSU’s Centennial Hall and the prestigious Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference in January 2025, continuing their dedication to advancing jazz education and reaching broader audiences.
Credits:
Created with images by volga - "A group of dark-skinned adults raising their fists in protest during a street demonstration. Black History Month" • Nathan Hutchcraft - "A Collaborative Mural Project Involving Local Artists And Community Members Depicting Stories Of Black Empowerment And Unity" • panupong1982 - "Dark grunge texture background" • panupong1982 - "Dark grunge texture background" • Alexandre - "Street Art Festival Celebrating Black History Month" • JAYANNPO - "Wide old black shabby brick wall texture. Dark masonry panorama. Brickwork panoramic grunge background" • Olha - "Black History Month colourful abstract illustration of Diverse representations of African-American across different fields" • Elena - "Silhouette of african american people"