The Sacred Choral Music of Coleridge-Taylor and Robles

301 North Orange Grove Boulevard,Pasadena CA 91103

12 August, 2022

Description

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (August 15, 1875 - September 1, 1912) A birthday celebration with two special performances!: -MAIN EVENT Friday, August 12, 7pm at Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena - Sacred Choral Music of Coleridge-Taylor and Robles, conducted by Zanaida Robles with organist James Walker, pianist Wells Leng, and percussionist Dave Tull. | Tickets: $20 -BONUS! Sunday, August 14, 10am at Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena - Music Sunday! featuring Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, with piano accompaniment, conducted by Zanaida Robles | Free! Because of his incredible success in a field dominated by white males at a time when racism in America was peaking, Coleridge-Taylor’s influence on Black American artists and intellectuals was powerful and far-reaching. Join us in celebrating this brilliant Black composer who died tragically when he was only 37 years old in 1912. NOTES ON HIAWATHA'S WEDDING FEAST The text for Coleridge-Taylor's most celebrated work Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1885 poem called The Song of Hiawatha. While there is much to criticize about his blatant appropriation and flagrant alteration of several aspects of Native American culture, Longfellow made what he believed was a genuine attempt to honor indigenous heritage by writing his epic poem based on Henry Schoolcraft’s transcription of the orally transmitted stories told by Schoolcraft’s Ojibway wife Jane. Despite its inaccuracies and problematic nature, Longfellow’s alluring yet misguided work helped to dramatically increase national awareness and preservation of Native American culture. The history of the Hiawatha legend and its storytellers is complex, and performing Coleridge-Taylor’s musical setting of a small portion of this story (in a sacred space with historical context) gives us an opportunity to clarify and correct the narrative by centering the stories, artistry, and experiences of indigenous Americans. Vocal music expert and Anishinaabe elder Lyz Jaakola reminds us that this is Coleridge-Taylor’s own interpretation of Longfellow’s poem and, as such, not representative of traditional Anishinaabe stories or music. With our study and performance of Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, we are striving to become a diverse and inclusive community, united by the joyful pursuit of excellence in music. Our musical work achieves this through building relationships within and beyond our local community and engaging in complex conversations about race, cultural appropriation, and social justice. ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles is an award-winning American composer, conductor, vocalist, and teacher. She is a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion in music education and performance. Authentic interpersonal connection and relationship-building are core principles of her teaching and performance methods. Born, raised, and educated in Southern California, she is in demand as a composer, vocalist, clinician and adjudicator for competitions, festivals, and conferences related to choral and solo vocal music. Zanaida’s original music has been performed by professional ensembles, community choirs, educational institutions, churches, and individuals world wide. Her works are published by Stewart Robles Music, Music Spoke, E.B. Marks Music, Pavane Publishing, and Stainer and Bell. Her compositional style can be described as energized, soulful, contrapuntal, harmonically colorful, rhythmically driven, heavily modal, occasionally with African elements and touches of progressive rock. Zanaida holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music, a Master of Music degree from CSU Northridge, a Bachelor of Music degree from CSU Long Beach, and she is a graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.