Back in May 1934, a group of Juilliard students celebrated black artists and composers with a concert that included music by Harry T. Burleigh, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Nathaniel Dett, led by Burleigh himself. The upcoming 90th anniversary of that performance, given at a time of both accomplishment for black artists and also limited accessibility to higher education for black students, presented a unique opportunity to pay tribute to their efforts. Students faculty re-created it this past February, performing music from the original program, new works by student composers Danae Venson and Christopher Armstrong, and a new arrangement of one of Burleigh’s pieces by composer and Extension faculty member Damien Sneed.
Called "Claiming Your Space: A Celebration of Black Music at Juilliard," the February performance will be available to stream on-demand beginning on the actual anniversary, May 10, and A Tempo host Rachel Katz this week speaks with Juilliard Ethnomusicology Professor Fredara Merava Hadley and mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves Montgomery, who hosted and narrated the production, about the original program, the recent concert and their significance to the school and its students then and now.
