Hi! Last week we learned about two pioneers in the entertainment and dance industries, so this week we're going to be learning about a Black pioneer of music. I have to admit that I didn't think of classical music at all when I was trying to find musicians for this series. I like classical music, but I've never been able to name a Black conductor so finding today's entrant was awesome. He is also the nephew of the late great contralto Marian Anderson, so that was another fun bit of trivia I learned. I left quite a bit out today so that you could read the details of the notables in the 'Further reading' links.
Name: James Anderson DePreist, 1936-2013
Profession: Conductor, poet, author
Why is the Spotlight on him today? For his acclaimed status in the music industry and his ability to cultivate a full career while battling serious health issues
Notables and accomplishments:
--Was the permanent conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
--Served as the Music Director of the Oregon Symphony for 23 years
--Was the Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at Julliard and later became Director Emeritus
--Performed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic
--Received the Insignia of Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland
--Was a winner of the Dmitri Mitropoulos International Conducting Campaign
--Was presented a National Medal of Arts by then-President Bush
--Was an assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic
--Authored two books of poetry and even received the approval of the late Maya Angelou
--Performed with every major North American orchestra and has conducted all over the world
--Was awarded 13 honorary doctorate's degrees
--Served as associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra
Research resources and further reading links:
NY Times | NPR | Oregon Symphony | Bruce Duffie
Quote of the Day:
"I think if I'm seen as a role model, I would like it to be for conducting the subscription weeks, and not just the concert at the Apollo. I do not believe in engaging Black artists and doing Black music in Black areas, because I feel that it is misleading, the worst kind of tokenism, especially if it's the only time you see Black artists or hear works by Black composers."
(This is an excerpt of an interview you can read in full by clicking on the fourth link. I had to include this bit because I loved his answer to the question, "What purpose does music have in society?")
"The purpose of music should be to present a mirror of our better selves and to enable us to be participants in defining what that magic is. Music, as I’ve said before, consists of vanishing particles of sound that are made coherent through memory and expectation, which is different in each individual. Therefore, the music that is heard is heard differently by each individual because of this component that is brought to it. We want to be able to see human beings make music in addition to being disembodied and hear Muzak or to hear recordings. We don’t want to get to a point where we’re just dealing with audio wallpaper. But if we see human beings make music, we realize the message of the music, which is something to which we can relate to on a very personal and emotional level. We can admire it architecturally. We can admire it in terms of its harmonic structure. But fundamentally there is a visceral reaction, and that visceral reaction is sheer magic. There’s no two ways about it. You cannot possibly explain how something that is already gone has moved you so deeply and lingers in the memory in such a way that either you become angry or you cry. I think much of that imagination was present when all we had was radio. When I was growing up, I came home and listened to the radio. I made up my entire world just as everybody else did, and all of those worlds were different. Television was a jarring sensation. The first time you saw Superman, he looked nothing like what he was supposed to look like in our minds. But that theater of imagination exists always in music because there are no pictures except the ones we paint."
--James DePreist
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