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Tribute to congressman john lewis
BY THE HARLEM CLASSICAL MUSIC CELEBRATION
(Opera ebony, three on 3 music, the harlem chamber players, harlem Opera theater)
Congressman John Lewis
FEBRUARY 21, 1940 - JULY 17, 2020
Please click on video link for concert
HCMC TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS
https://youtu.be/acXhMHN9zWQ
Donations welcome and appreciated.
FEBRUARY 21, 1940 - JULY 17, 2020
Please click on video link for concert
HCMC TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS
https://youtu.be/acXhMHN9zWQ
Donations welcome and appreciated.
Opera Ebony
Saturday, February 20 @ 7PM
Benjamin Matthews Remembered
Opera Ebony Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/operaebony/live
Harlem Opera Theater
Saturday, February 27 - 4PM
A Tribute to Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
YouTube:
https://youtu.be/nZexgxbMEXI
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/HarlemOperaTheater/live/
To access the Harlem Opera Theater 2020 Virtual Vocal Competition
Livestreamed Saturday, December 5, 2020
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Go to YouTube - type in
Harlem Opera Theater - 2020 Virtual Vocal Competition
The Concert is free and will remain on line
Share both concerts with family, friends and colleagues.
Livestreamed Saturday, December 5, 2020
~~
Go to YouTube - type in
Harlem Opera Theater - 2020 Virtual Vocal Competition
The Concert is free and will remain on line
Share both concerts with family, friends and colleagues.
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Darian Anderson Worrell, Baritone | Dimery Alexis Mowery, Soprano
Carami Hilaire, Soprano | Bernard Holcomb, Tenor (Top to Bottom) Hubert Williams - Photos |
Blacks in Opera - The Journey
The recording, in partnership with Harlem One Stop - Harlem Renaissance 100 Salon Series is available on the YouTube Channel / Links below
The recording, in partnership with Harlem One Stop - Harlem Renaissance 100 Salon Series is available on the YouTube Channel / Links below
Concert and Conversation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Mmiz7GUMw&feature=youtu.b
Concert Only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_H4gGdsJo&feature=youtu.be
Thank you to our first responders, you make us proud!
Peace and Blessings to all during this global pandemic.
Peace and Blessings to all during this global pandemic.
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Jesse Norman, 1945 - 2019In the fall of 2019, the entire Met family—along with the opera world at large—mourned the loss of Jessye Norman, one of the great sopranos of the past half-century.
Starting with her Met debut as Cassandra in Berlioz’s Les Troyens on Opening Night of the Met’s centennial 1983–84 season, Georgia-born soprano Jessye Norman sang more than 80 performances in ten operas with the company, dazzling audiences with her beautiful tone, extraordinary power, and musical sensitivity. A revered Wagnerian, at the Met she was beloved for her interpretations of Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, and Kundry in Parsifal. Her wide-ranging Met repertoire also included works by Poulenc, Janáček, Bartók, and Schoenberg—including thrilling performances in the company premieres of Erwartung and The Makropulos Case. She will perhaps be best remembered for her glorious, definitive portrayal of the title role of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, pictured above. “She was one of the greatest artists to ever sing on our stage,” said General Manager Peter Gelb. “Her legacy shall forever live on.” In the future Harlem Opera Theater will present a concert in honor of the iconic soprano. |
- Click here for an article on "A Tribute to Sylvia Olden Lee" that appeared in
- The New York Amsterdam News.
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HARLEM OPERA THEATER
A concert in tribute to the victims and families of
ORLANDO
A concert in tribute to the victims and families of
ORLANDO
was held on
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Convent Avenue Baptist Church
420 West 145 St., NYC
Harlem Opera Theater Vocal Competition Finalists June 17, 2016 - Miller Theatre, Columbia University- Finalists and Winners: (left to right) Cherisse Williams, soprano; Crystal Glenn, soprano (second place, Judges Choice Award, Professional Division); Victoria Davis, soprano (first place, Judges Choice Award, Collegiate Division); Shenika John Jordan, soprano, (second place, Judges Award and Audience Choice Award, Collegiate Division); Brandie Sutton, soprano, (first place, Judges and Audience Choice Awards, Professional Division); Daniel Rich, baritone (third place, Judges Choice Award, Professional Division); Phillip Bullock, baritone; Marcus Bedinger, tenor; Edwin Davis, baritone; Jarrod Lee, bass-baritone.
- thank you for attending our black history month CONCERT:
150th Anniversary of the Life of Harry T. Burleigh
(1866-1949)
Father of Concert Spiritual Arrangements - On Friday, February 12th, 2016, Harlem Opera Theater celebrated the life and works of Harry T. Burleigh, baritone, arranger and composer of over two hundred art songs. While a student at the National Conservatory of Music in New York, he became a friend of director/composer Antonín Dvořák and influenced his work, Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (New World Symphony) in 1894. Dvořák called Go Down, Moses as great a melody as any Beethoven wrote and encouraged Burleigh to write out and sing these songs. H.T. Burleigh became a soloist for over 50 years at the St. George's Episcopal Church in New York City. From 1900 to 1925 Burleigh was also a member of the synagogue choir at the Temple Emanu-El in New York, the only African-American to sing there. Paul Robeson listed Burleigh as one of his singing mentors. Through his performances, original compositions and arrangements of spirituals, Burleigh helped establish American folk music in the concert hall and became the first black American composer to gain international prominence. He was also the first to have his music recorded. In 1914, he was a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and received a seat on its board of directors in 1941.
- Voodoo PLAYS TO SOLD OUT audiences
- Morningside Opera | Harlem Opera Theater | The Harlem Chamber Players
present the Harry Lawrence Freeman Opera “Voodoo”
“Voodoo” was presented for the first time since 1928 with full orchestra conducted by Gregory Hopkins, before two sold out audiences on June 26 and 27, 2015. A special thanks to all who contributed to the Indiegogo crowd funding campaign which helped to fund the production.
Harry Lawrence Freeman (1869 – 1954), a friend of Scott Joplin, spent his early life largely in Cleveland, but in 1908 moved to Harlem; by 1920 he had established a music school, later known as the Freeman School of Music, and the Negro Grand Opera Company. He was well known in the Harlem community during his lifetime and gained some acceptance in mainstream classical music circles in the 1920s – 1940s. Freeman received the Harmon Award for significant achievement by an African-American in the field of arts and letters in 1930 (sharing the award with Adam Clayton Powell). In 1934 he was the composer and musical director of the pageant "O Sing a New Song," a prestigious event at the Chicago World's Fair which celebrated the African-American experience. The high-point of his career was probably the 1947 production of his opera The Martyr at Carnegie Hall. Dubbed “the colored Wagner” by contemporary journalists, Freeman considered himself a student of the German composer, but also incorporated American folk music and jazz into his compositions.
The opera Voodoo, completed in 1914 but not performed until 1928, is exemplary of Freeman’s compositional style. Set on a Louisiana plantation just after the Civil War, the opera centers on a classic love triangle between three former slaves, one of whom turns to voodoo and magic to entice her sweetheart and do away with her rival. The opera blends Western classical music with extended passages of period dance music, including a “Cake-Walk,” and incorporates re-settings of several African-American spirituals, such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The opera was broadcast live on New York radio and was the first opera by an African-American composer to be presented on Broadway. Even with his many achievements, including receiving the prestigious Harmon Award, Freeman’s work in largely unknown today and only a few pieces have been published. Twenty-one operas, as well as many of his other works, exist only in manuscript form, and reside in Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. In order to raise awareness and promote new dialogue about his work, Morningside Opera is transcribing Voodoo from Freeman’s manuscript to create a usable musical score. Morningside Opera, Harlem Opera Theater and The Harlem Chamber Players have joined forces to re-introduce Freeman’s work to a new generation through this concert production of Voodoo. Following the performances, the recording and score will be made available through Columbia University Libraries for future performances and research.
You may find Freeman's manuscripts and other documents at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University.
Press for VOODOO (Partial listing)
NPR - "Unearthed In A Library, 'Voodoo' Opera Rises Again"
The New York Times - "‘Voodoo,’ Opera by the African-American Composer H. Lawrence Freeman, Is Revived"
The Daily Beast - "How ‘Voodoo,’ a Trailblazing 1928 Harlem Renaissance Opera, Was Reborn"
The Wall Street Journal - "‘Voodoo,’ an Opera from the Harlem Renaissance, Gets Its First Revival"
The Guardian - "Voodoo review – a lost Harlem Renaissance opera soars"- Voodoo Performers
- Gregory Hopkins, Music Director & Conductor
- Janinnah Burnett, Soprano
- Jo Anne Marie Ford, Soprano
- Crystal Charles, Contralto
- Steve Wallace, Tenor
- James Hopkins, Tenor
- Darian Worrell, Baritone
- Barry Robinson, Baritone
- PERFORMANCES
Click here for more information on past and upcoming performances.- classical listings
- Join the Harlem Opera Theater Classical Listing of developing and professional singers and musicians.
Send your resume, bio, head shot and MP3 sample of your voice/music to: harlemoperatheater.org
All materials will be reviewed by Dr. Gregory Hopkins, Artistic Director, Harlem Opera Theater and/or partner organizations.
Professional opportunities include:
• Auditions for operatic works
• Concerts and Recitals
• Master Classes
• National and International tours
• Opera for Beginners – teaching artists
• Vocal Competitions (18 to 35 years of age) - Mission Statement
- To provide performance opportunities for professional and developing gifted artists within Harlem and communities where opera is seldom performed; and to cultivate and expand audience appreciation for opera and classical music through creative programming. Particular focus is given to the works of African-American composers and to projects that link different aspects of the performing arts.
- our vision
- For further information about Harlem Opera Theater including our history, past performances, Board of Directors and affiliates, click here.
Harlem Opera House
207 West 125th Street, New York, NY
Built 1888 for Oscar Hammerstein
In 1922 purchased by Frank Schiffman and Leo Brecher.
Verna Haskins Denny, Webmaster
- Harlem Opera Theater is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in 2002. Site copyright 2006 Harlem Opera Theater.
- All rights reserved.
Please Share on Social Media! Support the Arts in Harlem!
THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS
SUGAR HILL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
898 St. Nicholas Avenue @ 155 St., NYC
SUNDAY, December 15, 2019
5:30 - 6:30pm
CURRENT season
TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED ON LINE FOR CURRENT & FUTURE EVENTS
Past performances
HARLEM OPERA THEATER
A concert in tribute to the victims and families of
ORLANDO
A concert in tribute to the victims and families of
ORLANDO
was held on
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Convent Avenue Baptist Church
420 West 145 St., NYC
We thank the artists and musicians who donated their time and talent to honor the victims and families
of the recent tragedies in Orlando, Baton Rouge, Falcon Ridge/St. Paul and Dallas.
PROGRAM
Invocation
Gregory Hopkins
Artistic Director, Harlem Opera Theater
Minister of Music, Convent Avenue Baptist Church
Statement of Purpose
Edwina Meyers Lynch, Board President, Harlem Opera Theater
Yovanne Pierre and Robert Wilson, Accompanists
Kenneth Hanson, Baritone | Noah Stewart, Tenor | Jonathan Thomas, Keyboard Gina Coates, Vocalist | Tony Smith, Saxophone
Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Excepts read by Jonathan Dewberry
Troy Weekes, Vocalist | Mickey Bass, Double Bass| Jerome Frierson, Vocalist
John Wolf, Organ | Daniel Rich, Baritone
Memorial
Dr. Ruqaiyah Nabe, Interfaith Minister
Bill Randolph, Organ | Elisabeth Stevens, Soprano | Mel Greenwich, Cello
Billy Holiday Homage | Wayne Daniels Dance Company
Jonathan Dewberry – recited the Twenty-Third Psalm
Michael Lavias Williams, Vocalist | Lee Olive Tucker, Vocalist | Ken Brady, Pianist
Cocolo Japanese Gospel Choir
Gregory Hopkins on piano
Closing Remarks
2016 VOCAL COMPETITION WINNERS AND FINALISTS
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Harlem Opera Theater Vocal Competition Finalists June 17, 2016 - Miller Theatre, Columbia University
Finalists and Winners: (left to right) Cherisse Williams, soprano; Crystal Glenn, soprano (second place, Judges Choice Award, Professional Division); Victoria Davis, soprano (first place, Judges Choice Award, Collegiate Division); Shenika John Jordan, soprano, (second place, Judges Award and Audience Choice Award, Collegiate Division); Brandie Sutton, soprano, (first place, Judges and Audience Choice Awards, Professional Division); Daniel Rich, baritone (third place, Judges Choice Award, Professional Division); Phillip Bullock, baritone; Marcus Bedinger, tenor; Edwin Davis, baritone; Jarrod Lee, bass-baritone. |
thank you for attending our black history month CONCERT:
150th Anniversary of the Life of Harry T. Burleigh
(1866-1949)
Father of Concert Spiritual Arrangements
On Friday, February 12th, 2016, Harlem Opera Theater celebrated the life and works of Harry T. Burleigh, baritone, arranger and composer of over two hundred art songs. While a student at the National Conservatory of Music in New York, he became a friend of director/composer Antonín Dvořák and influenced his work, Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (New World Symphony) in 1894. Dvořák called Go Down, Moses as great a melody as any Beethoven wrote and encouraged Burleigh to write out and sing these songs. H.T. Burleigh became a soloist for over 50 years at the St. George's Episcopal Church in New York City. From 1900 to 1925 Burleigh was also a member of the synagogue choir at the Temple Emanu-El in New York, the only African-American to sing there. Paul Robeson listed Burleigh as one of his singing mentors. Through his performances, original compositions and arrangements of spirituals, Burleigh helped establish American folk music in the concert hall and became the first black American composer to gain international prominence. He was also the first to have his music recorded. In 1914, he was a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and received a seat on its board of directors in 1941.
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Voodoo PLAYS TO SOLD OUT audiences
Morningside Opera | Harlem Opera Theater | The Harlem Chamber Players
present the Harry Lawrence Freeman Opera “Voodoo”
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Voodoo” was presented for the first time since 1928 with full orchestra conducted by Gregory Hopkins, before two sold out audiences on June 26 and 27, 2015. A special thanks to all who contributed to the Indiegogo crowd funding campaign which helped to fund the production.
Harry Lawrence Freeman (1869 – 1954), a friend of Scott Joplin, spent his early life largely in Cleveland, but in 1908 moved to Harlem; by 1920 he had established a music school, later known as the Freeman School of Music, and the Negro Grand Opera Company. He was well known in the Harlem community during his lifetime and gained some acceptance in mainstream classical music circles in the 1920s – 1940s. Freeman received the Harmon Award for significant achievement by an African-American in the field of arts and letters in 1930 (sharing the award with Adam Clayton Powell). In 1934 he was the composer and musical director of the pageant "O Sing a New Song," a prestigious event at the Chicago World's Fair which celebrated the African-American experience. The high-point of his career was probably the 1947 production of his opera The Martyr at Carnegie Hall. Dubbed “the colored Wagner” by contemporary journalists, Freeman considered himself a student of the German composer, but also incorporated American folk music and jazz into his compositions.
The opera Voodoo, completed in 1914 but not performed until 1928, is exemplary of Freeman’s compositional style. Set on a Louisiana plantation just after the Civil War, the opera centers on a classic love triangle between three former slaves, one of whom turns to voodoo and magic to entice her sweetheart and do away with her rival. The opera blends Western classical music with extended passages of period dance music, including a “Cake-Walk,” and incorporates re-settings of several African-American spirituals, such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The opera was broadcast live on New York radio and was the first opera by an African-American composer to be presented on Broadway. Even with his many achievements, including receiving the prestigious Harmon Award, Freeman’s work in largely unknown today and only a few pieces have been published. Twenty-one operas, as well as many of his other works, exist only in manuscript form, and reside in Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. In order to raise awareness and promote new dialogue about his work, Morningside Opera is transcribing Voodoo from Freeman’s manuscript to create a usable musical score. Morningside Opera, Harlem Opera Theater and The Harlem Chamber Players have joined forces to re-introduce Freeman’s work to a new generation through this concert production of Voodoo. Following the performances, the recording and score will be made available through Columbia University Libraries for future performances and research.
You may find Freeman's manuscripts and other documents at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University.
Press for VOODOO (Partial listing)
NPR - "Unearthed In A Library, 'Voodoo' Opera Rises Again"
The New York Times - "‘Voodoo,’ Opera by the African-American Composer H. Lawrence Freeman, Is Revived"
The Daily Beast - "How ‘Voodoo,’ a Trailblazing 1928 Harlem Renaissance Opera, Was Reborn"
The Wall Street Journal - "‘Voodoo,’ an Opera from the Harlem Renaissance, Gets Its First Revival"
The Guardian - "Voodoo review – a lost Harlem Renaissance opera soars"
Voodoo Performers
PERFORMANCES
classical listings
Join the Harlem Opera Theater Classical Listing of developing and professional singers and musicians.
Send your resume, bio, head shot and MP3 sample of your voice/music to: harlemoperatheater.org
All materials will be reviewed by Dr. Gregory Hopkins, Artistic Director, Harlem Opera Theater and/or partner organizations.
Professional opportunities include:
• Auditions for operatic works
• Concerts and Recitals
• Master Classes
• National and International tours
• Opera for Beginners – teaching artists
• Vocal competition (ages 18-35)
Send your resume, bio, head shot and MP3 sample of your voice/music to: harlemoperatheater.org
All materials will be reviewed by Dr. Gregory Hopkins, Artistic Director, Harlem Opera Theater and/or partner organizations.
Professional opportunities include:
• Auditions for operatic works
• Concerts and Recitals
• Master Classes
• National and International tours
• Opera for Beginners – teaching artists
• Vocal competition (ages 18-35)
mission statement
To provide performance opportunities for professional and developing gifted artists within Harlem and communities where opera is seldom performed; and to cultivate and expand audience appreciation for opera and classical music through creative programming. Particular focus is given to the works of African-American composers and to projects that link different aspects of the performing arts.
our vision
For further information about Harlem Opera Theater including our history, past performances, Board of Directors and affiliates, click here.
Harlem Opera House
207 West 125th Street, New York, NY
Built 1888 for Oscar Hammerstein
In 1922 purchased by Frank Schiffman and Leo Brecher.