presents

Beyond Race

African American Art Songs & Spirituals

Alexander Bernstein, piano
Marika Bournaki, piano
Natalie Conte, soprano
Kathryn Green, contralto
Stacie Haneline, piano
Caroline Helton, soprano
Byron Jones, baritone
David Meyer, baritone
Fotina Naumenko, soprano
Jamie Reimer, soprano
Emery Stephens, baritone
Edrie Means Weekly, soprano

Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Armstrong Concert Hall
Shenandoah Conservatory

Ethiopia Saluting the Colors (Whitman)

H.T. Burleigh (1866–1949)

Emery Stephens, baritone
Alexander Bernstein, piano

I, Too (Hughes)

Margaret Bonds (1913–1972)

Emery Stephens, baritone
Alexander Bernstein, piano

Mother to Son (Hughes)

Hall Johnson (1888–1970)

Caroline Helton, soprano
Stacie Haneline, piano

City Called Heaven

African American Spiritual
arr. Hall Johnson

Caroline Helton, soprano
Stacie Haneline, piano

It’s Me, O Lord

African American Spiritual
arr. Betty Jackson King

Emery Stephens, baritone
Stacie Haneline, piano

Come Sunday from Black, Brown, and Beige

Duke Ellington (1899–1974)

Caroline Helton, soprano
Stacie Haneline, piano

“On Bended Knees” from From the Southland

H.T. Burleigh (1866–1949)

Alexander Bernstein, piano

Spirituals Arrangements

Steal Away 

Roland Carter (b. 1942)
arr.

Edrie Means Weekly, soprano
Stacie Haneline, piano

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

Moses Hogan (1957–2003)
arr.

David Meyer, baritone
Alexander Bernstein, piano

Art Songs of H. Leslie Adams

For you, there is no song from Five Millay Songs

H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932)

Fotina Naumenko, soprano
Marika Bournaki, piano

Sence You Went Away from Nightsongs

H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932)
Text by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)

Kathryn Green, contralto
Marika Bournaki, piano

The Return from Town from Five Millay Songs

H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932)

Byron Jones, baritone
Marika Bournaki, piano

Love, Let the Wind Cry

Undine Smith Moore (1904–1989)

Natalie Conte, soprano
Marika Bournaki, piano

Undoing Poems (2022)

I. Surviving the Apocalypse (Evans)
II. Please Know (Myers)
III. A Conceit (Angelou)

Andre Myers (b. 1973)

Jamie Reimer, soprano
Byron Jones, baritone
Stacie Haneline, piano

I Believe

Dave Ragland (b. 1978)

Natalie Conte, soprano
Kathryn Green, contralto
Caroline Helton, soprano
Byron Jones, baritone
David Meyer, baritone
Fotina Naumenko, soprano
Jamie Reimer, soprano
Emery Stephens, baritone
Edrie Means Weekly, soprano
Alexander Bernstein, piano

About I Believe

The text is derived from a translation of writing found on the wall (presumed by a Jewish person) in a concentration camp in Germany. In composing this piece, I hoped to convey a message of unmovable, unconquerable belief.

I frequently think about the writer of these words and the hardships that brought about its writing. My imagination leads me to think that they had to believe in the existence of a higher power working for the good — even in the face of mistreatment, torture, and genocide.

There's an old Negro spiritual states that “He's the same God today as He was yesterday.” And even for us living in today's world, the sun still shines somewhere — as a signal of God's ever-abounding light and love.

– Dave Ragland

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mmathewe@su.edu  |  (540) 665-4733

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Contact Shenandoah Conservatory Director of Development Melanie L. Mathewes at (540) 665-4733 or mmathewe@su.edu for more information or other ways to give.

Shenandoah University is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All gifts are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.