The influence of Black composers and performing artists on American classical music is profound. Classical HQR 92.7fm will offer special programming to celebrate this history all month.
Both Allegro and Vivace, locally-hosted by HQR's Cheril Lee and Jemila Ericson, will feature the music of Black composers and performers.
Salmagundi, locally-hosted by Pat Marriott, will feature the piano sonatas of composer George Walker, whose 100th birthday we celebrate this year.
Classical HQR will also feature the music (that's right, the music!) of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes on February 17 at noon, with a repeat Sunday February 20 at 3pm. This special program, "Langston Hughes - I, Too, Sing America," comes from one of Hughes' poems and will feature some of his compositions. His collaboration with William Grant Still is discussed, and there is an actual recording of Still in conversation with Hughes
Allegro is aired Monday - Friday from 9am – noon
Vivace is aired Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from noon-3pm
Salmagundi is aired each Monday evening from 8-10pm
HQR News will feature two great programs. Witness: Black History Month, a special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service, brings together some incredible interviews looking at the African-American experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are fascinating, harrowing, and inspiring. Segments include: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, American new pioneer Dorothy Butler Gilliam, Nelson Mandela in Detroit, Nasa's pioneering black women, The "Godfather of Gospel Music" and what the Confederate flag represents in America's battle over race. It will air Friday, February 4 at noon.
On Sunday, February 13 at 8pm, you can hear Selected Shorts, Celebrating Toni Morrison, with guest host Tayari Jones, invites audiences to celebrate Morrison, the American master who died in 2019. Morrison’s novels, including Beloved, Jazz, and Song of Solomon, have become an indelible part of the American canon. Her fierce, poetic visions earned her the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
