LOCAL CLASSICAL – BLACK MUSIC MONTH

Local Classical Featured Playlist – 05/30/22 – 06/12/22

In this week’s playlist, we celebrate Black Music Month which takes place in June. It was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 to honor and celebrate Black artists’ contributions to music. We’ll be honoring the late Herman Whitfield III, an Indianapolis native who was a gifted pianist and composer. Whitfield was a Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Oberlin College, and the Cleveland Institute of Music graduate. He was a double-degree and triple-major student who studied piano with Takács, composition, and politics at the College of Arts and Sciences. Whitfield died in police custody on April 25, 2022, while experiencing a mental health crisis. We’ll hear several of his compositions in this playlist.

We’ll also hear performances of artists who have been featured in season four of Classical Music Indy’s podcast, Melanated Moments in Classical Music. The wonderful hosts of the podcast, international opera soprano Angela Brown and music sociologist Joshua Thompson both share a deep commitment to being a voice for Black artists, as Black artists. Connect with Classical Music Indy Streaming’s Local Channel to hear the many contributions of Black artists.