Guilford, Vt. – On Saturday, February 22, at 3:00 p.m., Friends of Music at Guilford presents “Lucy Terry Prince & The Black Man in Song” at Guilford Community Church (snow date: Feb. 23). Co-sponsored by Guilford Historical Society, this Black History Month event includes a talk by Linda Hecker on early Guilford resident Lucy Terry Prince (1730-1821) and a concert of works by ten African-American composers featuring tenor Irwin Reese and pianist Julia Bady.
African-born Lucy Terry grew up as a slave in the Ebenezer Wells household of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Considered the earliest African-American literary figure, she authored a poem about a 1746 Indian attack on Deerfield that was handed down orally for many years before its first publication. She married Abijah Prince, a free Black man from nearby Northfield, and raised a large family on land they bought in Guilford, Vermont. Lucy’s skills as an orator were legendary.
Linda Hecker is a founder of Friends of Music, a violinist/violist for regional chamber ensembles and orchestras, and a widely traveled education specialist for Landmark College. She has been fascinated by Lucy Terry Prince since moving into the Princes’ Guilford neighborhood in the 1960s and will share an overview of her research into Lucy’s extraordinary life.
“Irwin Reese and Julia Bady performed a superb intimate house concert for us a few years ago,” shared Friends of Music administrator Joy Wallens-Penford. “The artistry and power of Irwin’s voice was beautifully balanced by Julia’s masterful playing and sensitivity as a collaborator. We’re excited to bring them, and this special repertoire, to the attention of a wider audience with this program.”
“The Black Man in Song” opens with “Three Dream Portraits” by Margaret Bonds and other art songs by William Grant Still, J. Rosamond Johnson, John W. Work, Jr., and Camille Nickerson. The concert’s centerpiece is “The Letters” by Richard Pearson Thomas (b. 1957), the one living composer represented; commissioned by Mr. Reese in 2003, this four-part work was based on letters by noted African-American scientist, educator, and inventor George Washington Carver (1864-1943). The stirring final concert segment, includes works in the style of traditional Spirituals composed or arranged by James Miller, Virginia Lewis, Hall Johnson, and Edward Boatner.
New York-based tenor Irwin Reese has had a diverse career in opera and on television, as a solo recitalist, and as a commercial voice-over artist. A recently retired member of the Metropolitan Opera chorus, he has also sung solo roles in many classic operas, and appeared in national and international tours of “Porgy and Bess” with the Houston Grand Opera, as well as in the world premiere of “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” with the New York City Opera. Other featured performances have included the PBS production of William Grant Still’s “A Bayou Legend.”
Julia Bady performs solo and chamber music throughout the New York/New England region. She teaches piano and coaches chamber music at the Northampton Community Music Center, maintains a piano studio at her home in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and has taught in a variety of school and college settings. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the Golandsky Piano Institute for the Taubman Approach in New York City.
Admission to “Lucy Terry Prince & The Black Man in Song” is $10 per person at the door and includes a Colonial-themed Tea Reception. This event is presented with partial funding support by a Small and Inspiring grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.
Guilford Community Church, which is handicapped accessible, is at 38 Church Dr. in Guilford, a bit over a mile from Exit 1 off Interstate 91. Take Rt. 5 south to Bee Barn Rd., on the left just past the newly renovated Guilford Country Store; Bee Barn leads to Church Drive.
Now in its 48th concert season, Friends of Music is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a special mission to promote the performance of music by classical and modern masters that deserves wider attention, as well as new compositions by regional composers. For further information, visit them online at www.fomag.org, email office@fomag.org, or call (802) 254-3600.
