Cal Performances Presents Program

Saturday, April , , pm PROGRAM Zellerbach Hall Sweet Honey in the Rock Sweet Honey in the Rock INTERMISSION

Indaba Indaba (West Coast Premiere) (West Coast Premiere)

featuring Indaba Prayer Sweet Honey in the Rock

Indaba Sweet Honey in the Rock Everyone Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Member of the World Community Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, Shirley Childress Saxton OSA Youth Chorus Soloist Chastity Hinson Trio CyLena Granger, Shynell Blanson, Pacifi c Mozart Ensemble Chastity Hinson Dr. Lynne Morrow, music director Rapper Genesis Sanchez

Questions Oakland School of the Arts Youth Choir OSA Youth Chorus Melanie DeMore, guest conductor Soloist Destiny Cornett Spoken Word Genesis Sanchez with Vision for Tomorrow Pacifi c Mozart Ensemble Ravi Abcarian bass Soloists Lark Coryell, Angie Doctor, Cindy Lau, Valerie L. Brown vocal soloist Kim Keeton, Alexis Jensen Ginitta Glass djembe Vocal Percussion Greg Lee and John Stenzel Savannah Harris drums Get Along Trente Morant piano, keyboards, vocal soloist Soloists Valerie L. Brown, Trente Morant Rosetta Saunders djembe, dun dun Daughter Shynell Blanson Son Merkell Williams Keyboard Kymry Esainko

Joy in the Morning Cal Performances’ – season is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank. Everyone Soloist CyLena Granger

12 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 13 Program Notes Choral Rosters

Indaba Pacifi c Mozart Ensemble Oakland School for the Arts Youth Choir

Indaba (in-dä´bä´) is a Zulu word from South Africa of the World Community” and then raise the Richard Grant, artistic director Letia Nichols, head of the vocal program meaning to bring together the right people…at the “Questions” that all youth raise. Th e teenagers in Lynne Morrow, music director Branice McKenzie, conductor Kymry Esainko, accompanist Melanie DeMore, guest conductor right time…to ask the right questions…in order dialogue with their parents try to fi gure out wheth- to arrive at the right answers. It is an invitation to er it is possible for them to “Get Along,” particular- Soprano Soprano gather for the telling of our stories. ly as they try to share their “Vision of Tomorrow.” Lorna Baird Amber Long Th is Indaba is a choral work composed by the Th e entire community (including the audience) is Becca Burrington Anna Chernock members of Sweet Honey in the Rock in . It invited to come together in the fi nal song celebrat- Josie Diaz Cecilia Garner was commissioned by the Washington Performing ing “Joy in the Morning.” Angie Doctor Debriana Cannon Arts Society for the Men and Women of the Gospel Th e music of Indaba represents the diversity of Kathie Longinotti Destiny Cornett and the Children of the Gospel in Washington, the African-American community and combines a Mari Marjamaa India Harris Amelie Mel de Fontenay Kylah Webster D.C., in celebration of its th anniversary and full spectrum of musical styles of from the Sweet Miranda Buddington its work in bringing art and community together. Honey pallet, including the traditional long me- Alto Phan Tran Th e work, in seven movements, is a musical dia- ter hymn form of Black congregations, “classical” Valerie Brown logue between youth and their elders. It begins choral forms set against rhythms from the African Annette Cayot Alto with a “Prayer,” performed by Sweet Honey, ask- Diaspora, choral jazz, rap and gospel. Lark Coryell Chetina Hunter ing that the community be blessed with children. Sweet Honey thanks you for being part of the Elisabeth Eliassen Shynell Blanson Th e prayer is followed by an affi rmation from the Indaba community and for participating in this Polly Winograd Ikonen Tiana Young elders to the youth that “We Believe in You.” Th e evening’s dialogue. Alexis Lane Jensen CyLena Granger Kim Keeton youth then affi rm that though they may be young, Enjoy! Claudia Landivar Tenor they understand that they are each a “Members Cindy Lau Anais Kane Gretchen Nicholson Merkell Williams Peggy Rock Eiji Miura Antonia Van Becker Sukay Sow Briana Lovelace Tenor Jenese Brewer Doug Boyd Chastity Hinson Victor Floyd Eric Freeman Baritone Bryan Matheson Kevon Towner Larry Moore John Paddock Spoken Word Larry Rose Genesis Sanchez Ben Scott Kevin Smith

Bass Steve Bicknese Tom Carpender Kymry Esainko Dale Engle Jim Hale Gene Hern Don Kelley Greg Lee Jeremy Litwin John Stenzel Jeff Watts

14 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 15 About the Artists About the Artists

Founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon in  at the Dr. Ysaye M. Nitanju Bolade  PBS fi lm series Africans in America, produced D.C. Black Repertory Th eater Company, Sweet Barnwell is a na- Casel fi rst came by WGBH-TV. “Fulani Chant” was included in Honey in the Rock, internationally renowned tive New Yorker to Sweet Honey Climb Against the Odds benefi t recording for Breast a cappella ensemble, has been a vital and innova- now living in in the Rock after Cancer Funds and the fi lm score for Down in the tive presence in the music culture of Washington, Washington, D.C., four years of study- Delta, directed by Maya Angelou. Recently added D.C., and in communities of conscience around where, since , ing, performing to her acting credits is her debut appearance in the world. Now in her fourth decade, the Grammy she has performed and cultural orga- Beloved, directed by Jonathan Demme. Ms. Kahlil Award-winning ensemble moves forward, fol- with theinterna- nizing in Dakar, composed the closing song for the American lowing Bernice Johnson Reagon’s retirement in tionally acclaimed Senegal, where she Bible Society video featuring Sweet Honey in the February , continuing the legacy begun  a cappella quintet, co-founderd, with Rock. She also composed and performed original years ago. Sweet Honey in the Marie Guinier, music for the fi lm Freedom Song, starring Danny From Psalm : comes the promise to a Rock. She appears ADEA (Artistes des Glover and directed by Phil Robinson with music people of being fed by honey out of the rock. as a vocalist and/or instrumentalist on more than Echanges Africaines). Dedicated to the exchange by Sweet Honey in the Rock and James Horner, Honey: an ancient substance, sweet and nurtur-  recordings with Sweet Honey and other artists. of ideas and services between African of the di- and appeared with Sweet Honey in the Rock as- ing. Rock: an elemental strength, enduring the Dr. Barnwell spends much of her time off stage as aspora, ADEA worked in alliance with local art- guest artist on the TNT special A Tribute to Joni winds of time. Th e metaphor of sweet honey in the a master teacher and clinician in cultural perfor- ists, the National Council of Negro Women, the Mitchell. She is currently at work on a recording rock captures completely these African-American mance theory and voice production. Her work- National Th eatre Daniel Sorano, the University of project featuring her original compositions and women, whose repertoire is steeped in the sacred shop, Building a Vocal Community: Singing in the Dakar, Air Afrique radio (O.R.T.S.) and television arrangements. music of the Black church, the clarion calls of the African American Tradition, has been conducted all programming, the Schomberg Center for Research civil rights movement, and songs of the struggle for over the United States, Great Britain and Australia, and Development, and the late Dr. Ewart Guinier Carol Maillard was justice everywhere. making her work in the fi eld a real source of inspi- of Harvard University. Ms. Casel has brought the born and raised in Rooted in a deeply held commitment to create ration for her performances on stage. improvisational rhythms of hip-hop and jazz to Philadelphia, Penn- music out of the rich textures of African-American While her -year study of the violin begin- Sweet Honey in the Rock’s palette since her arrival sylvania, and attend- legacy and traditions, Sweet Honey in the Rock ning at age two was the foundation of her musi- in . She is currently co-director, with her sister, ed Catholic Univer- possesses a stunning vocal prowess that captures cal career, Dr. Barnwell holds bachelor and master Aisha Kahlil, of First World Productions, a cultural sity of America in the complex sounds of blues, spirituals, tradi- of science degrees in speech pathology, a doctor of and educational organization in the performance Washington, D.C., tional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, philosophy in cranio-facial studies and a master of arts. Ms. Casel made her fi lm debut appearance in where she studied hip-hop, ancient lullabies and jazz improvisation. science in public health. She was, for  years, a Beloved, directed by Jonathan Demme. violin and theater. Sweet Honey’s collective voice, occasionally ac- professor at the College of Dentistry at Howard She began her per- companied by hand percussion instruments, pro- University, and in addition administered and im- Aisha Kahlil joined formance career duces a sound fi lled with soulful harmonies and plemented community health projects. the group in . As at the D.C. Black intricate rhythms. Dr. Barnwell is a commissioned composer an experienced jazz Repertory Th eater as a member of the professional In the best and in the hardest of times, Sweet and arranger who has worked on numerous and vocalist and African company. Carol has worked extensively both on Honey in the Rock has come in song to communi- varied dance, choral, fi lm, video, theater and re- dance and song artist, and off Broadway, in many national and interna- ties across the United States and around the world, cording projects. In addition to these endeavors, she has moved Sweet tional tours, on TV and in fi lm. She has produced, raising her voice in hope, love, justice, peace and Dr. Barnwell is an actress whose credits include Honey in the Rock written and recorded with Sweet Honey in the resistance. Sweet Honey invites her audiences to voice-over narrations and appearances on both into new territory in Rock and other well known artists. Her arrange- open their minds and hearts and think about who television and big screen fi lm and video. She has improvisation. She is ment of “Motherless Child” is featured in the fi lm we are and what we do to one another and to our authored two children’s book, No Mirrors in My Sweet Honey in the Th e Visit and the documentary fi lm on Dorothy fellow creatures on this planet. Nana’s House, illustrated by Synthia Saint James, Rock’s strongest blues Height, We Are Not Vanishing. She is a published Sweet Honey in the Rock is Ysaye Maria and We Are One, illustrated by Brian Pinkney singer. In , CASA (Contemporary A Cappella writer and lives in New York City with her son, Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, (for release in March ); compiled and edited Society of America) named Ms. Kahlil as best solo- Jordan. She is a founding member of Sweet Honey Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson and Shirley Continuum: Th e First Songbook of Sweet Honey in ist in a cappella music for her performance of “See in the Rock. SGMKJ! Childress Saxton. Th e group’s latest release, the Rock; produced the th anniversary CD of See Rider” and “Fulani Chant.” Some ofthe group’s Experience…, was honored with a Grammy Sweet Honey in the Rock, …twenty-fi ve…, and is most innovative and experimental work occurs in Award nomination this year. the featured storyteller and singer on her release the performance ofher compositions, including Um Hmm, a feast of African-American stories, po- “Fulani Chant” and “Wodaabe Nights.” “Wodaabe ems and songs for young audiences. Nights” was included in the sound score for the

16 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 17 About the Artists About the Artists

Louise Robinson published a tribute to her in an article entitled, Story of Freedom: An Evening of Spirituals. Th e middle and high school, OSA will be moving into is a native New “Shirley Childress Johnson, the Mother of Songs ensemble has made three European tours and the Oakland Fox Th eatre in fall . Yorker who began Sung in ASL.” She has been recognized for her numerous recordings. Th e vocal department at OSA is an award-win- her relationship interpreting work and services to the community PME annually presents a season of three con- ning department and is demand for performance with music in the by awards from Deaf advocacy organizations in- cert programs in various locations around the Bay throughout the Bay Area. Th e choirs of OSA are children’s choir cluding Women Unlimited, Deafpride, Inc. and Area; these concerts often include collaborations known for their varied repertoire that includes ev- at church. She the Silent Mission at Shiloh Baptist Church in with other music institutions. Th e – erything from a South African freedom song to a went on to play Washington, D.C. She has authored three writ- season will include performances of Beethoven’s Chopin prelude, from singing a cappella to shaking the accordion and ings on her experiences as a child of Deaf adults Ninth Symphony with the Napa Valley Symphony the rafters with a gospel classic. Oakland School concert bass, later (C.O.D.A.) and her work as a Sign Language in- in April . PME closes each season with its for the Arts is on the move, and you will witness joining the all- terpreter that can be found in the following publi- highly popular A Cappella Jazz & Pop concerts, that as you listen to the OSA Youth Choir. city orchestra and cations: We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey which showcase members of the choir in small and the citywide cho- in the Rock…Still on the Journey, Continuum: Th e large groups performing sophisticated, original ar- Singer-songwriter Melanie DeMore has a remark- rus. She studied music while attending the High First Song Book of Sweet Honey in the Rock and Souls rangements of a wide variety of musical styles. able voice, weaving the fi bers of African-American School of Music and Art in New York. She gradu- of My Sister: Black Women Break Th eir Silence, Tell folk music with soulful ballads, spirituals and ated from Howard University in Washington, Th eir Stories, and Heal Th eir Spirit. Dr. Lynne Morrow was named Music Director her own original music. Ms. DeMore beautifully D.C., with a bachelor of fi ne arts degree. of PME in , the ensemble’s th anniversary brings her audience together through her music Ms. Robinson’s fi rst professional job was with Founded in  by Artistic Director Richard season. Dr. Morrow had previously served as vocal and commentary. She has toured extensively, sing- the Arena Stage’s company, Living Stage. She then Grant, the Pacifi c Mozart Ensemble (PME) coach and then Assistant Music Director of PME ing at festivals, universities, in coff ee houses and moved on to join Robert Hook’s newly formed delivers passionate, expert and engaging choral from  to . In , Dr. Morrow, along concert halls. Her recordings Share My Song and acting ensemble at the D.C. Black Repertory performances of music from Brahms to Brubeck to with PME Artistic Director Richard Grant, pre- Come Follow Me are both heartfelt collections of Company. It was there that she, along with Mie, the Beach Boys. Over the years, PME has grown to pared the chorus for the Berlin performance and her music. Carol Maillard and Bernice Reagon, formed the a fi ll an important role in the cultural life of the San recording of Bernstein’s Mass with the Deutsches In addition to her solo work, Ms. DeMore cappella quartet, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Francisco Bay Area, presenting courageous and in- Symphonie-Orchester under the direction of Kent facilitates vocal workshops for professional and Ms. Robinson moved back to New York sev- novative programs of many works that have never Nagano; this Harmonia Mundi recording went on community-based choral groups and has taught eral years later to resume her acting career, and been performed in concert settings. In , the to receive a  Grammy Award nomination for her program, Sound Awareness, in schools, pris- performed both on- and off -Broadway in such group’s th anniversary season, PME named Dr. Best Choral Performance. ons and youth organizations in the United productions as Reggae, Tintypes, I’m Getting Lynne Morrow as the group’s Music Director. Dr. Morrow teaches at Sonoma State States, Canada, Cuba and New Zealand. My Act Together and Taking It on the Road, Ain’t PME is perhaps best known for its collabora- University, where she directs the vocal and opera/ Ms. DeMore was a California Artist in Residence Misbehavin’ and Little Shop of Horrors. tions with contemporary composers and artists, in- music theater programs, and also serves as Music with the Oakland Youth Chorus for  years and cluding John Adams, Dave Brubeck, David Lang, Director of the Oakland-East Bay Symphony has received an award from the Music Educators Shirley Childress Meredith Monk, the American Bach Soloists, Chorus. Dr. Morrow received her DMA in opera National Conference for her work with young Saxton is a veteran Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the Oakland-East coaching and choral conducting from Indiana singers and artists. She is on the music faculty at professional Sign Bay Symphony and many others. PME was nomi- University-Bloomington. St. Paul’s School in Oakland, where she teaches a Language inter- nated for a “Best Choral Performance” Grammy In fall , Dr. Morrow helped to found cappella singing. Ms. DeMore is also a founding preter having learned Award in  for the Harmonia Mundi recording Quantum Opera Th eatre, which seeks to broaden member of the Grammy Award-nominated, criti- American Sign of Bernstein’s Mass with the Deutsches Symphonie- the formal and stylistic links between opera and cally acclaimed vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and Language from her Orchester under the direction of Kent Nagano. musical theater by working with composers on the Cultural Heritage Choir, a group that tours ex- Deaf parents. She has PME made its Carnegie Hall debut in new works and hopes to provide an environment tensively in the United States and abroad.  years of experience November , representing choral music for to workshop new musical theater each year. She is Ms. DeMore traces her interest in music providing Sign inter- Meredith Monk’s th anniversary celebration; also the host for the Stern Grove Music Festival. to her parents who started one of the fi rst Black preting services in a selections of those performances were broadcast on theater groups in Alaska in the early s. wide range of life situations including education, WNYC radio. In , members of PME appeared Th e Oakland School for the Arts Youth Choir Ms. DeMore majored in music at Incarnate employment, legal, medical and performing arts/ in local concerts by “indie” rocker Sufj an Stevens is composed of Vocal Emphasis high school stu- Word University in San Antonio, Texas, and music. Shirley conducts master workshops on Sign and avant garde composer and musician John Zorn. dents at Oakland School for the Arts (OSA). later worked as a studio musician, was a mem- interpreting music. She holds a bachelor’s degree PME was a featured performer at the  Green Oakland School for the Arts is a pre-professional ber of a melodrama company, sang in an all in deaf education and is a certifi ed member of the Center Festival at Sonoma State University, Arts Academy with an intense college-prepara- women’s Black a cappella group, Scintilla, sang Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf, Inc., which presenting its multimedia concert program, A tory curriculum in downtown Oakland. A charter for commercials, and wrote music for the theater.

18 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 19 About the Artists

Ms. DeMore describes her music as “in the African- In addition to her work with Dominion, American folk tradition of Odetta,” to whom she Ms. Brown is the Choir Director for Unity Palo has often been compared, noting, “I have a very, Alto Community Church, Creative Arts Minister/ very, very low voice.” She has shared the stage with Vice-Chair of OneLife Institute, sings with numerous artists including Buff y Saint Marie, the Grammy Award-nominated Pacifi c Mozart John Prine, Josh White, Jr., Laura Nyro, Sweet Ensemble and is a co-founder of blak&brown Honey in the Rock and Pete Seeger. Productions. Ms. Brown is a member of the Recording Academy SF Chapter and American Valerie L. Brown is a music minister, professional Choral Directors Association. vocalist, arranger, composer and producer. Her musical career spans four decades, from her forma- Trente Morant has been a Bay Area resident tive years singing in the church, to being honored for over  years, and has become very much in as “Best Female Vocalist in the Army” during a tour demand as a conductor, arranger, accompanist of duty in the late s, to her contributions to and performer. the “Womyn’s Music” movement (as “Satko”) and For fi ve years, Mr. Morant toured the country direction of VOICES: Lesbian Choral Ensemble. as performer-lecturer specializing in music from Ms. Brown has performed in venues as diverse as the Harlem Renaissance, and served as musical the Santa Rita Prison, the Monterey Jazz Festival director in many theaters in the New York tri-state and Carnegie Hall. area for productions of West Side Story, Candide, Ms. Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in com- Barnum, Th e Pirates of Penzance, Th e Music Man, puter science from San Francisco State University, Shenandoah, Pippin, Chicago, Hair, Funny Girl, with a minor in voice from the San Francisco Trial by Jury, Sugar and Robber Bridegroom. Conservatory of Music. She worked for  years Mr. Morant worked with the Oakland Youth in the corporate banking world with Wells Fargo Chorus for  years and conducted the cho- in their Electronic Banking and Loss Prevention rus in performances or workshops with Bobby departments, and spent fi ve years as a Registered McFerrin, Charlie Haden, Nancy Wilson, Ed Representative and Senior Associate with WMA Kelly, Keith Terry, Dance Brigade, Linda Tillery, Securities, Inc. and the National Association of Jon Hendricks, Pete Seeger and Voicestra. He Securities Dealers. also took the chorus on tour to New York, New As a disability rights activist, Ms. Brown par- Orleans, Jamaica, Canada and Japan. ticipated in successful litigation for the enforce- Other credits include conducting at the ment of ADA statutes. She worked with the Bay Monterey and San Francisco Jazz Festivals, Area Outreach & Recreational Program, coaching Carmina Burana with the Oakland Ballet, Porgy wheelchair basketball and soccer in their Youth and Bess and the Bernstein Mass with East Bay Sports Program, and was a member of the silver- Symphony conducted by Michael Morgan, and medal U.S. Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team “the leading player” in Pippin with Alameda Civic in the  Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain. Light Opera. Th e year  marked a period of clarity and For the last two summers, Mr. Morant served transformation for Ms. Brown. She left the cor- as vocal director at the Woodminster Th eater for porate world to devote time to personal spiritual productions of Oklahoma!, Hello Dolly, Jesus Christ development and explore ministry in music. Along Superstar, Ragtime, Th e King and I, Beauty and the the path, Dominion a cappella ensemble was born. Beast and West Side Story. Dominion is an ensemble of individuals who not only can sing, but also can testify about life’s strug- gles and how each of them overcame them to sing rich harmonies and transform audiences.

20 CAL PERFORMANCES