LARGE PRINT PROGRAM ThE ALLEN ROOM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER’S fREdERICk P. ROSE hALL

LincoLn center presents AmericAn songbook JAnuAry 22 – June 12, 2014 sponsored by prudential investment management

Wednesday Evening, January 29, 2014, at 8:30

LAwRENCE BROwNLEE: SPIRITuAL SkETChES

Lawrence brownlee, Tenor Damien sneed, Piano

This evening’s program is approximately 75 minutes long and will be performed without intermission.

PLEASE TuRN PAGES quIETLy (program continued) 2 major support for Lincoln center’s American songbook is provided by Fisher brothers, in memory of richard L. Fisher; and Amy & Joseph perella.

Wine generously donated by William Hill estate Winery, official Wine of Lincoln center.

This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.

steinway piano

please make certain your cellular phone, pager, or watch alarm is switched off.

Lincoln Center’s Large Print and Braille programs are made possible thanks to a generous endowment established by frederick P. Rose, daniel Rose, and Elihu Rose in honor of their mother, Belle B. Rose.

Additional support for Lincoln center’s American songbook is provided by the brown Foundation, inc., of Houston, the Dubose and Dorothy Heyward memorial Fund, the shubert Foundation, Jill and irwin cohen, the g & A Foundation, inc., great performers circle, chairman’s council, and Friends of Lincoln center. 3 endowment support is provided by bank of America.

public support is provided by the new york state council on the Arts.

Artist catering is provided by Zabar’s and Zabars.com.

metLife is the national sponsor of Lincoln center.

movado is an official sponsor of Lincoln center.

united Airlines is the official Airline of Lincoln center.

WAbc-tV is the official broadcast partner of Lincoln center.

William Hill estate Winery is the official Wine of Lincoln center.

upcoming American Songbook Events in The Allen Room :

Thursday Evening, January 30, at 8:30 Jason Isbell* (limited availability)

Friday Evening, January 31, at 7:30 and 9:30 Patina Miller* 4 Saturday Evening, February 1, at 8:30 heartbreak Country: Michael John LaChiusa’s Stories of America with kate Baldwin, Sherry d. Boone, Marc kudisch, Bryce Ryness, Andrew Samonsky, Emily Skinner, & Mary Testa

Wednesday Evening, February 12, at 8:30 Sarah Jarosz & The Milk Carton kids

Thursday Evening, February 13, at 8:30 The Songs of henry krieger with Andy Einhorn, Erin davie, & Emily Padgett

Friday Evening, February 14, at 8:30 Beth Orton

Saturday Evening, February 15, at 7:30 and 9:30 Jonathan Groff

Wednesday Evening, February 19, at 8:30 Marty Stuart & Connie Smith

Thursday Evening, February 20, at 7:30 and 9:30 Portraits of Joni: Jessica Molaskey Sings Joni Mitchell 5 *this program will be recorded by Live From Lincoln Center for future broadcast. cameras will be present.

the Allen room is located in Jazz at Lincoln center’s Frederick p. rose Hall.

For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit Americansongbook.org. call the Lincoln center info request Line at (212) 875-5766 or visit Americansongbook.org for complete program information.

Join the conversation: #Lcsongbook

We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might distract the performers and your fellow audience members.

in consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. the taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building. 6 from Camp Meeting to Concert hall By RoSaLyn SToRy oh black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? How, in your darkness, did you come to know The power and beauty of the minstrel’s lyre? Who first from midst his bonds lifted his eyes? Who first from out the still watch, lone and long, Feeling the ancient faith of prophets rise Within his dark-kept soul, burst into song?

When poet James Weldon Johnson wrote these words in 1925 to preface The Books of the american negro Spirituals , he set to poetry the question that has loomed since the first enslaved African sang the first spiritual: given the dark reality of American slavery, how did this miracle of music come about? And given its humble history, how did this offering of “black and unknown bards of long ago” arrive at the 21st-century concert hall, achieving the distinction of America’s purest and most original art form?

slave songs. sorrow songs. songs of despair and songs of hope. From plantation camp meeting to european concert stage, the journey of the negro spiritual has been long and arduous, with intriguing stops along the way. its seeds were planted in the soil of the West African plains, where tribespeople, not yet departed for American shores, celebrated 7 birth, death, and the harvest with a stomp, a cry, a rhythm grounded in the African soul.

it drifted westward across the Atlantic and took root on southern plantations, where plaintive melodies assuaged pain and offered balm for the sting of the master’s whip. At its most ambitious, it proved the power of music could make shattered lives whole, if only for the duration of a song.

then came freedom, and reconstruction. by the time the negro spiritual reached the pews of the southern black country churches, and finally the northern cities and towns of the black diaspora, it was on its way to becoming America’s most honest and enduring music.

the Fisk Jubilee singers first elevated the “slave song” to art song status. Fisk university in nashville, tennessee, one of the first colleges for freed negroes, was in dire straits in the fall of 1871. george White, director of the university choir, had the idea of taking a group of students, mostly former slaves, on tour to raise money for the university’s empty coffers. traveling northward to cities such as oberlin, ohio, the Jubilee singers sang the melodies passed down from generations of ancestors—songs like “go Down, moses,” and “steal Away”—to the delight of audiences who dug deep to help the struggling university. but while the group raised enough money to save the school, another result proved even more momentous: a simple, elegant 8 art form stamped with the ethos of the black American struggle was introduced to the world.

the spiritual, while simple in its construction, enjoyed complex meanings and uses. some were innocent proclamations of devotion to a christian faith foisted on slaves by their masters, while others rang out against slavery, and even were encoded with instructions for escape. For the African American, the spiritual provided at least two-fold comfort: for those resigned to bondage, it offered a better day, through faith, on that “great getting up morning” in the “sweet by and by.” And for those who could not endure enslavement, songs narrated a plan of escape. the river Jordan in “swing Low, sweet chariot” became the ohio or the mississippi, rivers to be crossed for freedom, and by “wading in the water” one could dissolve human scent to evade the captors’ dogs. “steal Away,” with the line “i ain’t got long to stay here,” is perhaps the most obvious of all.

still other spirituals, like “there is a balm in gilead,” brimmed with political fire and stood as statements against the institution of slavery itself. taken from the book of Jeremiah (22:6, 13), the words of scripture are unmistakable in meaning: “though you are like gilead to me…woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, makes his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.” 9 that the spiritual has survived wars, migrations, a civil rights movement, and the assimilation of African American art into American culture (leading to jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, and even rock and roll) is testimony to the genius of Johnson’s “black bards of long ago.” tenor roland Hayes, a former Fiskite himself, first sang spirituals in concert, followed by marian Anderson and paul robeson. With each passing generation, another layer of craft is added to the form. but never has the synthesis of the spiritual with various American and even european musics been more fully realized than with the artistry of tenor Lawrence brownlee. imagine the note-bending of blues, gospel, and jazz— the soulful notation of mahalia Jackson or ray charles—melded with the complex melismas of bel canto and the precision of rossini. black church raised and conservatory trained, Lawrence brownlee, one of America’s most exciting young artists, is the embodiment of that synthesis.

the evolution of an art form is the full proof of its endurance. Like African American culture itself, the spiritual has not only survived but thrived since its inception. With a new generation of African American artists, led by the likes of brownlee, the spiritual finds itself in more than capable hands.

—Copyright © 2014 by Lincoln Center for the Performing arts, Inc. 10 Meet the Artists

the most in-demand American tenor in the world in the bel canto repertoire, Lawrence Brownlee continues to astonish audiences with the power and agility of his instrument. He has been featured in nearly every major opera house and enjoys a relationship with many premier conductors and symphony orchestras. Among his memorable engagements are appearances in milan, Houston, philadelphia, Dresden, boston, seattle, Washington, rome, berlin, and Vienna, as well as at the metropolitan opera and the royal opera House–covent garden. in the orchestral arena, he has been heard in cincinnati, Houston, san Francisco, Detroit, baltimore, cleveland, chicago, and indianapolis. He has appeared in Carmina burana with the boston symphony orchestra at tanglewood and in highlights from Porgy and Bess with the new york philharmonic (including a Live From Lincoln Center telecast). mr. brownlee has performed recitals at the kennedy center and Avery Fisher Hall, in Atlanta and tokyo, and on London’s rosenblatt series and other series across the united states under the auspices of the marilyn Horne Foundation.

throughout his career, mr. brownlee has appeared on numerous cDs and DVDs including, among others, rossini’s Stabat mater , featuring Anna netrebko, Joyce DiDonato, and ildebrando d’Arcangelo with Antonio pappano leading the Accademia nazionale di santa cecilia orchestra and chorus; the metropolitan opera’s 2010 HD relay of armida and 2009 production of La Cenerentola with elina gara ncˇa; and a solo disc 11 featuring italian songs by schubert, Verdi, Donizetti, bellini, and rossini, accompanied by martin katz. His most recent album, Spiritual Sketches , which features ten traditional spirituals arranged by Damien sneed, was released in June 2013.

mr. brownlee was named the seattle opera’s 2008 Artist of the year. He received the opera company of phila delphia’s 2007 Alter Award for Artistic excellence and was the 2006 winner of both the marian Anderson prize and the richard tucker Award.

A sought-after pianist, organist, vocal coach, conductor, composer, arranger, lecturer, and producer, damien Sneed (piano) is a native of Augusta, georgia. He received a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from Howard university and a master of music degree from new york university. His professional affiliations have included the city university of new york as a professor of music, the Juilliard school as a staff accompanist, new brunswick theological seminary as an instructor, and yamaha as an endorsed influential Artist.

mr. sneed served as the musical director for season four of the hit gospel singing competition Sunday Best on bet. His conducting debut took place at Jazz at Lincoln center in 2008 with the world premiere of Wynton marsalis’s abyssinian Mass with the Jazz at Lincoln center orchestra and a 150-voice choir. in 2009 mr. sneed accompanied Jessye norman for five spirituals that he arranged at the reopening of Ford’s theatre in Washington, D.c., for president barack obama and First Lady michelle obama. 12 He has served as music director for gospel artists including karen clark sheard, kim burrell, twinkie clark, Dorinda clark-cole, richard smallwood, Donnie mcclurkin, and marvin sapp. mr. sneed has also performed with stevie Wonder, carlos santana, David sanborn, kenny burrell, Hezekiah Walker, american Idol ’s Fantasia barrino, george Huff and Anwar robinson, Ashford & simpson, the st. Louis symphony, the minnesota orchestra, and the boys choir of Harlem.

mr. sneed was nominated for a 2010 grammy for best traditional gospel Album for his work as co-producer, vocal arranger, background vocalist, music director, and keyboardist on Vickie Winans’s How I Got over . He recently recorded Spiritual Sketches with Lawrence brownlee, featuring mr. sneed’s arrangements of African American spirituals and released on mr. sneed’s independent record label, Lechateau earl records. His newest cD, LIVE in Baltimore, featuring his group, the Levites, will be released this winter. Learn more at damiensneed.com.

in 1998, Lincoln center launched American Songbook , dedicated to the celebration of popular American song. Designed to highlight and affirm the creative mastery of America’s songwriters from their emergence at the turn of the 19th century up through the present, American songbook spans all styles and genres, from the form’s early roots in tin pan Alley and broadway to the eclecticism of today’s singer-songwriters. American songbook also showcases the outstanding inter preters 13 of popular song, including established and emerging concert, cabaret, theater, and songwriter performers.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.

Lincoln center for the performing Arts (LcpA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln center campus. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LcpA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals including American songbook, great performers, Lincoln center Festival, Lincoln center out of Doors, midsummer night swing, the mostly mozart Festival, and the White Light Festival, as well as the emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln Center , which airs nationally on pbs. As manager of the Lincoln center campus, LcpA provides support and services for the Lincoln center complex and the 11 resident organizations. in addition, LcpA led a $1.2 billion campus renovation, completed in october 2012.

Lincoln Center Programming department Jane moss, Ehrenkranz artistic Director Hanako yamaguchi, Director, Music Programming Jon nakagawa, Director, Contemporary Programming Lisa takemoto, Production Manager bill bragin, Director, Public Programming charles cermele, Producer, Contemporary Programming 14 kate monaghan, associate Director, Programming Jill sternheimer, Producer, Public Programming mauricio Lomelin, associate Producer, Contemporary Programming nicole cotton, Production Coordinator regina grande, assistant to the artistic Director Julia Lin, Programming associate Ann crews melton, Programming Publications Editor kristin renee young, House Seat Coordinator for American Songbook matt berman, Lighting Design scott stauffer, Sound Design

Mr. Brownlee’s representation: img Artists www.imgartists.com

Mr. Sneed’s representation: Jazz management group www.jazzmanagementgroup.com 15 program and artists are subject to change without notice. this material is current at the time of production. please refer to this evening’s Playbill or inquire of the house staff for any program changes.

Large print and braille programs are a service of the Lincoln center Department of programs and services for people with Disabilities. this program has been prepared for the American songbook at Lincoln center.

Department of programs and services for people with Disabilities, Lincoln center for the performing Arts, inc., 1881 broadway, 3 rd Floor, new york, new york, 10023-6583. phone: 875-5375. Accessibility Hotline: 875-5380. 16 department of Programs and Services for People with disabilities (PSPd)

All of Lincoln center’s services for patrons with disabilities, such as these program notes, are made possible through geneous private contributions. We need your assistance to continue to provide these services. if you enjoyed these program notes, and would like to help us maintain this and other services for people with disabilities, won’t you please consider making a contribution to support them today? contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. checks should be made payable to Lincoln center for the performing Arts, inc. and mailed to the Department of programs and services for people with Disabilities at the address above. contribution forms are also available at the pspD information table in the lobby. We thank you in advance, and look forward to the pleasure of your company at future Lincoln center performances.

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