CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Sunday, May 6, 2012, 7pm “I have always believed that art is the conscience each other, our fellow creatures who share this Zellerbach Hall of the human soul, and that artists have the planet, and the planet itself. responsibility not only to show life as it is but Sweet Honey’s 20th CD release, to show life as it should be. … Sweet Honey In Experience…101, was a 2008 Grammy Award The Rock has withstood the onslaught. She has nominee. The excitement continued as Sweet been unprovoked by the 30 pieces of silver. Her Honey was asked to compose new material songs lead us to the well of truth that nourishes in celebration of Dance Theater’s the will and courage to stand strong. She is the 50th anniversary. Together, these two artistic keeper of the flame.” treasures of the African American experience performed this once-in-a-lifetime collaboration throughout the United States. The music for the collaboration was released on a CD entitled Go ounded by bernice johnson reagon in Grace. Fin 1973 (with Mie, Carol Maillard and On February 18, 2009, Sweet Honey gave a Louise Robinson) at the D.C. Black Repertory concert at the White House at the invitation of Theater Company, Sweet Honey In The Rock, President and Mrs. Barack Obama. the internationally renowned a cappella ensem- The following year saw the release of a CD and ble, has been a vital and innovative presence in video in response to Arizona Law SB‑1070, and the music culture of Washington, D.C., and in the creation of a tribute concert, “Remembering communities of conscience around the world. Nina, Odetta and Miriam Makeba.” From Psalm 81:16 comes the promise to a The 2011–2012 season finds Sweet Honey people of being fed by honey out of the rock. celebrating her 38th birthday, and what a Honey—an ancient substance, sweet and nur- year it will be! D.C. residents were treated turing. Rock—an elemental strength, enduring to a performance of the tribute concert on the winds of time. The metaphor of sweet honey October 22, 2011, and in April 2012 a new work, in the rock captures completely these African Affirmations, premiered in performance with the American women, whose repertoire is steeped in National Symphony.

Dwight Carter the sacred music of the Black church, the clarion Sweet Honey In The Rock are Ysaye Maria calls of the civil rights movement and songs of Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Ysaye Maria Barnwell the struggle for justice everywhere. Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson and Shirley Nitanju Bolade Casel Rooted in a deeply held commitment to Childress Saxton (Sign Language Interpreter). create music out of the rich textures of African Aisha Kahlil American legacy and traditions, Sweet Honey Ysaye Maria Barnwell Carol Maillard In The Rock possesses a stunning vocal prow- was born in New York Louise Robinson ess that captures the complex sounds of blues, City and has lived in spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reg- Washington, D.C., for Shirley Childress Saxton gae, African chants, hip-hop, ancient lullabies over 40 years. Her life and jazz improvisation. Sweet Honey’s collec- experiences have taken tive voice, occasionally accompanied by hand her down three major percussion instruments, produces a sound filled paths. She began in mu- with soulful harmonies and intricate rhythms. sic at the age of 2½, Tonight’s program will be announced from the stage. In the best and in the hardest of times, Sweet studying violin for 15 Honey In The Rock has come in song to com- years with her father and majoring in music in munities across the United States and around high school. She sang in a choir while in junior the world, raising her voice in hope, love, jus- high school and then in college. In 1976, she tice, peace and resistance. Sweet Honey invites founded the Jubilee Singers at All Souls Cal Performances’ 2011–2012 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. her audiences to open their minds and hearts Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C. It was, and think about who we are and how we treat there in 1979, that Bernice Johnson Reagon

12 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 13 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS witnessed her as a singer and a Sign Language Council of Negro Women, the National Theater Willus Way Is Not a Violent Man, directed by Since her arrival in Washington, D.C., she interpreter and invited her to audition for Sweet Daniel Sorano, the University of Dakar, Air Ed Smith. During this time she became inter- has worked with Brother Ah and the Sounds Honey In The Rock. Afrique, Television and Radio Orts, the ested in the music of such jazz artists as John of Awareness, and has been a featured art- Dr. Barnwell is also a speech pathologist Schomberg Center for Research and Coltrane, Leon Thomas, Betty Carter, Yma ist in the Smithsonian Institution’s Jazz in the with the bachelor’s, master’s (SUNY Geneseo, Development, and the late Dr. Ewart Guinier of Sumac and Pharoah Sanders. Palm Court, in which she presented a special 1963–1968) and Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University. Ms. Casel is also the former By the time she entered college as a theater performance of the music of Gertrude “Ma” 1975) degrees, and was a professor in the College assistant director of the Art of Black Dance & student at Northeastern University in Boston, it Rainey, the Queen Mother of the classic blues. of Dentistry for over a decade. In 1981, she com- Music, and director of Young Afrique Dance was clear that Ms. Kahlil had an intuitive in- Ms. Kahlil danced with the African Heritage pleted post-doctoral work and earned a Master Company, both in Massachusetts. clination for vocal jazz. Although her formal Dancers and Drummers and Kankouran. She of Science in Public Health. Ms. Casel now works with her sister, Aisha training had been in European classical mu- also served as artistic director for the Youth Over the past two decades, Dr. Barnwell Kahlil, as co-director of First World Productions, sic, she began experimenting with innovative, Ensemble of Dancers and Drummers at the has earned a significant reputation as a commis- and heads her own publishing company, Clear improvisational vocal techniques. She studied Levine School of Music, directed and choreo- sioned composer and arranger, author, master Ice Music. Her compositions can be heard in the voice and music theory at the New England graphed for the First World Dance Theatre, teacher and choral clinician in African American 2006 Australian Broadcasting Company’s 2006 Conservatory, and performed with Ebony Jua, a and co-directed and performed for First World cultural performance. She has two children’s educational series Sing!, Mystic Seaport’s multi- jazz ensemble that toured the East Coast. While Productions, where she also co-wrote, with books—No Mirrors in My Nana’s House and We media history presentation Black Hands, Blue at Northeastern, Ms. Kahlil directed M(ego) and Nitanju Bolade Casel, the original production Are One—both published by Harcourt, Inc.; a Seas: The African American Maritime Experience, the Green Ball of Freedom, Where we at?, a play Bright Moments in Great Black Music. Her ar- boxed set of African American stories and songs and Tribeca Production Company’s The Box. by Martie Charles, and performed and directed rangement of “Strange Fruit” was featured in for young people, Um Hmm; and an instruc- Ms. Casel was a finalist in both the 2006 and Sister Sonji by Sonia Sanchez. Freedom Never Dies, a PBS production of the life tional boxed set, Singing in the African American 2007 International Songwriter’s Competition, Following her studies, Ms. Kahlil spent of Harry Moore. Tradition. She created the Community Sing, and a Grammy nominee for Sweet Honey’s three years in the Bay Area, where she worked Ms. Kahlil was voted Best Soloist by the which she conducts monthly in Washington, Experience…101, which she produced. as a vocalist and dancer with the Raymond Contemporary A Cappella Society, for her D.C., and the workshop Building a Vocal Ms. Casel lives on the East Coast with Sawyer Theatre and Halifu Productions, while composition “Fulani Chant” and her rendition Community®: Singing in the African American her husband, Oso Tayari, and their teenage performing and recording with the avant-garde of “See See Rider.” Her original composition Tradition, which she has conducted on three son, Obadele. jazz trio Infinite Sound. She then returned to “Wodaabe Nights” was featured in the film continents, utilizing an African world view, and Boston, where she worked with Stan Strickland Africans in America, and “Fulani Chant” was African American history, values, cultural and Aisha Kahlil possesses a and Sundance and the Art of Black Dance included in the film Down in the Delta, directed vocal traditions to work with and build com- dynamic, innate power and Music. by Maya Angelou. Her work can also be heard munity among singers and nonsingers alike. and range in jazz, blues, A master teacher in voice and dance, in Climb Against the Odds, a film produced by Her pedagogy is highly respected among musi- traditional, contempo- Ms. Kahlil has taught at the Institute for the Breast Cancer Fund. Ms. Kahlil’s film cred- cians, educators, health workers, activists, orga- rary and African vocal Contemporary Dance, the Joy of Motion, the its include Beloved, starring Oprah Winfrey, nizers, and in corporate and nonprofit sectors. styles and techniques. Boston Center for the Arts, Leslie College, the and with Sweet Honey and James Horner she Dr. Barnwell is also an aspiring actress whose Ms. Kahlil’s inter- Dance Place and the D.C. Black Repertory wrote and recorded original music for the film most recent endeavors include the narration for est in music was evi- Theatre, as well as teaching and lecturing at Freedom Song, starring Danny Glover. the NPR documentary W. C. Handy’s Blues. dent at an early age. She the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and at In 2005, Ms. Kahlil was a finalist with her was a member of lo- Maharishi International University. own band, MyKa and the Whole World Band, Nitanju Bolade Casel cal choirs in her native Ms. Kahlil’s artistic pursuits have taken in the annual battle of the bands contest spon- became a member of Buffalo, New York, and performed as a vocal- her to New York City, where she studied exten- sored by Discmakers, and was a winner in the Sweet Honey In The ist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in sively at the Alvin Ailey School, and with Frank International Songwriting Competition per- Rock in 1985, after four several productions, including Porgy and Bess, Hatchett, Pepsi Bethel, Fred Benjamin, and formance category with her original song, “The years of studying, per- Carmen Jones and Messiah . She also sang the Emiko and Yasuko Tokunaga. She also appeared Jewel Light.” forming, and cultural role of Monica in a special WGBH production in Joseph Papp’s off-Broadway production of The Ms. Kahlil has toured with her band in organizing in Dakar, of Menotti’s The Medium, and performed at Haggadah, co-composed and performed in the the islands of Hawaii; performing at the Four Senegal. As a co-found- Carnegie Hall in Julius Eastman’s avant-garde musical Two Thousand Seasons, and danced with Seasons Lodge at Koele, and more recently at er, with Marie Guinier, composition The Thruway. She worked with the such companies as Titos Sampas’s Tanawa. She Studio Maui, and at Casanova’s, performing of Artistes des Échanges Studio Arena Theatre, where she was awarded a also performed with Talib Kibwe (T. K. Blue) songs from her CD release Magical, featuring Africaines, she worked full scholarship, and at the Buffalo Black Drama and Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), and with her own compositions and arrangements. in alliance with local artists, the National Workshop, where she toured in the production Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra.

14 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 15 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Carol Maillard was born the SYDA Foundation’s inspirational recording A native of Washington, of Lost in the Stars, and with a host of artists, in- and raised in , Sounds of Light. D.C., Shirley Childress cluding Bernice Johnson Reagon, Linda Tillery

Pennsylvania. Although In 2003, her poem H2O Flow was featured Saxton is considered by and the Cultural Heritage Choir, Toshi Reagon she originally attended as the opening selection of Marjorie Reyerson’s many Deaf and hearing and Big Lovely, Holly Near, Pete Seeger and In Catholic University of photo/poetry book Water Music. In 1998, she people as an exemplar Process. Ms. Saxton has also interpreted for such America on scholarship penned the Herstory for Sweet Honey’s first for Sign interpreting stellar writers as Maya Angelou, Alice Walker as a violin performance songbook, Continuum. music. Passionate about and Audrey Lorde. major, she soon began Ms. Maillard lives in Manhattan and is her work, Ms. Saxton is Ms. Saxton was first to recognize the need writing music and per- the mother of Jordan Maillard Ware, current- a skilled professional for more African American interpreters, when forming with the drama ly attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Sign language interpret- she founded the organization BRIDGES to fo- department and eventually changed her major Georgia. SGMKJ! er who learned American Sign Language (ASL) cus attention on Black Deaf consumers and in- to theater. from her Deaf parents. In their honor she found- terpreters. Ms. Saxton was also a founding mem- This passion for the stage brought her to the Louise Robinson, a na- ed the Herbert and Thomasina Childress ber of the organization Black Deaf Advocates. D.C. Black Repertory Company and the begin- tive New Yorker, stud- Scholarship Fund to assist other children of The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf pub- nings of the vocal ensemble that was to become ied concert bass for six Deaf adults (CODA) to explore Sign interpret- lished a tribute to her entitled Shirley Childress Sweet Honey In The Rock. Ms. Maillard is an years and attended the ing as a work option. Saxton, the Mother of Songs Sung in ASL, point- accomplished actress and has performed in film, High School of Music Ms. Saxton’s career has included provid- ing out the distinction Ms. Saxton has brought television and on stage. Her theater credits en- and Art. ing interpreting services for most life experi- to the field. Ms. Saxton has been recognized compass a wide range of styles from musical A B.F.A. graduate ences—for students in high school and college for her interpreting service to the community comedy and revues to drama and experimental. of Howard University, classrooms, for employees in staff meetings, job with awards from Deaf advocacy organiza- She has performed on and off Broadway Eubie( , Ms. Robinson’s profes- training and professional conferences, in legal tions the Silent Mission Circle at Shiloh Baptist Don’t Get God Started, Comin’ Uptown, Home, It’s sional career began at settings and in religious services. In health care, Church, Deafpride, Inc., Women Unlimited So Nice to Be Civilized, Beehive and Forever My Washington, D.C.’s Ms. Saxton interpreted with the Mental Health and National R.I.D. Interpreters of Color. Darling); with the Arena Stage. She accepted Robert Hooks’s invita- Program for the Deaf at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Ms. Saxton holds a bachelor’s degree in Deaf (Home, Zooman and the Sign, Colored People’s tion to become a member of the new D.C. Black and with Project Access of Deafpride, Inc., who education from the University of Massachusetts, Time and The Great Mac Daddy); the New York Repertory Company Acting Ensemble. It was sponsored her first international assignment to Amherst. She has authored several articles on Shakespeare Festival (Spunk, Caucasian Chalk out of this theater company that Ms. Robinson, Nairobi, Kenya, as interpreter for a Deaf del- her experiences as a CODA and her work as a Circle, Under Fire and A Photograph…); and at along with Carol Maillard. Bernice Johnson egate to a United Nations conference. Sign language interpreter. Ms. Saxton’s family, the Actors Studio (Hunter). She can be seen in Reagon and Mie, formed the a cappella quartet Ms. Saxton’s extensive performing arts in- sons Reginald and Deon, and sisters Maxine and the feature films Beloved and Thirty Years to Life. Sweet Honey In The Rock. terpreting include an off-Broadway production Khaula, all Sign. On television, Ms. Maillard has appeared in For Ms. Robinson’s career has taken her up many Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide and paths, including performances, both on and off Halleluiah! (PBS); Law and Order: SVU and Broadway, and in film and studio recordings. Law and Order. She has also worn the producer’s hat, as she, Ms. Maillard is a founding member of Sweet along with Ms. Maillard and Smokey Ronald Honey In The Rock. Her powerful rendition of Stevens, produced A Sho Nuff Variety Revue, a “Motherless Child,” arranged for Sweet Honey, series of performances showcasing some of New is featured in the motion picture, The Visit York’s finest talent, including Adolph Caesar, and the Dorothy Height documentary We Are Sandra Reeves Phillips and legendary tap danc- Not Vanishing. Ms. Maillard was Conceptual ers Gregory Hines, Avon Long and Joe Attles. Producer for the 2005 documentary film on Ms. Robinson was the founding director of PBS’s American Masters, Sweet Honey In The the Bay Area a cappella quintet Street Sounds, Rock: Raise Your Voice! Produced and directed taking their music around the country and the by Stanley Nelson of Firelightmedia Films, the world for 14 years. film chronicled Sweet Honey’s 30th anniversary Ms. Robinson returned to Sweet Honey In year (2003). The Rock in 2004, and combines her experience As a vocalist, she has had the privilege to in theater and music to offer a workshop that record with Horace Silver, Betty Buckley and explores the creative freedom in us all.

16 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 17