A Year of Margaret Bonds
WORLD PREMIERE
GU Concert Choir
Prof. Frederick Binkholder, music director
Simon Bore the Cross
Music by Margaret Bonds
Text by Langston Hughes
The Georgetown University Concert Choir performs this Easter cantata by the African-American composer Margaret Bonds with text by her long-time collaborator Langston Hughes, based on the spiritual He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word. When the Special Collections of Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library recently purchased the archives of Margaret Bonds, handwritten parts of this work—once thought to be lost—were discovered by Prof. Anna Celenza. Now Prof. Frederick Binkholder has created a performance score from the handwritten manuscripts and the GU Concert Choir’s “A Year of Margaret Bonds” features the World Premiere of this marvelous, historic work.
Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 6 p.m. | WORLD PREMIERE
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Millennium Stage | FREE
No free parking for free events
Monday, April 30, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Georgetown University’s Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre | FREE
7:15 pm pre-concert lecture: Experts Dr. Tammy Kernodle (Miami University) and Dr. Anna Celenza (Georgetown University) will give a pre-concert lecture about Simon Bore the Cross, Margaret Bonds, and the importance of her legacy in music history.
Also part of the 2017-18 A Year of Margaret Bonds…
Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 8 p.m.
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MUSIC PROGRAM
GU Concert Choir
Prof. Frederick Binkholder, artistic director
Ballad of the Brown King
Music by Margaret Bonds
Text by Langston Hughes
This holiday concert features the nine-movement Christmas cantata Ballad of the Brown King, with music by African-American composer Margaret Bonds and text by writer Langston Hughes, her long-time collaborator. Front page dedication of the work notes that it is “Inspired by and Dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” This concert is part of the GU Concert Choir’s “A Year of Margaret Bonds,” which features works from the Special Collections Research Center at Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library, including Bonds’ and Hughes’ Easter cantata Simon Bore the Cross, which will have its world premiere on April 30.
DAVIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, GONDA THEATRE
FREE