Two of Roland Carter’s arrangements will be performed by artist Robert Sims at Carnegie Hall Sunday, March 8, in “Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy.”
“An announcement such as this is very akin to receiving a present waiting to be unwrapped. So often, I do not know about the performances of my works as no permission is required, except for licenses for special works, especially orchestrations. So this is especially exciting to know about the upcoming performance,” said Carter, who holds the Ruth S. Holmburg Professor of Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Sims, lyric baritone and gold medal winner of the American Traditions Competition, will perform Carter’s arrangement of “Is There Anybody Here Who Love My Jesus?” and Carter’s setting of Thomas A. Dorsey’s “Precious Lord.” Sims performed those two arrangements recently in a concert at Southern Adventist University.
“I have known Robert several years, initially from his having contacted me to get permission to have an orchestration done of my work for performance on Dr. Robert Schuller’s ‘Hour of Power.’ He has been an active participant in the National Association of Negro Musicians,” Carter said. Carter served as president of the association for six terms.
Carter plans to attend “Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy.” On the festival website http://www.carnegiehall.org/honor/. Jessye Norman, curator, explains:
“From the drumbeats of Mother Africa to the work songs and Spirituals created in a new land, a path is traced to the blues, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, and hip-hop expressions of African Americans that are celebrated throughout the world. The classical music performers have become icons of concert halls and opera stages everywhere.
“In charting the story of this great cultural tradition, I invite you on a personal journey that honors the trailblazers and the courageous artists of the past through concerts, recitals, lectures, panel discussions, and exhibitions hosted by Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and other sites around the city. This vast cultural fabric of the African American experience consists not only of the music, but also the words, the images, and the dances of a people, all providing rich fulfillment of the Langston Hughes credo: ‘Hold fast to dreams.’”
