Generations of Music by African American Composers

Composers include Regina Baiocchi, Margaret Bonds, Jacqueline Hairston, Valerie Capers, Duke Ellington, Henry Krieger, Joshua McGhee, Lena McLin, John H. Robinson, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, Zenobia Powell Perry, William Grant Still, and Dolores White

Video links are posted below.

Performers: 

Soprano: Yolanda Rhodes 
Tenor: Othello Jefferson 
Piano/Vocals: LaDoris Cordell, Jodi Gandolfi, Deanne Tucker
Piano: Jansen Verplank
Viola: Paul Ehrlich
Cello: Victoria Ehrlich
Bass Clarinet: Carol Somersille
Tenor Saxophone, Flute: Tod Dickow
Alto Saxophone: Oscar Pangilinan
Trumpet: John Worley
Percussion: Jim Kassis
Bass: Charlie Channel, Jr.
Guest Performer: Mikayla Dones, vocalist

Click here for complete concert video and narration.

For individual pieces, click on titles below.

Three Spirituals, arranged by Jacqueline Hairston 

• God is a God 
• My Good Lord Done Been Here 
• Lord, I’ll Go

Othello Jefferson, tenor,
LaDoris Cordell and Jodi Gandolfi, piano

Cain’t See to Cain’t See, by Regina Baiocchi
(Spiritual from Congregational Mass)

Yolanda Rhodes, Othello Jefferson, LaDoris Cordell, vocalists, 
Jodi Gandolfi, piano

Five Instrumental Spirituals, arranged by Dolores White
Spirituals sung by Yolanda Rhodes and Othello Jefferson

• Little David Play on Yo’ Harp
• Every Time I Feel the Spirit
• Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
• Were You There
• Wade in de Water

Vicky Ehrlich, cello, Paul Ehrlich, viola, Jodi Gandolfi, piano

Two works by Regina Harris Baiocchi, sung by Yolanda Rhodes:

• I’ve Got a Mother and a Father(vocal solo), dedicated to the composer’s parents
• Wash-Belly Baby, from Wild Onion Suite

Tod Dickow, flute, Paul Ehrlich, viola, Jim Kassis, djembe

Summerland, from Three Visions, by William Grant Still

Deanne Tucker, piano

“Will” (A Musical Tribute to William Grant Still), by Joshua McGhee (2024 AACI commission)

Carol Somersille, bass clarinet, John Worley, trumpet, Tod Dickow, tenor saxophone, Victoria Ehrlich, cello, Jodi Gandolfi, piano, Jim Kassis and Deanne Tucker, percussion, Jansen Verplank, conductor

Hold Out Your Light, (Spiritual) arranged by Lena McLin

Yolanda Rhodes, soprano, and Jodi Gandolfi, piano

Teeta, by Zenobia Powell Perry

The Bells, by Margaret Bonds (based on the Spiritual “Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells”)

Deanne Tucker, piano

Give Birth to the Dream, by Dolores White, text by Maya Angelou

Yolanda Rhodes, soprano, Othello Jefferson, tenor
Jodi Gandolfi, piano, and Jim Kassis, orchestral chimes

Two Variations on a Theme by Valerie Capers: Ella Scats the Little Lamb, by John H. Robinson

• Moderato
• Allegro

LaDoris Cordell and Jodi Gandolfi, piano, four-hands

In A Mellow Tone, by Duke Ellington, arranged by Valerie Capers

John Worley, trumpet, Oscar Pangilinan, alto saxophone, Tod Dickow, tenor saxophone, Carol Somersille, bass clarinet, Jansen Verplank, piano, Charlie Channel, Jr., bass, Jim Kassis, drums

Company Finale arranged by Jansen Verplank 

We are Family, by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards

Mikayla Dones, vocal solo 

Family, by Henry Krieger, lyrics by Tom Eyen

LaDoris Cordell, vocal solo
Jodi Gandolfi, Othello Jefferson, Yolanda Rhodes, Deanne Tucker, vocal back-ups,
Carol Somersille, bass clarinet, John Worley, trumpet, 
Oscar Pangilinan, alto saxophone, Tod Dickow, tenor saxophone, 
Paul Ehrlich, viola, Victoria Ehrlich, cello, Jansen Verplank, piano,
Charlie Channel, Jr., bass, Jim Kassis, drums