The University of South Florida Choral Department understands that music should be diverse, emotional and universal. That’s why they have started the tradition of the Black Composers Concert, which celebrates Black History Month by presenting music exclusively composed by black musicians.
Photo: USF School of Music
USF welcomed Dr. Jason Dungee as the Visiting Instructor of Choral Studies in Fall 2016. He began the tradition of the Black Composer Concert and the program debuted on February 24, 2017. Now, nearly a year later, the USF Choral Department is preparing for the second annual BCC.
During his time as a doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona, Dungee did extensive research on how choral departments approach the music of black composers. He discovered a huge lack of diversity in terms of how that music was presented.
“Usually, when you have anything that’s representing black composition, it usually fell under gospel, spirituals and jazz,” Dungee said. “But there are a ton of composers who actually compose in genres and in styles that if you were just to hear the music, you wouldn’t be able to tell the race of the composer – you wouldn’t be able to tell if they were a black person.”
Photo courtesy of Sarah Urf.
Sarah Urf has been a member of USF’s choral community for three years, and she feels that Dungee and the BCC have changed how she connects with the audience.
“As a performer, if you do not engage your audience and there is no musical communication, the audience walks away the same as before,” Urf said. “Dr. Dungee talks about how if we are able to touch at least one heart during our performances, the concert was a success. This concert is just as much about the audience as it is about the singers.”
Photo Courtesy of 813 Area
The BCC is meant to show the audience that black composers are more diverse and complex than they might assume. Beneath that, it’s also about acknowledging the systematic oppression that has prevented these composers from being celebrated and actively working against it.
“We need to make sure that we’re all aware of our own otherness, so that it makes us more empathetic to those that are having to live in their otherness,” Dungee said. “Yes, focus on what needs to be focused on, but attach that to, ‘Hey, black history is your history.’ There is an American history that comes along with this time that we need to start to combine and synthesize a little bit more.”
There are a few ways that the USF choirs are attempting to tell that story and a few things they learned from last year. Last year, two female composers were featured by soloists; this year, several of the major choral works for this concert were composed by women. There will also be a more personal audio-visual component to this year’s concert.
The USF Chamber Singers after their Beautiful Dreamer Concert last fall. Photo courtesy of Kelly Barefield.
“This is the only time you will ever see this ensemble perform,” said Urf. “Every year we have new members, and then it becomes a new ensemble all over again.”
The concert will take place on Friday, March 2, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. in the USF Concert Hall. Buy your tickets online here.
Urf urges you to bring tissues, come prepared to learn, and expect to leave better than you came. If you can’t make it, Dungee insists you come to the BCC’s sister concert in April, the Folk Music Concert.
“The biggest thing would be for people to leave saying, ‘Wow’,” Dungee said. “And that’s a wow of, this is significant, this is our history, this actually matters. This isn’t just entertainment, this actually is something I can take with me and grow from.”
For a full list of the College of the Arts’ events, visit their calendar.