John Michael Cooper
“THE LIGHT IS REVEALED”:
A New Reflection on an Unpublished Gospel Song by Margaret Bonds and Langston Hughes “We haven’t any Negro books at all”: this is what...
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John Michael Cooper
Dec 6, 20203 min read
A BOUQUET OF FLORENCE PRICE
In February, 2020, G. Schirmer published a set of three piano pieces by Florence B. Price (1887-1953) under the collective title Three...
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John Michael Cooper
Nov 25, 20205 min read
FLORENCE PRICE AND UNCLE NED
Like CNN’s Don Lemon, Florence Price (1887-1953) did not have an uncle named Ned. Nor did she have an Uncle Joe. I’ll explain that...
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John Michael Cooper
Nov 10, 20206 min read
“THERE IS GLASS EVERYWHERE”
A Weekend of Triumph for Black Women – and Some Musical Highlights This past weekend, after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had received more...
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John Michael Cooper
Oct 27, 20205 min read
FLORENCE PRICE AND LANGSTON HUGHES CAST A BALLOT FOR THE WORKING CLASS
The first public performance of a song by Florence Price and Langston Hughes issues a call to action for today's working class to VOTE!
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John Michael Cooper
Oct 16, 20202 min read
THE SOULS THAT TRY OUR TIMES
Lara Downes's new NPR show "AMPLIFY" interviews visionary Black musicians to offer very real hope in the American crisis of 2020.
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John Michael Cooper
Oct 7, 20205 min read
THE MUSIC WILL NOT BE SILENCED
Artists have transformed the crisis of the COVID-19 shutdown into an opportunity to innovate and ensure that the music will not be silenced.
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John Michael Cooper
Sep 22, 20202 min read
A NEW PERFORMANCE OF FLORENCE B. PRICE’S FANTASIE NÈGRE NO. 4 IN B MINOR BY DR. ELIZABETH HILL
A virtual concert by Elizabeth Hill (piano) of Florence Price's Fantasie nègre No. 4 and William Grant Still's Seven Traceries .
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John Michael Cooper
Sep 14, 20207 min read
“OUT OF THE CRUCIBLE” OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY
After 82 years, the Fantasie nègre that won Florence Price Honorable Mention in the Wanamaker Contest is making a comeback -- finally.
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John Michael Cooper
Aug 30, 20204 min read
#SONGSOFCOMFORT:
A new and consciously LIVE music video of Margaret Bonds's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" offers a fresh look at her musical world.
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John Michael Cooper
Aug 6, 20203 min read
THE JOY OF WHIMSY
Rediscovering Another Facet of Florence Price’s Musical Imagination On July 6, 1949 Florence B. Price composed a short and brilliant...
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 30, 20203 min read
WHEN THE DOVE ENTERS IN
The newly recovered gospel song "When the Dove Enters In" by Margaret Bonds & Langston Hughes delivers a symbolic message for our own time.
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 26, 20205 min read
OF COMFORT, TRAUMA, AND MUSIC
A new series of videos featuring music of Florence Price and Margaret Bonds shows music's ability to bring comfort and beauty amidst trauma.
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 22, 20205 min read
FLORENCE PRICE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN CLASSICAL STYLE
The Boulanger Initiative's programs of piano music by Florence Price help to understand how Price developed her distinctive musical voice.
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 20, 20202 min read
TESTIMONY: A #BLACKLIVESMATTER MANIFESTO
41 readers ages 5-81 voice their support for #BlackLivesMatter in a collaborative reading of a Civil Rights manifesto by W.E.B. Du Bois.
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 16, 20206 min read
FLORENCE PRICE AND RACIST STEREOTYPES
In two little-known piano suites Florence Price took on popular Black stereotypes by humanizing her subjects through her music.
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 14, 20204 min read
FLORENCE PRICE, TEACHER
The time is ripe for a thorough exploration of Florence Price's teaching pieces for piano and her influence as a teacher.
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John Michael Cooper
Jul 13, 20202 min read
FLORENCE PRICE AND TRANQUILITY
Florence Price's newly published and recorded Village Scenes (1942) offer a sorely needed contemplation of tranquility, peace, and nature.
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John Michael Cooper
Jun 10, 20206 min read
WALK WITH ME
The global #BlackLivesMatter marches and Florence Price's spirituals give voice to the power of the cosmos in mandating racial justice.
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John Michael Cooper
May 24, 20204 min read
SILENCE AND SOUND
Margaret Bonds's little-known settings of Robert Frost's well-known "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" teach important lessons.
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