THE BEAUTY OF BLACKNESS
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![THE BEAUTY OF BLACKNESS](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_dd287ef899d4404fa53a7b4ae9d5b37c~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_dd287ef899d4404fa53a7b4ae9d5b37c~mv2.webp)
Florence B. Price’s “Night” (Text by Bessie Mayle) The poetry, music, and other artworks of the Harlem Renaissance and Chicago Black...
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![THE SPOKEN POETRY OF FLORENCE B. PRICE](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_9aec89f2b7234dcba4aac9c453439890~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_9aec89f2b7234dcba4aac9c453439890~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Feb 24, 2021
- 3 min
THE SPOKEN POETRY OF FLORENCE B. PRICE
A Recitation of Her Unpublished Song of Hope [updated Feb. 28, 2021] Sometime in 1930, Florence B. Price (1887-1953) wrote a poem titled...
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![ANOTHER FLORENCE PRICE PREMIERE](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_93a2365c724b4e2d9be93072ce9ed220~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_93a2365c724b4e2d9be93072ce9ed220~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Feb 13, 2021
- 4 min
ANOTHER FLORENCE PRICE PREMIERE
Maeve Brophy and one of the Seven Descriptive Pieces for Piano Solo (1927-28) [Updated 15 February 2021] A month or so ago I published...
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![RACIAL JUSTICE AND AMERICAN PATRIOTISM](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_c0b696b3c4324244ab510fa276b20bd4~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_c0b696b3c4324244ab510fa276b20bd4~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Feb 11, 2021
- 5 min
RACIAL JUSTICE AND AMERICAN PATRIOTISM
Resurrecting a Blacklisted Musical Affirmation of Freedom from 1976 in 2021 [Update (March 8, 2021): The June 13, 2009 revival of...
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![CELEBRATING MARGARET BONDS, COMPOSER AND PIANIST](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_040ee276e81c4fd09742eb918a3cdd44~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_040ee276e81c4fd09742eb918a3cdd44~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Feb 2, 2021
- 2 min
CELEBRATING MARGARET BONDS, COMPOSER AND PIANIST
A Concert and a Premiere Broadcast by Bass-Baritone Timothy Jones, Pianist Howard Watkins, and ROCO Margaret Bonds (1913-72) is...
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![AN “AMERICAN TANGO” BY MARGARET BONDS](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_746761f2dcb149ed939e7ebf95e8b042~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_746761f2dcb149ed939e7ebf95e8b042~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Jan 24, 2021
- 3 min
AN “AMERICAN TANGO” BY MARGARET BONDS
MARGARET BONDS (1913-72) WAS A CONCERT PIANIST as well as a composer. By the age of eight she had been taking piano lessons for several...
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![“YES, IT’LL BE ME!”](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_8c90567312c24c998c7423b7e3e19c61~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_8c90567312c24c998c7423b7e3e19c61~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Jan 18, 2021
- 4 min
“YES, IT’LL BE ME!”
Margaret Bonds, Langston Hughes, and the Note on Commercial Theater In the chapter titled “When the Negro Was in Vogue” of his 1940...
208 views1 comment
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![COMPOSING FREEDOM:](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_8e29945e0d3b4447b0d6566b42edaed4~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_8e29945e0d3b4447b0d6566b42edaed4~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Jan 13, 2021
- 6 min
COMPOSING FREEDOM:
On Performers’ and Listeners’ Rediscovery of Florence Price’s Clouds (ca. 1947) LIKE ABOUT THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY of the more than three...
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![THE SOUND OF PEACE](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_f9206a8ce2c94f71847683d67bfab5e0~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_f9206a8ce2c94f71847683d67bfab5e0~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Dec 25, 2020
- 3 min
THE SOUND OF PEACE
A Bright Star, a Dove, and Two Christmas Gifts from Margaret Bonds Margaret Bonds (1913-72) was no stranger to humanity’s never-ending...
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![A BOUQUET OF FLORENCE PRICE](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_b9302d30e8d5482993ba94d551bd62d0~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_b9302d30e8d5482993ba94d551bd62d0~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Dec 6, 2020
- 3 min
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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![“SHE HAS A MUSICAL MISSION”:](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_fde3049538fe402ca2f88f6efee913e8~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_fde3049538fe402ca2f88f6efee913e8~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Dec 4, 2020
- 4 min
“SHE HAS A MUSICAL MISSION”:
BRIGHT STAR: A CHRISTMAS SONG, BY MARGARET BONDS AND JANICE LOVOOS Late in 1968, Margaret Bonds published her setting of Janice Lovoos’s...
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![FLORENCE PRICE AND UNCLE NED](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_e71893708ece4894a5a71ae92046b582~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_e71893708ece4894a5a71ae92046b582~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Nov 25, 2020
- 5 min
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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![FLORENCE PRICE AND LANGSTON HUGHES CAST A BALLOT FOR THE WORKING CLASS](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_6c7d8453bd9844188da359eef4fa7a2b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_6c7d8453bd9844188da359eef4fa7a2b~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Oct 27, 2020
- 5 min
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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![THE MUSIC WILL NOT BE SILENCED](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_f49c9fce0982407ab3bcb14ab01556a3~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_f49c9fce0982407ab3bcb14ab01556a3~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Oct 7, 2020
- 5 min
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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![A NEW PERFORMANCE OF FLORENCE B. PRICE’S FANTASIE NÈGRE NO. 4 IN B MINOR BY DR. ELIZABETH HILL](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_4acbecd422124726828b3ef4cb421fb2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_4acbecd422124726828b3ef4cb421fb2~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Sep 22, 2020
- 2 min
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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![“OUT OF THE CRUCIBLE” OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_1a4a6f4218244b15a7a0ac0b7bca3c57~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_1a4a6f4218244b15a7a0ac0b7bca3c57~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Sep 14, 2020
- 7 min
“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.
216 views0 comments
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![CHALLENGING A "SONIC REFUGE OF WHITENESS" IN UNDERGRAD MUSIC HISTORY COURSES](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_142b5d41c19345bab09c4ca2045d51f7~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_142b5d41c19345bab09c4ca2045d51f7~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Sep 5, 2020
- 5 min
CHALLENGING A "SONIC REFUGE OF WHITENESS" IN UNDERGRAD MUSIC HISTORY COURSES
A small Liberal Arts college music-history sequence to abandon its "sonic refuge of Whiteness" and teach more inclusively.
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![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_baa1af13d9e8407387bf9cdf6de38fe5~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/3ed5ec_baa1af13d9e8407387bf9cdf6de38fe5~mv2.webp)
![#SONGSOFCOMFORT:](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_baa1af13d9e8407387bf9cdf6de38fe5~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_baa1af13d9e8407387bf9cdf6de38fe5~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Aug 30, 2020
- 4 min
#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.
54 views0 comments
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![THE JOY OF WHIMSY](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_b20957fba2874868904b52defa24bdaa~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_b20957fba2874868904b52defa24bdaa~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Aug 6, 2020
- 3 min
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...
131 views0 comments
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![WHEN THE DOVE ENTERS IN](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_abc09ed18fda427f8151156bd2d53fe2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_abc09ed18fda427f8151156bd2d53fe2~mv2.webp)
John Michael Cooper
- Jul 30, 2020
- 3 min
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.
1,298 views0 comments
![REDISCOVERING WILL DIXON AT 145](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_19d07386ca7a415685ee07ce73eb36ed~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_454,h_454,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/3ed5ec_19d07386ca7a415685ee07ce73eb36ed~mv2.webp)
![AN AUSPICOUS ANNIVERSARY:](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_637fcbbbc0624003a8eca158eee9eec5~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_454,h_454,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/3ed5ec_637fcbbbc0624003a8eca158eee9eec5~mv2.webp)
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_0d359cd3912b4cdf90750ac68b0e7b87~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/3ed5ec_0d359cd3912b4cdf90750ac68b0e7b87~mv2.webp)
![THE HOUSTON EBONY OPERA GUILD SINGS THE PRICE OF FREEDOM.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_0d359cd3912b4cdf90750ac68b0e7b87~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_454,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/3ed5ec_0d359cd3912b4cdf90750ac68b0e7b87~mv2.webp)
![BLM.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3ed5ec_8c6b7e3873e14727ad3e39701b110b3f~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_216,h_233,al_c,q_85,enc_auto/BLM.png)
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