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“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...
John Michael Cooper
Nov 10, 20206 min read
274 views
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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!
John Michael Cooper
Oct 27, 20205 min read
614 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Oct 16, 20202 min read
20 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Oct 7, 20205 min read
69 views
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A RECKONING (PART TWO)
I believe we now are facing our reckoning as a country, one which was perhaps long overdue.
John Michael Cooper
Sep 30, 20206 min read
35 views
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“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.
John Michael Cooper
Sep 14, 20207 min read
233 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Sep 5, 20205 min read
61 views
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#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.
John Michael Cooper
Aug 30, 20204 min read
58 views
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ART, REVOLUTION, AND A REUNION OF HOPE
A virtual reunion with college sophomores offers surprises, wisdom, and a snapshot of Hope for a troubled time.
John Michael Cooper
Aug 28, 20205 min read
46 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Jul 30, 20203 min read
1,406 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Jul 22, 20205 min read
160 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Jul 20, 20202 min read
59 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Jul 16, 20206 min read
246 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
Jul 14, 20204 min read
157 views
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FLORENCE PRICE AND TRANQUILITY
Florence Price's newly published and recorded Village Scenes (1942) offer a sorely needed contemplation of tranquility, peace, and nature.
John Michael Cooper
Jul 13, 20202 min read
115 views
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WALK WITH ME
The global #BlackLivesMatter marches and Florence Price's spirituals give voice to the power of the cosmos in mandating racial justice.
John Michael Cooper
Jun 10, 20206 min read
48 views
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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.
John Michael Cooper
May 24, 20204 min read
236 views
1 comment


SUMMER MOON
Unforeseen beauties appear when we examine Florence Price and her music on her own terms. The newly unearthed “Summer Moon” is an example.
John Michael Cooper
May 11, 20205 min read
268 views
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THE HEART OF A WOMAN
Florence Price's "The Heart of a Woman" gives eloquent voice to the issues faced by African Americans as well as women.
John Michael Cooper
May 3, 20205 min read
102 views
0 comments


THE WEAPONS OF LIGHT
A little-known aspect of Felix Mendelssohn's 1840 Song of Praise shows the importance of learning and optimism in times of crisis.
John Michael Cooper
Apr 30, 20204 min read
14 views
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John Michael Cooper
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Nov 2, 20245 min read
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