The Department of Music at UCI is pleased to host the 25th Anniversary African American Art Song Alliance Conference on Oct. 13-16, 2022. The conference is presented by the African American Art Song Alliance, an advocacy organization representing Black composers of Western classical art songs.
The Alliance presents the vanguard conference every five years, inviting the nation’s leading performers and scholars to present and discuss Black participation in the Arts, both past and present. The October anniversary conference will focus mainly on Social Justice and the Harlem Renaissance Centennial Observation. Session topics include the study, performance, and support of art songs by African American composers. In addition, the Alliance will present solicited lectures, posters, composers and performers for peer review.
The 25th-anniversary conference will also pay particular attention to women composers. 2022 marks the half-centennial since the death of Margaret Bonds, an American composer, pianist, arranger and teacher who was one of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States. The conference will present lectures and performances about Bonds and her musical contributions.
The Alliance remains focused on maintaining accessibility for the audience it serves and the larger population. They have made registration free and open to the public for the conference and its events. Free registration is available here.
The event is possible thanks to generous funding from the Hampsong Foundation, LA Opera and the Flora Family Foundation.
To learn more about the African American Art Song Alliance, visit their website at https://artsongalliance.org.
(Please contact Emma Ginzel for any additional questions, eginzel@uci.edu.)
