Boston Conservatory Chorale and Graduate Conductor's Choir

Boston Conservatory Graduate Conductor's Choir:

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4
Sinfonia
I. Christ lag in Todesbanden
II. Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt

Joseph Kingsbury, countertenor
Mandy Matthews, mezzo-soprano

III. Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn
IV. Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg
V. Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm

Craig Juricka, bass-baritone

VI. So feiern wir das hohe Fest

Viola Kovacs, soprano
Sam Crosby-Schmidt, tenor

VII. Wir essen und leben wohl

Svens Skriveris, violin I
Joshua Rosenthal, violin II
Renee Chan, viola I
Zhaofeng Tang, Viola II
Bryceton Au, cello
Jacob Slater, bass
Leona Cheung, harpsichord

The Boston Conservatory Chorale:

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Elegischer Gesang, op. 118
Svens Skriveris, violin I
Joshua Rosenthal, violin II
Renee Chan, viola I
Bryceton Au, cello

JOHANNES BRAHMS: O Schöne Nacht, op. 92, no. 1
Raban Brunner (M.M. '24, orchestral conducting), piano

MARGARET BONDS: The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Raban Brunner, piano

Combined Choirs:

MARGARET BONDS: Simon Bore the Cross
I. Prelude
II. I Find No Fault
    Phil Lima, baritone (assistant chair of voice, Berklee College of Music)
III. The Trial
IV. Who Is That Man?
    Treshor Webster, soprano
V. Don't You Know, Mary?
VI. Walkin' to Calv'ry
    Caitlin Otto, soprano
VII. Crucifixion
VIII. Postlude: Resurrection

Leona Cheung, piano

Bach and Bonds—Two Easter Cantatas: One Baroque, One Neo-Baroque
The excellence of Margaret Bonds’s artistic career is only now being revealed to modern audiences, but her accomplishments did not go unnoticed in her lifetime. Bonds was so well regarded by her contemporaries that Chicago mayor Richard Daley named January 31, 1967 Margaret Bonds Day. Just weeks after her untimely death in 1972, Zubin Mehta conducted four movements of Bonds’s Credo for orchestra, choir, and soloists with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In the years following her death, her legacy went largely undocumented, leaving the fruits of her inspirational life and career at risk of being lost. 

Born in 1913, Bonds’s successes came early, and as one of the most promising young pianists in the city of Chicago, she entered Northwestern University as a piano performance major at the age of 16. Five years later, she graduated with a master’s degree. Bonds’ experience at Northwestern was not without its difficulties. Having referred to it as a “terribly racist place,” she felt unsafe studying in the university library, and instead found respite in the basement of the Evanston Public Library; and it is there that she first encountered the poetry of Langston Hughes. She was especially drawn to Hughes’s first published poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” written while he was still an undergraduate student at Fisk University. This chance encounter would inspire a lifelong friendship and creative partnership. 

In 1932, Bonds was awarded the Rodman Wanamaker Prize in the art song category for her piece The Sea Ghost. In 1933, Bonds became the first Black musician to solo with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the late 1930s, Bonds left Chicago and moved to New York City. She was accepted to the Juilliard Extension Division as a composition student of Robert Starer. It is here that her commitment to composition became a full-time endeavor. While maintaining an active career as a pianist, she composed for the great singers of her day; among them were Betty Allen, Etta Motten, Charlotte Holloman, Adele Addison, and—perhaps most notably—Leontyne Price, who recently celebrated her 98th birthday. Bonds’s friendship with Hughes also grew, and the two would collaborate to create art songs, theatrical works, choral works, and a pair of cantatas: one of which is receiving its New England premiere at this concert.

Simon Bore the Cross represents the latest stages of the Hughes–Bonds partnership, as this would be their final large-scale collaboration before Hughes’s death in 1967. The libretto of Simon Bore the Cross is (as with the texts of The Negro Speaks of Rivers and The Ballad of the Brown King) Hughes’s tethering of the ancient to the present, acknowledging that the phenomenon of historical exclusion is as old as the Bible itself. The Ballad of the Brown King is a Christmas cantata that highlights the well-known story of the three magi, highlighting the role of the African king, Balthazar. Ballad received its premiere in December 1954 and was a huge success with its New York audiences. Bonds excitedly wrote Hughes saying “we may have a Messiah on our hands,” a reference to the only known piece of music that has received annual performances every year since its premiere. This success undoubtedly inspired them to create an Easter cantata.

Hughes’s text for Simon Bore the Cross (originally drafted in 1962 and completed the following year) is an account of the biblical Passion, situating Simon of Cyrene—a North African, Hellenistic Jew—as a central figure in the story. Simon of Cyrene was compelled by Roman soldiers to assist Jesus in carrying the cross when he became too weak to do so himself. This is a moment famously depicted in the film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), with Sidney Poitier playing the role of Simon. In addition to the standard elements of the Passion story—Pilate’s complacency, mob brutality, crucifixion, and resurrection—we experience the story anew through the lens of Simon of Cyrene’s contribution and empathy. We hear Mary’s response to a bystander helping her son, and we imagine the crowd’s response to Simon’s assistance of a person in need. This is a clear departure from the Bach Passions, for example, where Simon of Cyrene is conspicuously absent from the St. John narration of the story; and he is mentioned once in the St. Matthew version. Musically, we hear the many influences of a composer-performer whose career knew no stylistic limits. Bonds was a teacher, a music director, an orchestrator, a composer of cabaret and of Classical works, and a pianistic polyglot, and we hear all of these styles woven together to create a particularly expressive musical palate.

Bonds also demonstrates her affinity for the music of J.S. Bach (1685–1750), who in a 1960’s lecture she cites as “the father of all music.” Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4) is one of Bach’s earliest cantatas, probably first performed on Easter Sunday in 1707 at the Lutheran church in Mühlhausen. The entire work serves as a set of variations on Martin Luther’s chorale: Christ lag in Todesbanden. A short, orchestral sinfonia introduces the theme, and the seven vocally-driven movements form a remarkable work of chiastic symmetry. One result of this musical architecture is that a centrally located axis is highlighted as a moment of climax. In this case, it is the moment of the Passion story during which death is conquered:

Bonds’s Simon Bore the Cross shares a number of musical elements of the Bach cantata featured this evening. In lieu of a Lutheran chorale, Bonds weaves the spiritual Never Said a Mumblin’ Word throughout her cantata. As is the case with BWV 4, Bonds begins her work with a short instrumental prelude, with seven, vocally-driven movements that follow forming a chiasm, and highlighting the movement Don’t you know, Mary?, during which we learn about Simon of Cyrene and explore his significance.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Elegischer Gesang, op. 118
Ludwig van Beethoven is most famous for his sonatas, concertos, and symphonies. His music has been described as “world-changing” and is among the most performed of the repertory. The year 1812 and the couple that followed were some of Beethoven’s least productive years; with poor health and antisocial behavior emerging as his deafness progressed. Beethoven was still composing operas and completing commissions, but evidence suggests that he was possibly experiencing spiritual ennui. 

Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang was written in 1814, by request from his friend, patron, and former landlord Baron Johann Baptiste Pasqualati, whose wife had died unexpectedly. This is one of Beethoven’s least-known works. During a particularly dull moment in his life, Beethoven considered Elegischer Gesang and other short compositions he wrote during this time to be “fresh challenges,” in his compositional practice.

Beethoven’s propensities for irregular phrase lengths, dramatic dynamics that shift within one measure, and unresolved dissonances that extend beyond our normal expectation are on full display. The piece evokes an awareness of mortality, but not in a mournful way. This particular work represents a spiritual but not necessarily religious side of Beethoven, much like in his later work Missa Solemnis in 1823. In an NPR review by John Swafford, he states “The god Beethoven intimates in the [Missa Solemnis] is not strictly Catholic or even Christian, rather pantheistic and all-encompassing, but not present in the world. Divinity lies beyond the stars, and here we are on Earth.” This parallels the quote that Beethoven would cite to his friends from philosopher Immanuel Kant: “The starry skies above and the moral law beneath.” 

Elegischer Gesang is cast in a standard A–B–A form.  A brief fugal section is bookended by hymn-like writing. Notice the dramatic dynamic changes on important words such as “für den Schmerz” (for the pain), and the powerfully sustained chords on “Himmlischen Geistes Heimkehr” (Heavenly Spirit Homecoming). 

JOHANNES BRAHMS: O Schöne Nacht, op. 92, no. 1
While Beethoven was fascinated by philosophers like Kant and topics of mortality and spirituality, Johannes Brahms’s interests extended to the world of fairy tales and folklore. This particular interest is reflected in O schöne Nacht, written in the summer of 1884. The first of a cycle of four-part songs, Vier Quartette, op. 92, O schöne Nacht portrays the beauty of the night sky, dew-sprinkled grass, and glorious nightingales. It concludes with the romantic union of two young lovers who are inspired by the beauty of the evening. 

Brahms often borrowed music from composers he respected. The piano introduction of O schöne Nacht bears resemblance to Heinrich von Herzogenberg’s Nacht ist wie ein stilles Meer. Brahms sent a draft of the piece to Herzogenberg and his wife, Elisabeth, who were dear friends and fellow musicians. Regarding the many sensual allusions, Elisabeth writes: “Stop, dear Johannes, what are you doing? At most one may discuss such things in ‘folk manner,’ which you have forgotten again!” Meaning, this was not the only time Brahms wrote music setting poetry with double entendres and, at times, provocative implications. 

Brahms creates a lovely marriage between text and music through text painting, using duple vs. triple rhythms and off-beat notes that could be the stars twinkling. Each section of the choir sings soloistic lines that guide the listener through the poem. The basses represent the round moon, the tenors are the twinkling stars, the altos are the dewy blades of grass, and the sopranos are the nightingales singing and taking flight. 

MARGARET BONDS: The Negro Speaks of Rivers
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was Langston Hughes’s first poem ever published. It was featured in the NAACP’s official magazine, The Crisis, in 1921. According to Hughes, his central visual image of this poem is “the rivers of the world along whose banks the Negro had lived in his transition from Africa to America.” He wrote it on the back of an envelope while crossing the Mississippi River on the way to Mexico with his father. He was 17 years old. 

Not ten years later, Margaret Bonds was attending Northwestern University as an undergraduate. She discovered this text while working in the basement of the Evanston Public Library, where content by Black authors and poets were kept. Bonds is quoted:  

“I was in this prejudiced university, this terribly prejudiced place… I came in contact with this wonderful poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and I’m sure it helped my feelings of security. Because in that poem, he tells how great the Black man is. And if I had any misgivings, which I would have to have—here you are in a setup where the restaurants won’t serve you, and you’re going to college, you’re sacrificing, trying to get through school—and I know that poem helped save me.” 

Langston Hughes and Margaret Bonds met in 1936 and developed a relationship as friends and artistic collaborators. Bonds reflects fondly of their relationship: “we were like brother and sister, like blood relatives.” Bonds originally published this piece as a solo art song in 1941. Later, she arranged it for SATB choir. 

Bonds evokes the text’s  meaning in melody and accompaniment. She employs a single motive and transforms it by morphing the texture and harmony. Open fifths are used to indicate ancient times, and each sub-phrase adds texture, as if we are being transported through future eras. Bonds portrays the  flow of the Euphrates, the strength and sturdiness of the Nile and the pyramids, and adds bubbling accompaniment as the Congo “lulls” the singers to sleep. Bonds uses shifting between minor and major tonalities to portray the nature of memory and reflection. An accompaniment inspired by New Orleans jazz supports the section of the piece that mentions Abraham Lincoln and his famous trip to Mississippi, during which he was exposed to the horror and evils of slavery. The Negro Speaks of Rivers is a musical and poetic expression of the permanence, perseverance, and strength of the Black experience.   

—Notes on Beethoven, Brahms, and Bonds’s setting of The Negro Speaks of Rivers authored by Naomi Bennett (M.M. '24, choral conducting)

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4
Text by Martin Luther

Versus 1
Verse 1
Christ lag in Todesbanden
Christ lay in death's bonds,
Für unsre Sünd gegeben,
Given for our sin;
Er ist wieder erstanden
He is risen again
Und hat uns bracht das Leben.
And has brought us [eternal] life.
Des wir sollen fröhlich sein,
Of this we should be joyful,
Gott loben und ihm dankbar sein
Praise God and be thankful to him
Und singen alleluja,
And sing hallelujah,
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

Versus 2
Verse 2
Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt
Nobody could restrain death,
Bei allen Menschenkindern;
Among all the children of humankind;
Das macht' alles unsre Sünd,
Our sin made all that so;
Kein Unschuld war zu finden.
No innocence was to be found.
Davon kam der Tod so bald
As a result, death came immediately
Und nahm über uns Gewalt,
And seized power over us,
Hielt uns in seinem Reich gefangen.
Held us imprisoned in its realm.
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

Versus 3
Verse 3
Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn,
Jesus Christ, God's son,
An unsre Statt ist kommen
Has come in our stead
Und hat die Sünde weggetan,
And did away with our sin,
Damit dem Tod genommen
Thereby taking from death
All sein Recht und sein Gewalt;
All its privilege and its power.
Da bleibet nichts denn Tods Gestalt,
There remains nothing but death's shape;
Den Stachel hat er verloren.
[Death] has lost its sting.
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

Versus 4
Verse 4
Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg,
It was a wondrous battle [on the cross],
Da Tod und Leben rungen;
Where death [Satan] and life [Jesus] wrestled;
Das Leben (da) behielt den Sieg,
Life got the victory (there);
Es hat den Tod verschlungen.
It has swallowed up death.
Die Schrift hat verkündig(e)t das,
Scripture has proclaimed this:
Wie ein Tod den andern frass,
How one death devoured the other 
Ein Spott aus dem Tod ist worden.
[And] a mockery was made of death.
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

Versus 5
Verse 5
Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm,
Here is the proper Easter lamb—
Davon Gott hat geboten,
God has commanded of it—
Das ist hoch an des Kreuzes Stamm
Which is, up on the cross's trunk,
In heisser Lieb gebraten,
Roasted in ardent love.
Das Blut zeichnet unser Tür,
The blood [of the lamb, Jesus] marks our door,
Das hält der Glaub dem Tode für,
[Blood] with which faith rebukes death;
Der Würger kann uns nicht mehr schaden.
The Destroyer Angel can no longer harm us
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

Versus 6
Verse 6
So feiern wir das hohe Fest
Thus we celebrate the high feast [Easter]
Mit Herzensfreud und Wonne,
With joy of heart and gladness,
Das uns der Herr scheinen lässt,
[The feast] that the Lord lets shine upon us;
Er ist selber die Sonne,
He himself is the sun,
Der durch seiner Gnaden Glanz
Who through his luster of grace
Erleuchtet unsre Herzen ganz,
Illumines our hearts entirely;
Der Sünden Nacht ist verschwunden.
The night of sin has vanished.
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

Versus 7
Verse 7
Wir essen und leben wohl
We eat and live well
In rechten Osterfladen,
In [Christ, the] proper paschal/Easter flatbread,
Der alte Sauerteig nicht soll
The old sourdough shall not
Sein bei dem Wort der Gnaden,
Be with the word of grace.
Christus will die Koste sein
Christ will be the nourishment
Und speisen die Seel allein,
And alone feed the soul;
Der Glaub will keins andern leben.
Faith will live by none other.
Alleluja!
Hallelujah.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Elegischer Gesang, op. 118
Sanft, wie du lebtest,
As gently as you have lived
hast du vollendet,
have you died,
zu heilig für den Schmerz!
too holy for pain!
Kein Auge wein’ ob des himmlischen
Let no eye shed a tear
Geistes Heimkehr.
for the spirit’s heavenly homecoming.

JOHANNES BRAHMS: O Schöne Nacht, op. 92, no. 1
O schöne Nacht!
O lovely night!
Am Himmel märchenhaft
In the heavens, the moon gleams magically
Erglänzt der Mond in seiner ganzen Pracht;
in all its splendour;
Um ihn der kleinen Sterne liebliche
about it, the sweet fellowship
Genossenschaft.
of tiny stars.
Es schimmert hell der Tau
The dew glimmers brightly
Am grünen Halm; mit Macht
on the green blades of grass; with great power,
Im Fliederbusche schlägt die Nachtigall;
the nightingale sings out in the elder-bush;
Der Knabe schleicht zu seiner Liebsten sacht
the young man steals quietly to his sweetheart
O schöne Nacht!
O lovely night!

MARGARET BONDS: The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

MARGARET BONDS: Simon Bore the Cross
Text by Langston Hughes

Pilate’s Solo: I Find No Fault
And Pilate said of Jesus,
“I find no fault in him at all. Tell me your demands.
‘Release him to us that he die,’ you say.
“I wash my hands. Take him and judge him
according to your laws.”

The Trial
Twas on a hot and dusty day Pilate washed his hands,
     and told the mob to have its way.
The soldiers took my Lord and dragged him away.
They cursed him. They kicked him.
They took my Lord and cursed his name.
They took my Lord and they beat him with staves.
They put a crown of thorns on his head, they gave him 
    vinegar and gall to drink.
Oh, my Lord, my Lord.

Who Is That Man?
Who is that man who goes to help my son? Who is he?
I never saw him before. I never saw him around.
Now he’s come to help my son
Bear the burden of his heavy cross.
Who is that man? Who shares the suffering of my Jesus,
The glory of my precious son?
Who is that man? So dark, so beautiful his face.
Look at his face so strong and full of grace.
Who is he? Never in the marketplace have I beheld him.
Could my prayers have sent him here?
God, keep him strong, and bless his soul, the dark one.
Who is that man?

Don’t You Know, Mary?
Don’t you know, Mary, the dark one’s name is Simon?
     Simon of Cyrene bears the cross for Jesus.
Oh Mary, don’t you know?
     Simon of Cyrene comes to help your Jesus.
Did you hear, Mary, Simon has come to share his heavy load?
     Simon the Cyrenian bears the cross for Jesus.
Though high the hill before them and the road ahead is long,
     Don’t you cry, Mary.
Simon cries with you, Mary.
Simon cries with you, Mary.
He is strong and fearless and he heard a Mother’s prayer
His name is Simon. Simon takes the cross.
Now, Mary, see the cross, see him raise the cross on his back.
Did you hear, Mary, the dark man came from Cyrene?
God has sent his servant to walk with Jesus.
Black men will share the pain of the cross.
Black men will share the pain.
In a world, Mary, that’s filled with trials and troubles, Simon,
    Simon out of Africa shares your sorrow.
Black men will share the pain of the cross.
Simon bears the cross, Mary, Simon bears the cross!

Walkin’ to Calv’ry
Heavy-laden and weary of heart, Jesus and Simon,
Stumbling and staggering, the Christ bore his burden as a man.
Never once did he cry out for God to set him free.
When the mob that had cursed and reviled cried, “Crucify him!”
Brother Simon was by his side.
Heavy-laden and weary of heart, Jesus and Simon, 
brothers together they walked and the African was strong,
Trudging on in the dust of humanity’s disgrace.
Jesus faltered and Simon the strong now gave him comfort. 
Brother Simon bore the cross. 
Jesus, Jesus, po’ little Jesus, 
Walkin’ in the valley of the shadow of Calv’ry
Simon, Simon, sturdy Black Simon,
Walkin’ right beside him with the cross on his back.
Onward to the cross. March onward to the cross, with its arms of love,
He carried on, to the cross with its roots in the earth of life, 
the cross that he carried to Calvary.
Black Simon bore the cross, the cross he bore for Christ,
Heavy-laden and weary of heart, on to Golgotha, 
Why should the good have to die for the sins of such a lot?
Simon thought as he marched, “What a pity and a shame.”
Now the king of the Jews had to die, death was his glory.
The Cyrenian bore the cross, the African bore the cross,
The cross to save our souls, the cross for you and me.
Give us mercy, Lord, mercy, Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, po’ little Jesus,
Step aside, Simon, he has to walk alone now.
Jesus, Jesus, tired and weary, walkin’ all alone now, walkin’ all alone.
Thank you, brother Simon (walkin’ all alone now)
Thank you for helpin’ brother Jesus (walkin’ all alone)

The Crucifixion
They crucified my Lord,
    And he never said a mumblin’ word, not a word.
They nailed him to a tree, 
    And he never said a mumblin’ word, not a word.
They pierced him in the side,
    And he never said a mumblin’ word, not a word.
He bowed his head and died,
    And he never said a mumblin’ word, not a word.

Postlude: Resurrection
Then there came that morning, when they rolled the stone away,
Rolled away death and darkness,
Rolled away yesterday.
Jesus rose that morning in the glory of the day.
Now my heart takes wing this morning,
Like a bird that flies away.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Wings of morning, alleluia.
Wings of morning, amen.
Amen.

Steve Spinelli, D.M.A., conductor, joined the faculty of Boston Conservatory in August 2022 as an assistant professor of voice (choral studies), having spent the past seven years as assistant head of choral programs at Cornell University. He is currently a research fellow at Yale’s Beinecke Library and Special Collections, investigating the relationship between Margaret Bonds and Langston Hughes. He is also the proud cofounder of ONEcomposer, a non-profit organization dedicated to telling the stories of historically excluded musical legacies.

Naomi Bennett (M.M. '24, choral conducting), graduate assistant conductor, most recently served as director of choral music at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, and artistic director of the Corvallis Community Choir in Corvallis, Oregon. Bennett received her Bachelor of Arts in music education from Oregon State University in 2020.

Leona Cheung, piano, is a distinguished choral pianist known for her musical leadership and responsiveness while collaborating with singers and conductors. In addition to performing extensively at several international festivals, Cheung has accompanied ensembles such as the Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire, the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Children’s Chorus, Boston Choral Ensemble, and MIT Women’s Chorale.

Stephen Spinelli, conductor
Naomi Bennett, graduate assistant conductor
Leona Cheung and Raban Brunner, collaborative pianists

Graduate Choir:
Ally Brigley
Naomi Bennett
Viola Kovacs
Marcea McGuire
Julia Janowski
Joseph Kingsbury
Mandy Matthews
Alex Voss
Merced Stratton
Sam Crosby-Schmidt
Corey Mann
Sidney O'Gorman
Tyler Cesario
Julian Gau
Raban Brunner

Chorale:
Jackson Alfrey
Rylie Austin
Jenny Baena-Brito
Devon Bain
Naomi Bennett
Justin Berg
Paula de la Fuente
Marissa DuVall
Alex Georgopoulos
Peter Han
Kyle Huang
Klara La Guardia
Madeline Lee
Maria Leondardi
Rachel London
Oscar Medina
Sarah Mesibov
Elizabeth Muñoz
Vaughn Nesmith
Caitlin Otto
Anthony Paredes
Maisy Parker
Delilah Rau
Alex Robinson
Paulina Rodriguez
Luis Salazar
Laura Santamaria
Victoria Schmidt
Andrew Steele
Hanqing Sun
Treshor Webster
Shouzheng Wei
Charles Wolfer
Xin Zheng

Instrumentalists:
Svens Skriveris, violin I
Joshua Rosenthal, violin II
Renee Chan, viola I
Zhaofeng Tang, viola II
Bryceton Au, cello
Jacob Slater, bass
Leona Cheung, harpsichord

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Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera 
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov

The program notes above, as well as the materials created for the Opera Studio exhibit outlining the Bonds-Hughes relationship, are curated by Dr. Stephen Spinelli with assistance from Naomi Bennett. We are deeply grateful to the Berklee library staff, and for the support of the libraries at Yale’s Beinecke Library and Special Collections, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Kislak Center for Special Collections at the University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown University’s Booth Family Special Collections. We also wish to thank Professor Mike Mason, Berklee’s inaugural chair of Africana studies, and Professor Phil Lima, assistant chair of voice at Berklee. As always, we are grateful to our amazing performance services team and to Professor Jess Muñoz, chair of voice and opera.