Program Details
Pianist Kyle P. Walker presents Bach to BlackNotes, a program that connects the music of J.S. Bach to composers of the African diaspora. The program traces stylistic lineage and cultural dialogue across centuries, from Bach's Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major through works by Irene Britton Smith, Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins, Oswald Russell, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Margaret Bonds. Performed without intermission.
I. J.S. Bach – Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825
II. Irene Britton Smith – Passacaglia in C-sharp Minor
III. Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins – The Battle of Manassas
IV. Oswald Russell – Jamaican Dance No. 2, from Three Jamaican Dances
V. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Take Nabandji, I'm Troubled in Mind, The Bamboula
VI. Margaret Bonds – Troubled Water
We have brought Kyle P. Walker to the Roeliff Jansen Community Library more than once, and I would do it again tomorrow. Our audience is mostly older adults who come to learn something, and they stayed long after the last note to talk about composers they had never heard of. More than a month following Kyle's performance, those who attended are still telling me how wonderful his concert was and how they hoped we would have him back. Kyle is warm on stage, easy to work with, and completely on top of his end of things, which makes my job simple. If you are considering him for your series, do it.
Cheryl Jones, Concert Series, Roeliff Jansen Community Library