What's New > Understanding authentic interpretations of American Negro Spirituals at our Summer Workshop
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At the 2023 NATS Summer Workshop (July 7-9), Alexis Davis-Hazell and Rosalyn Wright Floyd present “Uncommon Gems: Classically Arranged American Negro Spirituals” and “The Art Song Heritage of American Negro Spirituals Interactive Masterclass.”
Register online or call the NATS executive office at 904-992-9101. See schedule and details.
We’re delighted you’ll be part of the summer workshop! Tell us a bit about yourselves, how you two came to know each other, and give us a quick overview of what you’ll be sharing with attendees this summer.
Dr. Alexis Davis-Hazell is assistant professor of voice and lyric diction at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Dr. Rosalyn Wright Floyd is professor of piano and music theory at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia. A mutual friend in NATS introduced us virtually in 2018! Our first in-person collaboration together was in Tuscaloosa, in 2019. Then we were both invited to be a part of My Sister’s Keeper, the research consortium promoting, researching, and performing works by African American women composers. We have been collaborating on a variety of projects ever since. Participants in our workshop sessions will be guided through textual analysis, the power of diction and dialect, and focus on the execution of American Negro Spirituals repertoire with respectful intention. Included exercises and information will form the basis of authentic interpretations for singers and collaborative pianists.
How wonderful! When did you two begin your own study and performance of the American Negro Spirituals repertoire?
Rosalyn grew up in South Carolina singing spirituals and anthems in church and began accompanying soloists singing spirituals as early as high school. She has been studying and performing this repertoire for at least 40 years. Alexis first started learning spirituals in Philadelphia, through the junior high school choir at Temple University Music Prep Scholars with Roscoe Gill, and then began learning solo repertoire from her high school choir director, Dr. Gloria Goode.
Wow, we will all benefit from your combined experience. What are some of the most common questions you receive about American Negro Spiritual repertoire, and will your sessions address those topics?
Question number one is always, “Can everybody sing this music?” Question number two is “Where do I find [fill in the blank] spiritual?” We will assure everyone that the answer to number 1 is yes — and explain how, why, and what is required. We will do our best to provide enough resource lists to answer number 2!
That sounds great. Do you each have a favorite composer and/or spiritual?
We are going to say NO because we love too many to name here, and they are all dear to us. To hear about those we do not prefer as much, or ones that might be best to avoid, you'll have to come to the sessions!
Love it! Are you looking forward to any attending any other sessions at the workshop? What else is on the horizon for you?
We are excited about “Singing Pop/Rock, the Foundations of Style!” We’d love to get to them all if it were possible, but especially curious about Korean Art song, and Icelandic IPA. We are excited to be plenary session presenters at the National Association of Negro Musicians national annual conference in Dallas directly after the NATS Summer workshop, alongside our other two My Sister’s Keeper colleagues, Minnita Daniel-Cox and Marcía Porter.
Don’t miss your opportunity to explore lots of diverse repertoire with us at our 2023 Summer Workshop. From uncommon gems of American Negro Spirituals and lesser-known musical theatre rep, to Nordic, Catalan, and Korean art songs, living composers, hip-hop and pop/rock, we’ve got so much in store.
