2018 Colour of Music Festival Announced For October 24-27

“Presenting black classically trained musicians in chamber settings on Charleston’s high battery showcases the many facets of this Festival. What attendees will see and hear this year is Charleston’s classical music history coming full-circle with world-class musicians performing the original versions of what we call classical music,” said Lee Pringle, Founder and Artistic Director. ​“Having … Read more

The African-American Conductor: James DePreist

The wonderful Antoine Clark is a Columbus based clarinetist, teacher and conductor. Antoine recently took some time out of a ferociously busy schedule to help me with a series of podcasts on African-American conductors. ​Elsewhere on this blog, you’ll find our profiles of Thomas Wilkins, Henry Lewis, and Dean Dixon. Oh! And not forgetting, Antoine … Read more

African-American Conductors Podcast: Thomas Wilkins

Here’s another in a series of podcasts on the lives and careers of African-American conductors.  My collaborator in this project is a young man called Antoine Clark. We’re a bit late with this next installment, for all the right reasons. Antoine is ferociously busy as a conductor, working with his own orchestra, the McConnell Arts … Read more

Celebrating the African-American Conductor Henry Lewis

Continuing our series of podcasts on the African American conductor, I’ve asked Columbus based conductor Antoine Clark to join me in talking about Henry Lewis (1932-1996). Columbus musician Antoine Clark discusses the life and music of African-American conductor Henry Lewis. Henry Lewis was born in California. Trained on the double bass, Lewis formed the Los … Read more

Celebrating the African-American Conductor: Dean Dixon

I’ve asked Columbus based conductor Antoine Clark to join me for a series of conversations about African-American conductors. Antoine is finishing a masters at OSU, and is the founder and music director of the McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra. The classical music world is slowly becoming less color blind as far as maestri are concerned, but … Read more