Dr Kathy Bullock, Educator, Scholar, Singer & Choral conductor of the African American Sacred Choral tradition, from Kentucky USA, 5th October 2024
I Still Have Joy by Rudolph Stanfield, Performed by Joe Pace and Colorado Mass Choir
A few of the many comments from workshop participants:
What an amazing day of wonderful singing to inspire, energise and soothe the soul. A really uplifting day - thank you so much. Excellent and so much fun! Inspirational! Thank you - will stay with me forever. Absolutely loved it, great tunes, teaching, singing, sound and context - Please come back! I Feel Like Going On by Keith Pringle
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On Saturday 5th October we had the honour, joy and privilege of welcoming, Dr Kathy Bullock - educator, scholar, singer and choral conductor of the African American Choral tradition - to West Cornwall for the 1st time.
Around a hundred local singers were treated to an 'off the scale' day of learning, singing, positive energy, connection and community. Kathy spent the first session giving us a stunning, personal and at times harrowing overview of the history, context and influence of African American music, illustrated throughout with musical examples as well as sharing her own family history of slavery. From the get-go she had us all singing, from the moving simplicity of Diane White-Clayton's 'You are welcome' to the heart-touching harmonies and message of of Keith Pringle's 'I feel like going on' balanced with the up-beat vibes of 'Come and a sing a song with me' and Kathy's invitation to 'Choose Joy' illustrated by Rudolph Stanfield's 'I still have joy'. Kana Kernow events are always a lovely opportunity to connect with singing friends old and new. This time we were delighted to welcome singers from the Falmouth Community Gospel Choir with their MD Ley Adewole and Accompanist Richard Penrose - we look forward to keeping the link and singing together again. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen, 'angels' who set up the hall, organised parking, greeted people, cleared up and made it a wonderful day all round. Meur ras! ------- On the Thursday prior to the workshop, to coincide with Kathy's visit to West Cornwall and her research interest in the Fisk singers, Pip was delighted to be able to organise a re-run of an event featuring Lynne Mayer's research into the 'Fisk Jubilee Choirs' 1894 tour to Cornwall.
At this fascinating event, first been organised by Perranzabuloe Museum Lynne's research was interspersed with information from Hilary Coleman about the possible musical legacy of their Fisk tours illustrated with beautiful singing of songs from the era from the Red River Singers (followed by tea and cake - of course ;-). The balance from the retiring collection (after expenses) will be sent to 'Black Voices Cornwall' in support of their work to empower Cornwall to become anti-racist. Kathy was delighted to meet and make connections with many local singers and musicians at the event including Angeline Morrison. |