25th Anniversary African American Art Song Alliance

The Department of Music at UCI is pleased to host the 25th Anniversary African American Art Song Alliance Conference on Oct. 13-16, 2022. The conference is presented by the African American Art Song Alliance, an advocacy organization representing Black composers of Western classical art songs.  

The Alliance presents the vanguard conference every five years, inviting the nation’s leading performers and scholars to present and discuss Black participation in the Arts, both past and present. The October anniversary conference will focus mainly on Social Justice and the Harlem Renaissance Centennial Observation. Session topics include the study, performance, and support of art songs by African American composers. In addition, the Alliance will present solicited lectures, posters, composers and performers for peer review.

The 25th-anniversary conference will also pay particular attention to women composers. 2022 marks the half-centennial since the death of Margaret Bonds, an American composer, pianist, arranger and teacher who was one of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States. The conference will present lectures and performances about Bonds and her musical contributions.

The Alliance remains focused on maintaining accessibility for the audience it serves and the larger population. They have made registration free and open to the public for the conference and its events. Free registration is available here. 

The event is possible thanks to generous funding from the Hampsong Foundation, LA Opera and the Flora Family Foundation.

To learn more about the African American Art Song Alliance, visit their website at https://artsongalliance.org.

Register Now

(Please contact Emma Ginzel for any additional questions, eginzel@uci.edu.)

 

Thank you for attending the 25th Anniversary conference! View the video playlist of all the conference sessions and guest artists on YouTube.
Margaret Bonds
View the day by day list of sessions, guest speakers, panels, performances and events.
Dr. Darryl Taylor
“If you use visual arts as a comparison, opera would be like a mural, with representation in broad strokes and intended to be viewed from a distance to get the best perspective, while art song would be like portraiture, where you get the fine details,” says Darryl Taylor. (photo: Steve Zylius / UCI)
African American Art Song Alliance
Founded in 1997, this is the home of interchange between performers and scholars interested in art song by African-American composers. Here you will find information and links to assist with your discovery of our contribution to song.
Resource Links
View a list of African American Music Research resource links on the African American Art Song Alliance website.
Call for Conference Proposals
Submit your proposal to present at the 25th anniversary conference. Submission deadline, May 15, 2022.