{"id":79785,"date":"2024-01-31T14:07:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T19:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/?p=79785"},"modified":"2024-01-31T14:39:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T19:39:07","slug":"black-history-month-free-gospel-music-workshop-schulich-school-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/2024\/01\/31\/black-history-month-free-gospel-music-workshop-schulich-school-music\/","title":{"rendered":"BLACK HISTORY MONTH | Free Gospel Music Workshop at the Schulich School of Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Karen
Karen Burke (Photo : artist’s website)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McGill University’s Schulich School of Music launches its series of events marking Black History Month with a free Gospel music workshop this Thursday February 1st. Open to all, the workshop will be led by York University Professor Karen Burke.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

LA VERSION FRAN\u00c7AISE DE CET ARTICLE EST DISPONIBLE ICI.<\/a><\/p>\n

La r\u00e9daction de Ludwig van Montr\u00e9al est consciente que la majorit\u00e9 de son lectorat est francophone. Nous avons tout de m\u00eame jug\u00e9 \u00e0 propos de parler de cet atelier, m\u00eame s’il se d\u00e9roule en anglais, \u00e0 cause de sa pertinence dans le cadre du Mois de l’Histoire des Noir.e.s et de l’apport de la musique Gospel dans le monde choral de toutes les langues. Il s’agit \u00e9galement du premier article que Ludwig van Montr\u00e9al publie \u00e0 la fois en fran\u00e7ais et en anglais, parce que le contenu le justifie.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Karen Burke<\/strong>‘s bio, as found on her York University profile, is impressive: \u00ab\u00a0singer, music director, choral conductor and composer in the field of African-American vocal music, an authority on the history and performance practices of Gospel music, she has worked with major choral ensembles and organizations including the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Youth Choir, Toronto Choral Society and Ontario Choral Federation, as well as numerous schools and church congregations. In 1988, she co-founded the Juno Award-winning Toronto Mass Choir and continues to serve as their principal director, touring nationally and internationally.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo : Mike Hwang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e<\/strong>, Associate Professor and Area Coordinator of Choral Studies at the Schulich School of Music, \u00ab\u00a0The power of music, and of Gospel music in particular, is that it creates a feeling of community. Since Gospel music is sung and learned without a score, all are equal in the learning of this music. It makes for an exceptional and authentic artistic and collective experience.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

Pr. Burke<\/strong> has graciously answered a few questions by email for our readers.<\/p>\n

LvM: The workshop you are leading at Schulich on February 1st marks the launch of McGill’s Black History Month events. How can learning about Gospel music help non-Black people understand the history of Black people in North America?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KB: Gospel music holds within its \u2018DNA, the hopes, and dreams of a people, stolen from but still carrying the cultural characteristics of West Africa including its music. The spirituals that enslaved Africans in North America created, provided them with hope and encouragement, a way to communicate, to pass on secret messages and share their collective dream of freedom.\u00a0 Gospel music holds within it close links to the history of Black people and is one of the most powerful and enduring pathways to understanding it.<\/p>\n

\u0095 LvM: You are an authority on performance practices of Gospel music. How has the performance of this type of music changed over the years? <\/strong><\/p>\n

KB: Gospel music is a relatively \u2018new\u2019 genre of music with this term being coined by Thomas Dorsey as recently as the 1930s.\u00a0 At that time, blues music, which also is birthed from spirituals, was the main genre which influenced this early style.\u00a0 While the message and fervor has remained, today, gospel music continues to influence popular music. As blues influenced this new sound in the 30s, reciprocally, the musical trends of today influence the sound of Black gospel music.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo : Mike Hwang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LvM: Is there anything non-Black people should be careful of when performing this music?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

KB: A conscientious performer of any genre of music that one is unfamiliar with, should learn about its origins, performance aesthetic and cultural history.\u00a0 Honouring the creators and history of gospel music is the best way to ensure that one is doing it justice and helps to avoid unflattering caricatures.\u00a0 Gospel music cannot and should not be performed in a cultural vacuum\u2014please do the work!<\/p>\n

The Black gospel community welcomes sincere allies to ensure that this music is not \u2018ghettoized\u2019 or relegated to the \u2018shadows\u2019.\u00a0 When someone who is not Black makes inquiries because they are concerned about cultural appropriation, then they are already on the right track. \u00a0Their intentionality will expand their knowledge and result in a more authentic performance.<\/p>\n

LvM: The workshop is open to the public free of charge. Do participants have to be able to read music? What audience are you particularly hoping to reach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KB: Gospel music is very accessible and the spectacle of a gospel choir, especially a large mass choir of 135 voices, is always exciting!\u00a0 This mass choir of students will be supported by a live rhythm section comprised of gospel musicians and gospel vocalists that are active in Montreal\u2019s gospel music scene.<\/p>\n

Gospel music is learned by rote so there is no need to be able to read music!\u00a0 Those who have an interest will be energized, uplifted and they will witness and experience the joy of this music.\u00a0 Everyone is welcome!<\/p>\n

Those that are part of the gospel community in Montreal are especially <\/em>invited to come out enjoy gospel choir classics by favourites such as Kirk Franklin and Hezekiah Walker and to raise awareness of the vibrant gospel music community that exists in Montreal.<\/p>\n

FEBRUARY<\/strong> 1st<\/sup>, 7:30pm-9:30pm, SCHULICH SCHOOL OF MUSIC DETAILS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Inscrivez-vous \u00e0 notre infolettre! La musique classique et l\u2019op\u00e9ra en 5 minutes, chaque jour<\/em> \u00a0ICI\u00a0<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

McGill University’s Schulich School of Music launches its series of events marking Black History Month with a free Gospel music workshop this Thursday February 1st. Open to all, the workshop will be led by York University Professor Karen Burke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":79787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[42107,10956],"tags":[42106,42124,6402,2265,42128],"yst_prominent_words":[28659,10290,7299,37879,7298],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Copie-de-INTERVIEW.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bdYt-kKR","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79785"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79785"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79798,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79785\/revisions\/79798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79785"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=79785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}