Renowned scholar sings to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. in 2018
Photos by Donna Rogers Dr. Louise Toppin, a soprano and renowned scholar of African-American art song, performs songs of justice and peace on Sunday Jan. 14. Photo by Donna Rogers
The sound of freedom songs rang out at Home Moravian Church on Sunday, Jan. 14, but there was a different pitch coming from the Saal part of the church as part of the church’s Songs of Justice and Peace program, a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
Dr. Louise Toppin, a soprano and renowned scholar of African-American art song, performed songs and poems to arrangements designed for her voice. She was accompanied by Dr. John O’Brien on the piano.
The event was part of the church’s Music@Home Concert Series.
Toppin, a professor of music at the University of Michigan and former chairwoman of the Music Department at UNC-Chapel Hill, has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States and other countries in the world.
O’Brien, organist/choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church in Kinston, is the conductor of the Eastern Youth Orchestra and has been on the faculty of East Carolina University since 1985.
Toppin sang various well-known songs, such as “O Freedom” and “Free at Last.” But her repertoire included music composed just for her and poems from people she knew, such as “Three Poems of Pauli Murray (2017)” set to music by Uzee Brown, who is the music director at King’s former church in at Atlanta, Georgia: Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The poems relayed civil rights themes.
Toppin also sang spirituals, which are linked to civil rights.
One of the highlights of Toppin’s presentation was a speech of former slave turned freedom fighter Harriet Tubman set to music. “I know that Martin Luther King knew Harriet Tubman’s words and they were an inspiration to him,” Toppin said.
Toppin received a standing ovation for her performance, and a woman leaving the event said, “This was an excellent program.”
