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By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
PASADENA — The Pasadena Chorale, led by Jeffrey Bernstein, is kicking off the second half of its 2024-25 season by paying tribute to Margaret Bonds and Florence Price in “Sing America Part One: I, Too,” in honor of their remarkable contributions to American classical music.
“Sing America Part One: I, Too,” takes place at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 26, at First United Methodist Church, 500 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Admission is free. Reservations are required.
The program, which also features Jen Wang, a contemporary Chinese-American composer, includes large-scale works by Price and Bonds, two groundbreaking Black composers whose music, popular beginning in the 1930s, embodies resilience, beauty and the Black American experience.
Price’s “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” poignantly sets Vachel Lindsay’s poem of the same name, and Bonds’ “Credo,” set to the words of W.E.B. Du Bois offers expressive and historically significant reflections on justice, identity and hope.
Bonds and Price were trailblazing Black female composers who broke barriers in classical music, leaving a profound musical legacy.
Bonds was a renowned composer, pianist and educator known for her vibrant and expressive compositions.
Price was the first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra.
Bernstein, who launched The Chorale in 2009, believes “Sing America Part One: I, Too” is an opportunity for audiences to experience the power and beauty of classical music while honoring the contributions of Price and Bonds.
The Chorale, which has presented more than 100 performances, offers an education program at no cost to participating students.
Each year, through its free “Listening To The Future” education program, the Chorale pairs local high school composers with a professional composer mentor for a year of study.
The Pasadena Chorale’s mission is to create choral music that educates, uplifts and inspires as many people as possible.
I recently spoke to Jeffrey Bernstein, the founding artistic and executive director of the Pasadena Chorale, about “Sing America Part One: I, Too.”
DD: Why did you launch Pasadena Chorale in 2009? What did you want to accomplish?
JB: Chorale music is equal parts music and community. I was teaching chorale at Occidental College. I loved it. I wanted to have it in a broader community. I wanted a wider range of music. With a community chorus, they stay around. Students will eventually leave. The community chorus has a chance to mature. We want to do the music of people alive today or people who have been left out of concert music.
All of our concerts are free to the public. Everybody deserves to experience music. Our educational programming has six to 10 students in the composer program. The High Notes is the young people’s choir. There is this idea that opera is elitist. Music is music.
DD: Tell me about the upcoming “Sing America Part One.”
JB: I love this concert. “Sing America” is a two-part series focusing on American composers. We want to be a choir of our city, of our time. This whole series — we recognize the early music but look at them as inspiration for a new generation of composers. Voices that we don’t usually get to hear. That’s the idea.
The first part features two works — Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. It’s amazing music. Price’s song — “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight,” imagines him pacing late at night to wrestle with this decision he has to make and struggling with how to get everybody on board. It’s evocative. It’s very human.
Then, it talks about what he’s thinking in his head. Her setting is beautiful, lyrical, and American sounding. It’s different in the hands of a Black composer than in the hands of a white composer because it has other influences. Price was the first Black woman to have her piece played by the Chicago Symphony.
DD: Where was her music found?
JB: Her music was lost in a box in an attic in Illinois where she lived. The owners found it, and it was hundreds of her works. We didn’t know “Abraham” existed until 2009. It has been performed less than half a dozen times. It’s relatively new to the world. It has almost a piano concerto in the beginning. It’s filled with strife and drama.
Bonds was a friend of Price’s. She was a more well-known composer in her time. She was known for her spiritual song settings. “Credo” is part of the traditional mass. It means “I Believe.” W.E.B. Dubois has something called “Credo.” It’s a riff. It’s powerful words. I believe in Negroes. I believe in the devil. It was in 1967. It’s a beautiful, powerful setting with a huge emotional range. It goes from tender to furious music.
Bonds and Price were friends. You hear the influence of Price in Bond’s music. We are tracing these through lines in this music.
The concert opens with Jen Wang, a Chinese-American composer. She wrote something for us. It’s Appalachian. “Wayfaring Stranger” is in that same vein. From “Wayfaring Stranger,” we go into “Abraham Lincoln Walks At Midnight.”
It’s a combination of music written in the past and music today. All three composers [Bonds, Price, and Wang] are from groups of people not traditionally thought of as composers of concert music.
DD: Why are you focusing the show on Bonds and Price?
JB: Bonds wrote a lot of chorale music. Her music is stunning. I knew Price was her teacher. I read about “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight.” I thought it was interesting. I found a recording, not professional, but it was easy to hear the power of this music.
There aren’t a whole lot of chorale pieces of this size.
Classical music pioneer Price blended European classical traditions with African-American spirituals, folk songs and jazz. Her unique style expanded the classical music repertoire and challenged racial and cultural stereotypes.
DD: What inspired “Sing America Part One: I, Too,” and what message do you hope to convey through this project?
JB: It references Langston Hughes’ “I Sing America.” American classical music is a 20th-century thing. This concert says that two people are writing this music that you haven’t heard before, and at the same time, others have written it. Why are these not well known? I’m not going to tell the audience that — it just happens.
DD: Discuss the significance of the title “I, Too” and its connection to Langston Hughes’ poem.
JB: There is a whole country of Black folks who are Americans and contributing to the American identity. They have to raise their hands and say, ‘We are here,’ because it tends not to include them.
DD: How do the musical selections reflect the themes of American identity, diversity and social justice?
JB: “Wayfaring Stranger” is an American and Appalachian song. Abraham is a towering figure in American history. It’s a uniquely American story. Bonds, her piece, and [W.E.B.] Dubois’s text speak directly to pressing issues — injustice, unfairness and not being ashamed to say those things are morally wrong. All those are uniquely American.
DD: What should I know that I didn’t ask you?
JB: Some people have asked me if it’s problematic for white people to sing Black music. Is it appropriation?
DD: What do you tell them?
JB: I don’t think a white choir should sing in a style that they are imitating. We are not a gospel choir. That would be uncomfortable. Bonds was asked this question about white people singing music by Black people. She said, “I want everyone to perform music by Black people.”
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
