|
Singers with the IU Soul Revue. Photo by Tyagan Miller
|
A solo trumpet delivers a ceremonious, crisp, and familiar hook. Just as recognition dawns on the audience, Pictures at an Exhibition moves into an easy funk groove that Modest Mussorgsky could never have conceived in 1874 Russia.
This version is a catchy blend of tradition and soul, much like the ensemble playing it—the IU Soul Revue. The Revue is one of three performance groups in the African American Arts Institute (AAAI), which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year.
The AAAI kicked off events to celebrate “30 Years of Excellence” with the eleventh annual Potpourri of the Arts in the African American Tradition concert on November 6. Potpourri of the Arts was created more than a decade ago to showcase the AAAI’s performance groups—the Soul Revue, the African American Choral Ensemble, and the African American Dance Company. Throughout 2005, the AAAI will continue to celebrate its history through a full schedule of 40 performances, special events, fundraisers, and exhibits.
The Hudson Legacy
The AAAI’s mission is to promote and preserve African American culture through performances, lectures, workshops, and other special events; to develop innovative approaches to teaching students of diverse backgrounds; and to nurture the creation of original artistic works. All the performance groups tour, and most management, promotion, booking, marketing, and technical aspects of touring are handled by students.
The institute has involved thousands of students and reached audiences locally and nationally. Herman Hudson, who was the dean for Afro-American Affairs and founder of the IU Department of Afro-American Studies (its name has since been changed to the Depart-ment of African American and African Diaspora Studies), sought to develop the AAAI as an academic experience that would tap into the musical talent and interests of African American students.
Hudson created the institute in 1974; it is one of a handful of university arts programs based in African American performance traditions and the only such program that offers its ensembles for academic credit, through IU’s Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies. The institute has a longstanding tradition of collaboration with the School of Music—a tradition which predates the AAAI’s inception.
 |
Portia Maultsby
Photo AAAI Archives |
In 1971, through persistence and a series of daily, early-morning phone calls, Hudson persuaded Portia Maultsby to come to IU, form a band, and teach African American music. He kept his promise to her—that he would do all he could to support the program administratively and financially—and the IU Soul Revue was born. In the early days, they had no equipment and no space. The School of Music provided both: faculty members David Baker, Robert Klotman, and George Gaber lent their offices for instrument storage, and for the Revue’s first two years, all its rehearsals were held in music school spaces. Maultsby, a prominent ethnomusicologist, is now director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture and professor of folklore and ethnomusicology on the Bloomington campus.
 |
Michael Gordon
Photo AAAI Archives |
Hudson also created the African American Dance Company in 1974. This time he hired Iris Rosa (still the troupe’s director), who had come to IU in 1968 as a member of the first freshman cohort of the Groups program, an IU initiative to create programs for and attract talented minority students.
In 1975, the African American Choral Ensemble was founded, with Michael Gordon as director. Mellonee Burnim became director soon after. She was instrumental in developing the group’s repertoire over the next several years. Burnim is now an
associate professor of folklore and ethnomusicology at IU.
 |
James Mumford
Photo AAAI |
Gordon is now professor emeritus of music education at the School of Music. One of his past students, James Mumford, is the current director of the ensemble and has been with the institute for more than 20 years. While Mumford worked on his Ph.D. in music education, he served as associate instructor for the Soul Revue.
|
Members of the African American
Dance Company. Photo by Tom Stio.
|
Tradition and Collaboration
Since its inception, the AAAI has enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with the School of Music. They have shared students, faculty, performance and rehearsal space, and have collaborated on research projects (a book, The Black Composer Speaks , edited by David and Lida (Belt) Baker and Herman Hudson, was published in 1978) and on some major productions—perhaps most notably, the opera Soldier Boy, Soldier , Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess , and the institute’s annual Extensions of the Tradition concerts. The Extensions series was developed by composer and former Soul Revue director William Banfield, based on works by African American composers, some of which are housed in the Undine Smith Moore Collection at the Archives of African American Music and Culture.
 |
| Photo by Tom Stio |
“The School of Music has played a key role in the history of our program, and in turn, we have provided unique opportunities for music students to become involved in performing black music and in the management and technical aspects of taking a show on the road,” says Charles Sykes, current AAAI director who received a Doctor of Music Education degree from the School of Music. “Many of the behind-the-scenes jobs, including vocal and instrument coaching, are done by music students who hold associate instructor positions.”
Admission into the ensembles is open to all IU students, by competitive audition. Some of the performers do not read music; they learned by ear, often through involvement with black churches while growing up. “Our ensembles are multiethnic,” says Sykes. “Some students come in knowing how to play a funk groove; others learn about black cultural aspects along the way, and are able to internalize that and do a convincing performance. Most of the students who are music majors—some are jazz, some are classical—gain a broader understanding of musical styles, and as a result become more versatile and more marketable as musicians.”
Many of the School of Music’s shining stars have been associated with the AAAI; Angela Brown, who made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera this fall, is one of those stars. “Angela came to me my first year here, looking for financial aid,” says Sykes. “She offered to do anything, even type. But we didn’t have any openings. A few days later, the vocal coach we had hired for the Soul Revue reneged, so we told Angela to come in for an audition. Michael Woods, who was visiting director of the Revue at the time, came into my office after the audition and said ‘I am in vocal heaven,’ and the rest is history.”
|
The African American Choral Ensemble
in performance, under the direction
of James Mumford.
Photo by Tyagan Miller.
|
Participating in the performance groups gives music students who want to become commercial musicians a real edge, according to Sykes. “To be successful in the entertainment world, you have to learn the whole repertoire—soul, R&B, blues, spirituals, gospel—the whole range. Students get experience and a broader understanding of all these genres in our program. And because we perform live, and we travel, students can also get practical, hands-on management and live audio production experience.”
The list of names of past and present key players at the AAAI is as intertwined as the branches of a family tree; many current staff, faculty, and administrators were once members or coaches of the performing ensembles, including Sykes,
who was a graduate assistant and associate instructor for the Soul Revue, and current Revue director Tyron Cooper, who was an associate instructor with the Choral Ensemble. Some performers from the early days now have children performing in the ensembles.
 |
| Charles Sykes , current director of the AAAI |
Sykes has been working hard on a history of the institute, in honor of this year’s diamond anniversary. “It’s our obligation to make people aware of all the great things we do here, and of our fruitful involvement with the School of Music,” he says. “We need to get our alumni interested and involved in helping us to provide support for more student programs and activities in the future. I’m just trying to do my little bit to help that process.”
Lifting the Spirit
Since its founding in 1975, the African American Choral Ensemble has presented impassioned, uplifting performances promoting the rich and varied traditions of African American choral music. The group’s repertoire includes spirituals, folk forms, traditional and new gospel music, and formally composed works by and about African Americans. Sojourner, Soul-ACE, and God’s Progress are three contemporary gospel groups made up of ensemble members; they perform special features during Choral Ensemble programs, as well as separate programs of their own, and have opened for several legendary performers, including The Blind Boys of Alabama and Ray Charles. The Choral Ensemble has appeared at schools, concert halls, and other venues throughout the Midwest and the Eastern United States. James E. Mumford has been a member of the African American Arts Institute staff since 1976 and director of the African American Choral Ensemble since 1983. The Choral Ensemble has premiered several of his works, including Sojourner Truth: Choral Portraits . Recognized as a master teacher, he is an inductee of Indiana University’s prestigious Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching Program. He holds a Ph.D. in music education from IU.
An Upbeat Downbeat
The IU Soul Revue is a high-powered ensemble of singers and musicians—horns and rhythm section, sometimes augmented with strings and dance—that thrills audiences with their renditions of timeless R&B, soul, funk, and contemporary urban black popular music. Performances feature original compositions as well as arrangements of works recorded by popular artists such as Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle, Mary J. Blige, Eric Benet, Aretha Franklin, and Earth Wind & Fire.
 |
| Tyron Cooper, current director of the Soul Revue |
Tyron Cooper has directed the IU Soul Revue since 1999. He strives for excellence in musicianship and delivery from his students, and the Revue’s shows demonstrate this, with high-energy performances. As a guitarist, he tours with his own band and has released an eponymous CD as part of the IU Masters in Jazz series. He has a master’s degree in jazz from the School of Music.
A Moving Experience
The African American Dance Company embodies the spirit of African Diaspora and Latin American dance styles, with a repertoire that draws from modern, jazz, and ethnic traditions. Through a fusion of movement styles, the group interprets experience and relays stories that move and inspire audiences. The ensemble tours the Midwest and has worked with many renowned artists, including the Dance Theatre of Harlem; Francis Nii-Yartey, artistic director of the University of Ghana in West Africa; April Berry, former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre; Elana Anderson of Deeply Rooted Productions; and Reynaldo Gonzalez, from Mantanzas, Cuba.
 |
Iris Rosa, Director of the African American Dance Company
|
Iris Rosa has directed the company since its inception in 1974, and is associate professor in the IU Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies. She is passionate about her work, and strives to continually evolve as a creative artist, incorporating elements from a variety of performing arts and cultures. She received a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree in dance from Indiana University. According to Rosa, “Dance reflects life; dance is life.”
The AAAI has provided opportunities for thousands of Indiana University students to explore their talents in performance and arts management and gain knowledge of the history and culture of African American music and dance while pursuing degrees in a broad range of fields. These are a few AAAI alumni who have successful arts careers as performers, producers, technicians, writers, and managers:
Dance Ensemble Alumni
Justin Johnston, dancer, Rent on Broadway
Gabriel Paige, dancer with Britney Spears; in movies: Starsky & Hutch ; Charlie’s Angels ; Full Throttle ; Austin Powers : The Spy Who Shagged Me
Soul Revue Alumni
Roland Barber, performing artist, “Saturday Night Live”
Angela Brown, opera singer
Monika Herzig, jazz musician and teacher
Keith Mitchell and Kevon Edmonds, members of After 7
James Mumford, African American Choral Ensemble director
Isaiah Sanders, keyboardist for Stevie Wonder
James Strong, bassist and band leader for L. L. Cool J
Crystal Taliefero, backup singer (Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Billy Joel)
Choral Ensemble Alumni
Alphonso Cherry, performing artist
Tyron Cooper, IU Soul Revue director
Sonia Morales-Matos, composer, performing artist
Janet Williams, performing artist in Germany
Behind the scenes
Travis Gregg (B.A. Audio Technology), Audio Engineer for the U.S. Marine Band, Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Owen (M.M. Early Music), audience development manager, San Francisco Opera
Krystal Prime-Banfield (M.M.), voice professor, University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Charles Sykes, AAAI administrative director
