Live Your Art Producing Artistic Director Hilda Willis has been coaching performers on their artistic development and the business of showbiz for decades.
The NC A&T State University alumna has a Rolodex of current and former clients that's a veritable who's who of superstars including India.Arie, Jane Fonda, and Michael Bolton. Hilda spoke with David Ford by phone from her home in Atlanta, Georgia about how she does what she does so well.
****
John Coltrane
The
John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival in High Point recently unveiled its 2013 line-up, and it's a doozy with saxophonist Dave Koz & Friends, singer Al Jarreau, and trumpeter Christian Scott just to name a few. It's the third annual festival in honor of one of the Triad's most famous native sons. Legendary saxophonist John Coltrane sits among the likes of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis as one of the most influential musicians in the history of jazz, and his impact on the art form continues worldwide to this day. Coltrane's boyhood home was High Point, North Carolina, where he attended William Penn High School (now Penn-Griffin School for the Arts) and played in the school band. He also grew up hearing music of the black church. His maternal grandfather, the Reverend William Blair, was a preacher at an African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in High Point, and his paternal grandfather, Reverend William Coltrane, was an A.M.E. Zion minister in Hamlet, North Carolina, where John was born in 1926. The great jazz tradition in Our State continues, and four of today's leading jazz musicians, who each call the Triad home, share a moment to reflect on Coltrane's life and legacy. In this sound portrait we'll hear University of North Carolina Greensboro associate professors, bassist Steve Haines and saxophonist Chad Eby, trumpeter and NC A&T State University professor Mondre Moffett, and executive director of the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and music director for the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop in High Point, saxophonist Wally West.
****
Blandwood Mansion
Preservation Greensboro's Blandwood Mansion (constructed by Charles Bland) is one of the America's great historic homes. It represents the ideals of progressive North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead and it serves as a prototype for one of America's most popular architectural styles in the nineteenth century. Blandwood is considered the oldest standing example of Italianate architecture in the United States. Today, Blandwood operates as a museum, and provides visitors with a remarkably complete ensemble of 19th century art, architecture, furnishings, and landscape, and in 1988 it received the distinction of being named a National Historic Landmark. You and your entire family can experience this remarkable building and grounds this Sunday, June 2 when members of Preservation Greensboro are invited to attend Kids Day at Blandwood. Bring a friend to this event on the grounds of Blandwood Mansion. Members can enjoy gelato, games on the lawn, arts & crafts activities, music and fun for kids of all ages. Membership begins at just 15 bucks for students. Preservation Greensboro Executive Director Benjamin Briggs shares a little of what you'll find at Blandwood.
****
Johannes Herbst
Last April Old Salem Museum & Gardens and the Moravian Music Foundation celebrated the life of Moravian pastor, bishop, composer, musicians, scholar, and educator Johannes Herbst with a three day symposium at Old Salem in Winston-Salem. One of the guest lecturers was Dr. Tim Sharp, executive director of the American Choral Directors Association. He dropped by along with Old Salem organist and coordinator of music programming Scott Carpenter to shed some light on this fascinating composer.
****
Understanding Classical Music
Today on Kairoff at the Keyboard, Steinway Artist Peter Kairoff gives his take on the Romantic Period in music.
****
Charlie Lovett
Winston-Salem based Charlie Lovett is a former antiquarian book seller, current book collector, and published author. His newest novel, published by Penguin and titled The Bookman's Tale went on sale this week. With romance, crime, art, historical figures, and a centuries old literary relic, The Bookman's Tale has it all. For listeners in the Piedmont, you'll find plenty of local inspiration in this new novel, and you can hear Charlie Lovett June 3rd at 7pm as Bookmarks and Summit School host a book release party in the Loma Hopkins Theatre of Summit School.
