Afromodernism gives space to black composers who were also part of the rebellious avant-garde

Take any survey of contemporary classical music and you’ll come across names from composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio and Milton Babbit. All white men, while from at least the middle of the 20th century black composers have also been part of the rebellious avant-garde.

They were long ignored by programmers, but in recent years there have been more and more initiatives to recognize ethnic diversity in classical music, and therefore also in new music. One of them is it’afromodernism‘-concert by the Ensemble Modern, Thursday in the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. The company from Frankfurt, which focuses exclusively on contemporary repertoire, plays Dutch premieres by six black composers born between 1940 and 1995. Flutist Dietmar Wiesner, co-founder of the ensemble, explains what Afromodernism is all about.

What is Afromodernism?

Wiesner: ‘It is a project that the world-famous composer and trombonist George Lewis has had in mind for some time. I knew him as a jazz musician and I met him eight or nine years ago when he was giving a lecture in Viitasaari, Finland. Diversity is a leading theme for him.

‘Since the 1950s there has been an African-American composer community in the US, but the rest of the world has largely missed this. We have therefore asked Lewis to set up this project with us. In November 2020 we organized a symposium and George put this program together. Our dream is that special projects about Afromodernism will become redundant in the future. We just want to play works by good composers, without looking at skin color. But we’re not there yet.’

So in 1980, when Ensemble Modern was founded, you didn’t know the Afromodernists yet?

‘No, but free jazz was an essential part of my musical education. And there has always been a lot of exchange between European and American jazz artists. I never thought I would ever work with George Lewis, one of my idols, on such a significant project. Very late, of course, but better late than never.’

Ethnic identity is important to all composers on the bill. Are there also musical characteristics that distinguish Afromodernism from other contemporary music?

‘Not really. Of course, their background influences the way these composers express themselves. But in all the pieces you can hear the era in which they originated. take again by Alvin Singleton, an example of aleatory music (also called chance music, red.), where a musician can choose from different variations on a piece of music. That really belongs to the new music of the sixties and seventies.

‘You can tell from Hannah Kendall’s work that she has studied the scores of British composers such as George Benjamin and Harrison Birtwistle. Andile Khumalo also composes within the mainstream contemporary movements, but combines Western techniques and scientific rules with his cultural heritage.’

THE SIX COMPOSERS

Jessie Cox† The space is a source of inspiration for the Swiss percussionist who creates ‘musical science fiction’. Mixes avant-garde with experimental jazz† Investigates diversity on a forensic level, based on questions such as: What is music and what is sound and who determines that?

Hannah Kendalli† Grew up in London as daughter of immigrants from Guyana. Takes a closer look at the British colonial past, for example in her chamber opera The Knife of Dawn† Her influences include Afro-Caribbean music and British pop genres such as grime and garage.

Andile Khumalo† Committed to collecting and writing down aurally transmitted African music. As a South African, he explores the question: What does it mean to be African today?

Daniel Kidane† British son of an Eritrean father and a Russian mother. wokehis advocacy of greater diversity in classical music, opened The Last Night of the Proms in 2019. Covers themes such as multilingualism and migration†

Tania Leon† Cuban immigrant who became an important figure in New York musical life, including as chief conductor of the Harlem Dance Theater. Discovered her true voice when she decided her musical roots to embrace. Won a Pulitzer in 2021 for her composition stride†

Alvin Singleton† Afromodernist from the very beginning. Co-founder of The Society of Black Composers (1968-1973) to promote music written by African Americans. Was the first black person whose work, the cello composition Argoru II† was performed at the biannual Darmstädter Ferienkurse, which has been the leading meeting place for exponents of new music for over seventy years.