DECEMBER
2004
Banfield's 9th Symphony Premiers in Louisiana
Bill Banfield Featured in the December Issue of Downbeat
Scarecrow Press Appoints Banfield as Contributing Editor
| BILL BANFIELD'S HOPE SYMPHONY DEBUTS IN ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA | |
| Bill Banfield's 9th Symphony (also known as the Hope
Symphony) debuted on October 17, 2004, at the Talk to the Music
Festival, in Alexandria/Pineville, LA. The symphony was performed by
the Rapides Symphony Orchestra. The Talk to the Music Festival was built around the Continental Harmony Award from the American Composers Forum. This award was received by the Arna Bontemps African American Museum, the Rapides Symphony Orchestra, and the Arts Council of Central Louisiana. The award, one of five nationally in 2003, allowed the partners to commission Banfield to write a piece of music based on Arna Bontemps, Central Louisiana's native son, a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, a close friend of Langston Hughes, a poet and writer. Banfield spent nearly two months in Louisiana gathering information about Bontemps and the area where he grew up. The symphony title, Hope, is based on a poem written by Bontemps. The performance of the symphony was the highlight of the festival. The symphony received praise from many of those in attendance at the performance, including the son of Arna Bontemps, Arnold Alexander Bontemps, who said his father "would have been delighted." Banfield was very pleased with the performance. "I think it came together well," said Banfield. "The life and spirit of Bontemps really came through, as well as the life and spirit of the community. I was pleased to be able to paint that portrait through my music, and have that portrait come to life with its performance." | |
| Top of page | |
| Pick up a copy of December's issue of Downbeat
magazine. Turn to page 35. Bill talks about the "positive conflict"
on his new record, Striking Balance. Bill also talks about
his new book, Black Notes and his 9th Symphony, premiered in
Aleandria/Pineville, Louisiana in October. Pick up a copy of the
issue while it's still on the stands and check it out!
| |
| SCARECROW PRESS APPOINTS BANFIELD AS CONSULTING EDITOR, CULTURAL STUDIES AND JAZZ STUDIES. | Top of page |
| Beginning Jan 2005, Bill will be responsible for overseeing the publication of 5 Books yearly in Cultural Studies as well as coordinating books from the Rutgers University Jazz Series. In addition to publication of his own books, his work extends to commissioning and acquisitions of new titles, authors and representing the area at national conferences. Scarecrow Press is the publisher of Bill’s two books, Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers, and Black Notes: Essays of a Musician Writing in a Post-Album Age. | |
| BANFIELD MAKES COVER OF BLACK ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION | Top of page |
| The leading journal of the Black academy, Black Issues in Higher Education features Bill this month in the cover story titled "With All Strings Attached." The article by Kendra Hamilton covers Banfield’s entire music career and shines the spotlight on Bill’s body of work. “It’s really a nice article,” says Banfield. “It’s a real honor to be featured in Black Issues in Higher Education.” Ms. Hamilton covers Banfield’s career as an artist, composer, and scholar, starting with his years in Boston at the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music, when he hung out with the likes of Wynton, Branford, and Delfeayo Marsailis, Kevin Eubanks, Najee, and Don Byron, to name a few. The article is a must read for all Bill Banfield fans. You can check it out at www.blackissues.com. | |
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