"The Heart of a Woman: Dreams of Freedom"

 

Celebrates the enduring legacy and evolution of African American art song through the voices of Black women composers. Featuring works by Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore, Margaret Bonds, Rosephanye Powell, and Nkeiru Okoye, the recital explores themes of identity, love, dreams, hope, resilience, and liberation.

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Rooted in the rich partnership between poetry and music, the program highlights settings of texts by Georgia Douglas Johnson and Langston Hughes, illustrating how African American composers have preserved and expanded Black literary traditions through song. The inclusion of contemporary work by Rosephanye Powell demonstrates that this artistic tradition continues to thrive through new generations of composers.

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The recital culminates with Nkeiru Okoye's powerful Songs of Harriet Tubman, a four-movement cycle tracing Tubman's transformation from Araminta Ross to the legendary liberator known as "Moses." Serving as the emotional climax of the program, the work unites the recital's central themes while affirming African American art song as a living tradition of artistic excellence, cultural memory, witness, resistance, and hope.