Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.
Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
James 5:13
I have been teaching voice in a local high school Arts Specialty Center for the last five years. Each year I have two classes, the incoming freshmen, and the second-year sophomore vocalists. My usual student count per class is 8-9 singers - a lot of people to instruct in only an hour and a half. But this year my freshman class has 11 kids - ten girls and one guy. I have approximately 6 minutes per class for each student, so I have to be creative in order to teach them anything at all.
This nine weeks, we are studying the wonderful world of Spirituals in the form of duets. The ten girls are paired up into five duets, and the fellow is singing a duet with me. Studying African-American spirituals is a wonderful lesson in handed-down music, jazz, blues, slavery, and the creative genius of an oppressed people. Last week we began to listen to artists who specialize in spirituals. Foremost in that contemporary group would be sopranos Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle. The clip below was taken during a concert of spirituals at Carnegie Hall in 1990. It is a spectacular example of a little-known song and two fabulous singers. Enjoy!
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