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As Noontime Concerts Prepares Our Much Anticipated Majesty of the Spiritual Broadcast Release for Later This Year, Enjoy this 2022 Interview with Robert Sims, Creator of Majesty of the Spiritual…
Majesty of the Spiritual was an onstage gathering of 16 brilliant classical singers and pianists to celebrate three living composers in the tradition of the American concert spiritual. Don’t miss the 2023 release of the exquisitely crafted and rendered visuals and sound from this unforgettable 2022 performance. Look for updates on the broadcast release at noontimeconcerts.org or noontimeconcerts.org/majesty.
This interview, conducted by Robin Wirthlin, executive director of Noontime Concerts, was recorded just after last year’s Juneteenth Musical Tribute, June 2022, at Old St Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, California. In the interview, Robert Sims recounts his deep roots in concert performances of spirituals, the musical greats who performed in this wonderful 2022 production, as well as the meaning of this timeless music and performance of this musical program at this time, historically.
Majesty of the Spiritual was performed August 28, 2022 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.
See full program of Majesty of the Spiritual
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The spirituals had been a galvanizing force for freedom in the community who created and first sang these songs… peoples who toiled in the crucible of American chattel slavery… celebration of those traditional spirituals… flourished throughout the next century… ‘as a foundational platform on which a new, uniquely American school of classical music could be built.‘
Arthur C. Jones, Professor Emeritus of Music,
Culture and Psychology
University of Denver Lamont School of Music