McNeese presents guest recital

Staff Reports

The Contraband

The McNeese State University Performing Arts Department will host a free guest recital titled “Beyond Classical: Voices of African-American Composers” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, in Tritico Theatre as part of the spring Faculty/Guest Recital Series hosted by the department.

Guest performers include Marcia Porter, soprano, Tami Lee Hughes, violin, and Marcena Kinney, piano.

The program will feature: “Worthwhile” by Harry T. Burleigh; “Prayer” by Leslie Adams; “I Want to Die While You Love Me” by Rosephanye Dunn Powell; “Love Let the Wind Cry….How I Adore Thee” by Undine Smith Moore; Sonata for Violin and Piano by Irene Britton Smith; “A Bee That Was Searching for Sweets One Day” and “Bird of My Lady’s Bower” by Gary Powell Nash; S.L.I.C.E. by Chad “Sir Wick” Hughes; “Lord, How Come Me Here?”, traditional; “Sonnets on Love, Rosebuds and Death” by Dorothy Rudd Moore; and “Filter” by Daniel Roumain.

Porter, an award-winning soprano, is an associate professor of voice at the Florida State University College of Music. A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Porter received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice performance from Northwestern University and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance from the University of Michigan.

She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, where her research focused on African-American and Brazilian classical art song, and a Rotary International Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar in Rome, Italy. Porter is an active recitalist who has performed at venues around the world and a clinician who has presented master classes at universities throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.

A native of Baton Rouge, Hughes received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan.

As a soloist, she has appeared with a number of symphony orchestras across the country, and as a solo recitalist, she has appeared in concert venues, live radio broadcasts and music festivals and concert series in several countries. Hughes also has numerous performance credits in popular music and film, including studio violinist for Grammy award-winning artists Aretha Franklin and Fred Hammond.

Her debut solo album, “Legacy: Violin Music of African-American Composers,” was heralded as one of the best classical albums of the year by All Music Guide and she is currently working on a second project featuring chamber works of contemporary composers.

Kinney, who is faculty accompanist at Reinhardt University, received her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Shorter College and her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.

She has served on several university and college faculties as well as performed with several choirs and ensembles. Also, she has received several awards including the Steinway Educator Award.

Persons needing accommodations as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the ADA Coordinator at 337-475-5428, voice; 337-475-5960, fax; 337-562-4227, TDD/TTY, hearing impaired; or by email at cdo@mcneese.edu.