Choral Music of Black ComposersÂ
Dr. Marques L. A. Garrett
The class will be an overview of the choral music of Black composers with a focus on American composers. The history of spirituals includes the concert spiritual arrangement and representative characteristics of important composer-arrangers.
The non-idiomatic choral music of Black composers is the original concert music ranging from part songs and motets to cantatas and oratorios. While the mainstream classical world has not always celebrated this music, it has remained at the fore of several predominantly Black organizations without whose support the music could have drifted in oblivion.
Meet Your Professor
Â
A Virginia native, Marques L. A. Garrett (he/him) is Associate Professor of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas. His responsibilities include conducting the University Singers and teaching graduate and undergraduate choral conducting. His previous appointments were at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Cheyney University. Additionally, he holds a PhD in Music Education (Choral Conducting) from Florida State University, an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA from Hampton University.
An active conductor, Dr. Garrett is the founding conductor of the Nebraska Festival Singers and previously served as artistic director of the Omaha Symphonic Chorus. He serves as a guest conductor or clinician with school, church, and community choirs throughout the country in addition to festival and honor choirs in Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. His most recent engagements were with the NAfME All-Northwest and Connecticut All-State Mixed Choirs. Aside from his conducting classes at UNT, he leads conducting workshops at other universities and conferences. His formal conducting studies were with Dr. André J. Thomas, Dr. Carole J. Ott, Dr. Carl G. Harris, Jr., and Mr. Royzell Dillard.
As a researcher, his most advantageous topic is the non-idiomatic choral music of Black composers. His lectures at state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and at other local and national venues afford him the opportunity to showcase this underrepresented area of music resulting in the anthology The Oxford Book of Choral Music by Black Composers released in February 2023. His peer-reviewed presentations and headlining events for conferences and organizations have been in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Canada. He serves as co-editor of the “Out from the Shadows” Series with Gentry Publications.
Dr. Garrett holds membership in the American Choral Directors Association; American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; National Association of Negro Musicians; National Collegiate Choral Organization; and Pi Kappa Lambda. For more information, visit www.mlagmusic.com.