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Roberta Flack I was privileged to be in the audience for the world premiere of Antonino d'Ambrosio's new film Roberta , a documentary on the life of the two-time Grammy Award-winning American chanteuse Roberta Flack. For those of us who were around in the 1970s, Roberta Flack's music has been part of the soundtrack of our lives for 50 years. Via personal interviews with luminaries such as the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Yoko Ono, Angela Davis, Peabo Bryson, Valerie Simpson, Sean Lennon, among others, the film paints a a multi-faceted picture of the artist, and answers many questions that we may have had. Flack in 1971 In the film, Flack was very tight-lipped about her childhood, aside from saying that her mother was their church organist and she sang in the choir. She came from a very large family, and said that she didn't sleep alone until she was an adult. A child prodigy, she began studying classical piano at age 9 and was awarded a full music scholarship...

  After all the scandals in recent years involving male conductors and rape/sexual-abuse allegations, why must the first major film about a woman conductor portray her as a predator? While watching  Tár   I had memories of Basic Instinct , when we were so happy to see lesbians portrayed onscreen that we were willing to overlook the fact that they were psycho killers. Now we are forced to watch a successful, internationally-acclaimed woman conductor (who is also a lesbian), but suffers from major character flaws. Where is this fantasy world where a major symphony orchestra has a woman music director, a woman concert master, and a woman-dominated board of directors? This scenario does not exists, so it is especially frustrating that this fictitious conductor is such an evil character. Throughout the film we are teased with fragments of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, which are so short and disconnected that we are left craving for an uninterrupted performance of the complete ...

You might not have known it if you get your news from the New York Times or other major news outlets, but history was made last Sunday afternoon on the Carnegie Hall stage. In a sold-out concert, an all-black orchestra performed under conductor Anthony Parnther, with pianist Jon Batiste as soloist in his own composition titled I Can . The program included compositions by Florence Price, George Walker, and Johannes Brahms. The concert concluded with James V. Cockerham's Fantasia on "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a signature piece for the ensemble, whose distinguished members hail from leading orchestras and conservatory teaching faculties nationwide. Jon Batiste "Why an all-black orchestra?" you ask. Well, the sad reality is that most of these extraordinarily talented musicians are not hired by the vast majority of American symphony orchestras. "Why?" again, you ask. The answer: American racism. The concert was broadcast by WQXR 105.9 in New York, and st...

Today, on the anniversary of my New York Recital Debut at Lincoln Center, I am celebrating the news that my first book of memoirs is a finalist for a 2021 Lambda Literary Award. While in the throes of writing and editing this work, I never imagined that my story of struggle as a concert pianist - who is also a woman and an African American - would be singled out for such an honor. It has renewed my faith and encouraged me to put more of my stories on paper. Celebrated women concert pianists are few and far between. I am reminded of a certain female pianist who has enjoyed much fame and success, who started out in her career as the wife of a famous orchestral conductor. As marriage to a man was out of the question for me, I missed out on some of the perks that a wife enjoys. I never knew how to flirt with conductors or concert agents to secure contracts, as many of my white female heterosexual colleagues were able to do. In addition to bearing the burden of being a female without male s...

Philippa Schuyler Back in the 1930s there was a famous American pianist by the name of Philippa Schuyler. She was a child prodigy, and the daughter of a white mother and black father. Philippa's mother was an eccentric Texas heiress, and believed that her daughter would set the example for ending racism. She kept Philippa isolated. Hailed in the New York Times as "the Shirley Temple of American Negroes," Schuyler was performing public recitals and radio broadcasts by age four. In later life, Schuyler grew disillusioned with the racial and gender prejudice she encountered, particularly when performing in the United States, and much of her musical career was spent playing overseas. She fled to Latin America, where mixed races were more prevalent. She chose a voluntary exile of traveling and performing in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Europe. She played at the inauguration of three successive presidents in Haiti. In Africa, she performed for variou...

Contact: April Gibson,                   917-781-0001 or 800-477-1714                  info@infemnity.com                                                                                   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York, NY Artist & Author Publishes Memoir In This Memoir an African-American Woman Battles Racism and Sexism while Becoming a World-Renowned Concert Pianist Practicing for Love: A Memoir , a new book by Nina Kennedy , has been released by RoseDog Books. Young Nina Kennedy was a child prodigy, a musical genius. Growing up in a segregated black community, she was forced to speak slang or “Ebonics” during the day to protect herself from bullying. At night,...

Practicing for Love: A Memoir From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Practicing for Love: A Memoir Author        Nina Kennedy Country      United States Language   English Subject       Autobiography, American                                     history,  classical music,                                   race relations,  sexism Published   February 2020 Publisher    RoseDog Books, an imprint                               of  Dorrance Publishing                                    ...

Sunday Evening Happy Hour What can I say? These are frightening, dangerous times. There's nothing like a global pandemic to make us think about what is most important in life. Every day I am grateful for my health, and for the love of my partner. I would hate to think of what it would be like to have to survive this crisis alone. Keep in mind, I have no siblings, and my parents died long ago. April and Mittens are my family, and I am so glad that we are together. Our family Meanwhile, we meet with our friends twice a week for a virtual Saturday night dance party, and Sunday evening Happy Hour. Seeing our friends' faces and hearing their voices help to eliminate some of the stress of worrying about everybody. My poor friends who are performers are really suffering, especially the opera singers! They need to keep their diaphragm and throat muscles in shape. Being trapped in their apartments, how are they supposed to keep their muscles toned while neighbors compla...