Lineage - The Margaret Walker Song Cycle

Lineage is a new musical work that incorporates the poetry of Margaret Walker and the music of composer Randy Klein. This song cycle is presented in an exciting forum of a concert with discussion featuring one or more vocalists.

Lineage is based on collaboration between Margaret Walker scholar/biographer Maryemma Graham of the University of Kansas and award-winning composer, pianist, and record producer Randy Klein with funding from a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The art songs included in Lineage paint musical impressions to match the intentions of the poets words.

Songs currently performed from Lineage include the following Margaret Walker poems:

I Want to Write
Lineage
Medgar Evers, 1925 to 1963
Ballad of the Free
Long John Nelson and Sweetie Pie- Ballad
Girl Held Without Bail
Ex-Slave
Street Demonstration
For My People (work in progress)
Inflation Blues

As a work of art that encompasses the two arenas of poetry and music, this Song Cycle offers wide appeal to audiences of classical music, contemporary vocal music, as well as lovers of poetry, those interested in African American history, and, of course, fans of Margaret Walker. The Song Cycle is available for performance at schools, churches, and universities across the country.

Randy Klein has composed the scores for several Emmy-winning film documentaries, including Free To Dance (PBS Great Performances, 2001) and Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (American Movie Classics, 2001). Klein is the President of the independent music label Jazzheads. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and is a member of NARAS, The Dramatists Guild and the BMI - Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Randy Klein is an exclusive Steinway Artist.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• margaret walker
• randy klein
• rosena hill
• poetry
• black poetry