African-European/African-American Composers in the Western European Classical Tradition
A Workshop with Betty Hillmon
9:30am – 3:00pm
The folk music legacy left to us by Miss Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers continues to be rich with songs and ring games that are exciting, fun, and educational. When taught in the correct style and with historical context, these materials hold the interest of students and improve their social and musical skills. In this session, participants will learn songs and games of the Georgia Sea Islands and discuss the meanings and social settings for these materials.
A shorter segment of this session will be a less known but as rich a legacy of music available for use in the classroom—classical music composed by Afro-European and African American composers. Chevalier de Saint George and William Grant Still are just two composers whose works will be discussed.
Betty Hillmon is Department Head of Music at the Park School in Brookline MA. She holds the BA in Music-San Jose State University; a MA in Music Performance (cello), Fresno State University; MA in Musicology, Harvard University; Kodály Music Education Certificate, Liszt Academy, Budapest, Hungary; and an Advanced Studies Certificate from the Kodály Musical Training Institute, Wellesley, MA. Ms. Hillmon served on the faculty of the Kodály Music Institute and the Kodály Center of America. She has worked directly with Bessie Jones and Frankie and Doug Quimby of the Georgia Sea Island Singers. As a graduate student at Harvard Univ., Ms. Hillmon studied with Dr. Eileen Southern and published in Black Perspectives in Music.
Location
Malcolm X Elementary School
1731 Prince Street
Berkeley CA 94703
(Two blocks from Ashby BART Station)