Ten Freedom Summers – Defining Moments in the History of the United States of America
Available for the first time in print.
‘Ten Freedom Summers’ is a large work inspired by the activity of the civil rights movement: from the Niagara Falls Congress of 1905, to President Harry S. Truman signing Executive Order 9981 in 1948, up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s Memphis speech in 1968.
In 19 movements, scored for a variety of ensembles.
Ten Freedon Summers
Kiom Music Publishing
From the Composer:
“Over the years I thought that I would compose a tribute to the civil rights movement, centered in the activities of two decades 1948–1968, much in the same way that August Wilson’s plays comment on ten decades of the African-American experience in America, but through musical composition/improvisation.
This musical work is the result of my research and reflection concerning the philosophical, social and political history of the United States of America. Ten Freedom Summers is programmed as three evenings of music, and is composed for Golden Quartet and Southwest Chamber Music, an ensemble of nine performers. The world premiere took place October 28–30, 2011, at REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California.
Medgar Evers: A Love Voice of a Thousand Years’ Journey for Liberty and Justice was completed in 1977, and is the earliest work in the collections. John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier and the Space Age completes the Ten Freedom Summers cycle.
Five compositions were composed during my 2009/2010 Fellowship with the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Southwest Chamber Music commissioned four compositions, funded by the James Irvine Foundation and Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation. Ten Freedom Summers was commissioned by Chamber Music America with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and Southwest Chamber Music.”
Wadada Leo Smith
from ‘Interview with Wadada about Ten Freedom Summers’ by Greg Burk/LA Times
Listen to selections from ‘Ten Freedom Summers’ here
More works available from Wadada Leo Smith