EXPANDING THE NARRATIVE is a long-term undertaking by Early Music Access Project to center voices of color in the study and performance of early American music.
An outgrowth of EMAP Artistic Director David McCormick’s research on Black fiddlers associated with Monticello, Expanding the Narrative seeks to shine a light on the contributions and lasting legacies of musicians of color from the colonial period to today. Early Music Access Project collaborates with a diverse group of musicians, historians, musicologists, and community leaders to create an ongoing series of live and virtual concerts and lectures.
An outgrowth of EMAP Artistic Director David McCormick’s research on Black fiddlers associated with Monticello, Expanding the Narrative seeks to shine a light on the contributions and lasting legacies of musicians of color from the colonial period to today. Early Music Access Project collaborates with a diverse group of musicians, historians, musicologists, and community leaders to create an ongoing series of live and virtual concerts and lectures.
Sacred Music of Monticello, March 2022
EXPANDING THE NARRATIVE ONLINE SERIES
This ongoing series is co-produced by Early Music Access Project artists David McCormick and Loren Ludwig. New episodes are added periodically.
EPISODE ONE: Slave Songs and Spirituals as Early Music
Premiered November 22, 2020
Premiered November 22, 2020
EMAP Artistic Director David McCormick is joined by countertenors Reggie Mobley and Patrick Dailey and baritone James Dargan for a roundtable discussion on approaching slave songs and spirituals from a historical performance perspective. Exciting connections are made between Charlottesville’s musical past and major national trendsetters like the Fisk Jubilee Singers. All four artists offer musical selections from their respective locations. Click below to watch both this episode and the follow-up discussion sponsored by Early Music America.
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EPISODE TWO: Centering Black Music at Colonial Williamsburg
Premiered June 6, 2021 via Facebook Live | Now available to view on YouTube
Premiered June 6, 2021 via Facebook Live | Now available to view on YouTube
Learn about the lives and music of 18th-century Williamsburg’s enslaved Black residents through performances and interviews with Colonial Williamsburg historical interpreters, including actor Jamar Jones and musician Dylan Pritchett.
EPISODE THREE: Meet the Artists - Sacred Music of Monticello
Filmed live at The Center at Belvedere on March 4, 2022
Filmed live at The Center at Belvedere on March 4, 2022
Early Music Access Project partners with The Center at Belvedere for a panel discussion with artists from Sacred Music of Monticello. The musicians speak about their experiences growing up in the Black church, and composer James Dargan speaks about the ways in which his encounters with various Black sacred traditions have informed his compositional style.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Black Fiddlers: A Documentary Film
Black Fiddlers, the groundbreaking documentary film collaboration between Early Music Access Project and Heritage Film Project, is now in the final stages of production! Filmmaker Eduardo Montes-Bradley has been traveling the country collecting the stories of Black fiddlers past and present, weaving together a story of perseverance and virtuosity from colonial times to today. This significant film corrects an American narrative that has traditionally diminished the role of Black folk musicians throughout history. Though we don’t have an official release date yet, you can expect opportunities to see the film this fall. For more information, visit the film webpage.
ROCK & REEL: MONTICELLO'S FOLK TRADITIONS
June 2023 | Amherst & Charlottesville VA
June 2023 | Amherst & Charlottesville VA
More information coming soon!
PAST EVENTS
Sacred Music of Monticello
March 6, 2022 | Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville VA
March 6, 2022 | Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville VA
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Among the music gathered by Thomas Jefferson for his library at Monticello is a unique version of Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's famous Stabat Mater, composed just before Pergolesi died of tuberculosis at age 26 in 1736. In Jefferson's copy, though, the traditional Latin text has been replaced by the words of a poem by Alexander Pope, "The Dying Christian to his Soul." But there was also a rich tradition of musical worship at Monticello among the community of enslaved people who lived and toiled there. This musical culture, less well documented but much more influential on American music over subsequent centuries, offers a powerful counterpoint to Pergolesi's hymn for voices and small chamber ensemble. Sacred Music of Monticello presents spirituals associated with Monticello's enslaved people interleaved with movements of the Pergolesi/Pope Stabat Mater. The concert, offered in person and online by Early Music Access Project at Charlottesville's historic Christ Episcopal Church, features soprano Brianna Robinson, countertenor Patrick Dailey, and instrumentalists of Charlottesville's Early Music Access Project. The program includes the world premiere of spirituals arranged by baritone James Dargan, who will also perform in the concert.
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James Dargan, composer & baritone
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Black Fiddlers of Monticello Walking Tour
April 10 & 17, May 8 & 15, November 6, 2021 @ Maplewood Cemetery, Charlottesville VA
Additional tours coming Spring 2023 | Interactive virtual tour coming soon
April 10 & 17, May 8 & 15, November 6, 2021 @ Maplewood Cemetery, Charlottesville VA
Additional tours coming Spring 2023 | Interactive virtual tour coming soon
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Based on his research as a 2020 Fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies, David McCormick leads a tour of downtown Charlottesville that illuminates the lives of the Scott and Hemings family fiddlers with stops at the Maplewood Cemetery, the one-time sites of the Scott and Hemings family homes on Main Street, and a few other important landmarks like the Levy Opera House. McCormick caps off each tour with a short outdoor performance of fiddle tunes associated with the Scott and Hemings families.
On February 23, 2022, McCormick presented an online version of the walking tour for the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society via Facebook Live. |
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Les Délices presents SalonEra: Folk Influences
November 16, 2020 | Livestream
Three violinists – Gail Hernández Rosa, Edwin Huizinga, and David McCormick – keep one foot firmly in the Baroque world and the other just outside. In this episode, they share recent work spanning Celtic tunes, traditional music from Spain, and research focused on Black musicians at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Two musical excerpts from the broadcast can be viewed below.
November 16, 2020 | Livestream
Three violinists – Gail Hernández Rosa, Edwin Huizinga, and David McCormick – keep one foot firmly in the Baroque world and the other just outside. In this episode, they share recent work spanning Celtic tunes, traditional music from Spain, and research focused on Black musicians at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Two musical excerpts from the broadcast can be viewed below.
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Class: Tunes of Monticello
October 18, 2020 | via Zoom
Intermediate, advanced, and professional instrumentalists of all ages joined violinist David McCormick for a fun and informative class exploring tunes played in and around Monticello by both free and enslaved musicians. Participants played along with the tunes and asked questions throughout this hour-long workshop.
October 18, 2020 | via Zoom
Intermediate, advanced, and professional instrumentalists of all ages joined violinist David McCormick for a fun and informative class exploring tunes played in and around Monticello by both free and enslaved musicians. Participants played along with the tunes and asked questions throughout this hour-long workshop.
Expanding the Narrative: Symposium on Early American Music
August 15 & 16, 2020 via Zoom
In an effort to find ways the early music field can better represent music and musicians of color, Early Music Access Project convened a Virtual Symposium with fifteen early American music scholars presenting on a wide range of topics.
August 15 & 16, 2020 via Zoom
In an effort to find ways the early music field can better represent music and musicians of color, Early Music Access Project convened a Virtual Symposium with fifteen early American music scholars presenting on a wide range of topics.
ICJS Virtual Fellows Forum: Black Musicians in Jefferson's Virginia
August 13, 2020 | Livestream
Performer-scholars David McCormick and Loren Ludwig ended their 2020 Fellowship at the International Center for Jefferson Studies with a Virtual Fellows Forum.
Performer-scholars David McCormick and Loren Ludwig ended their 2020 Fellowship at the International Center for Jefferson Studies with a Virtual Fellows Forum.
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Monticello LIVE with Early Music Access Project
May 27, 2020 | Livestream
Live from the Entrance Hall at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, David McCormick (baroque violin) and Loren Ludwig (viola da gamba) from Early Music Access Project present a free virtual concert examining various aspects of music-making in Jefferson’s Virginia.
Live from the Entrance Hall at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, David McCormick (baroque violin) and Loren Ludwig (viola da gamba) from Early Music Access Project present a free virtual concert examining various aspects of music-making in Jefferson’s Virginia.
The Jefferson Project: A First Look
February 23, 2020 | Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, Charlottesville VA
David McCormick (baroque violin) and Loren Ludwig (viola da gamba) presented musical selections from their research as 2020 Fellows of the International Center for Jefferson Studies.
February 23, 2020 | Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, Charlottesville VA
David McCormick (baroque violin) and Loren Ludwig (viola da gamba) presented musical selections from their research as 2020 Fellows of the International Center for Jefferson Studies.
The Jefferson Project: Music Under the Stars
February 1, 2020 | Rotunda Planetarium, Charlottesville VA
David McCormick (baroque violin) presented short, on-the-hour performances of music likely heard at Monticello, including pieces from Thomas Jefferson’s extensive music library and tunes played by fiddler Eston Hemings. An array of digital projectors transformed the Rotunda’s dome room into a vast enlightenment planetarium.
February 1, 2020 | Rotunda Planetarium, Charlottesville VA
David McCormick (baroque violin) presented short, on-the-hour performances of music likely heard at Monticello, including pieces from Thomas Jefferson’s extensive music library and tunes played by fiddler Eston Hemings. An array of digital projectors transformed the Rotunda’s dome room into a vast enlightenment planetarium.