THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF MUSIC
SERIES:
10 TH ANNUAL CELEBRATION
OF ART SONGS BY BLACK COMPOSERS
Featuring music by Dr. Shawn Okpebholo
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Seven-thirty in the Evening Longmire Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Shade of Hues
Sylvia Hollifield
April Rain Song (White) (b. 1951)
In time of Silver Rain (Green)
Elizabeth Robertson, soprano
Nadiya Caspary, piano
Grasping at Water
Maria Corley Heart Riddle 2 (b. 1966)
Jasmine Merriweather, soprano Elizabeth Grice, piano
To meditate In His Temple Maria Corley Philippians 4:6-7
Cecilia Malley, soprano
Lujie Wang, piano
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child/I want to die easy
Shawn E. Okpebholo (b. 1981)
Marcía Porter, soprano; Sebastian Quintero, baritone
Natalie Sherer, piano
Dream Variations
Songs of the Seasons
Brandon J. Spencer (b. 1992)
Valerie Capers Autumn (b. 1935)
Anielya Wells-Miller, soprano Nadiya Caspary, piano
Atwood Songs Tania León Memory (b. 1943) Eating Fire
Mary-Bradley Knighton, soprano
Galen Dean Peiskee, Jr., piano
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting while performers are playing. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Please turn off cell phones and all other electronic devices. Please refrain from putting feet on seats and seat backs. Children who become disruptive should be taken out of the performance hall so they do not disturb the musicians and other audience members.
The Creation Dave Ragland (b. 1978)
Carter Houston, baritone
Galen Dean Peiskee, Jr., piano
unknown
Shawn E. Okpebholo an echo, and ending
Marcía Porter
Elizabeth Avery, piano
Songs in Flight
Shawn E. Okpebholo Peter
Sebastian Quintero, bass-baritone
Galen Dean Peiskee, Jr., piano
We wear the mask
Sarah Wells, soprano
Jiaqiu Song, piano
Richard O. Thompson (b. 1954)
Two Black Churches
Shawn E. Okpebholo Ballad of Birmingham
André Peele, bass-baritone
Natalie Sherer, piano
Words Like Freedom
Shawn E. Okpebholo Oppression Spirituals Reprise
Caitlin Ecuyer, soprano
Galen Dean Peiskee, Jr., piano
Named the 2024 Chicagoan of the Year in Classical Music by the Chicago Tribune and one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of 2023, Nigerian-American composer Shawn E. Okpebholo’s music resonates globally, earning widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. His GRAMMY®nominated solo album, Lord, How Come Me Here?, reimagines Negro spirituals and American folk hymns. The press has described his music as “devastatingly beautiful” and “fresh and new and fearless” (Washington Post), “affecting” (New York Times), “lyrical, complex, singular” (The Guardian), “searing” (Chicago Tribune), “dreamy, sensual” (Boston Globe), and “powerful” (BBC Music Magazine). Okpebholo has garnered numerous accolades, including awards from the Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Prize in Composition, the Music Publishers Association, and ASCAP, and he was the inaugural honoree of the Leslie Adams-Robert Owens Composition Award.
Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, Barlow Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council, Tangeman Sacred Music Center, The Mellon Foundation, Wheaton College, and many others have supported Okpebholo’s work. Notable commissions include those from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, United States Air Force Strings, Copland House Ensemble, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Newport Classical Music Festivals, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Imani Winds, Sparks and Wiry Cries, Urban Arias, and the Kennedy Center. His art songs have been performed in concert by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Portland Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera. His chamber music has been presented by eighth blackbird, Copland House Ensemble, Picosa, Fifth House Ensemble, Lincoln Trio, and others. Orchestras including the Chicago, Cincinnati, and Houston Symphonies and the Lexington Philharmonic have featured his music. Okpebholo has also collaborated with renowned solo artists, including vocalists J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Rhiannon Giddens, Will Liverman, Michael Mayes, Ryan McKinny, and Tamara Wilson; pianists Aldo López-Gavilán, Mark Markham, Paul Sánchez, and Howard Watkins; and instrumentalists Rachel Barton Pine, Steven Mead, and Adam Walker. His extensive artistic reach has led to regular performances at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
PBS NewsHour and radio broadcasts across the country, including NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert and Morning Edition, SiriusXM’s “Living American” series on Symphony Hall Channel, and Chicago’s WFMT, have highlighted Okpebholo’s music. NPR selected his art song “The Rain” as one of the 100 Best Songs of 2021, one of only a few classical works to make the ranking. His compositions are featured on twelve commercially released albums, three of which are GRAMMY®-nominated.
As a pedagogue, Okpebholo has conducted masterclasses at various academic institutions worldwide, including two universities in Nigeria. His research interests have led to ethnomusicological fieldwork in East and West Africa, resulting in compositions, transcriptions, and academic lectures. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati. During his upbringing, a significant part of his music education came from The Salvation Army church, where he received free music lessons regularly. Inspired by that altruism, Okpebholo is deeply passionate about music outreach to underserved communities.
Recently, he completed a residency with the Chicago Opera Theater, culminating in the premiere of his opera The Cook-Off, with librettist Mark Campbell (librettist of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night). Currently, he serves as the Jonathan Blanchard Distinguished Professor of Composition at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music and the Saykaly Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence with the Lexington Philharmonic.
Shawn E. Okpebholo is based in Wheaton, IL, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife, violist Dorthy, and their daughters, Eva and Corinne.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL ASSOCIATES
2024-2025
Dean’s Circle
Les and Ruth Ruggles Akers
Dr. Pamela T. Brannon
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Bob Parker
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Patron
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Mary S. Bert
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Malcolm A. Craig
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Judith H. Jolly
Arline Kern
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Elna Kuhlmann
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Mary Lovell
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Mary “Jo” Mansfield
Victoria Martinez
Neil Mooney
Ann and Don Morrow
Joel and Diana Padgett
Thomas Parrish
Marjorie J. Portnoi
Karalee Poschman
David Reed
Edward Reid
Carol Ryor
Jill Sandler
Paula S. Saunders
Jeanette Sickel
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Alice C. Spirakis
Judy and Mike Stone
George S. Sweat
Marjorie Turnbull
Ed Valla
Margaret Van Every
Sylvia B. Walford
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Drs. Heidi Louise and Christopher Williams
Jeff Wright
Associate
Jayme Agee
Patricia C. Applegate
Michael Buchler and Nancy Rogers
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Marian Christ
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The Fennema Family
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Silky and John Labie
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Martha Onate
Becky Parsons
William Peterson
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Sanford A. Safron
John Scholz
Louise Simons
Janet Smith
Allison Taylor
C. Richard and Phrieda L. Tuten
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Karen Wensing
Lifetime Members
Patsy Kickliter
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Fred Kreimer
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Brig. Gen. and Mrs. William B. Webb
Rick and Joan West
John L. and Linda M. Williams
Kirby W. and Margaret-Ray Kemper
Corporate Sponsors
Beethoven & Company
Business Sponsors
WFSU Public Broadcast Center
The University Musical Associates is the community support organization for the FSU College of Music. The primary purposes of the group are to develop audiences for College of Music performances, to assist outstanding students in enriching their musical education and careers, and to support quality education and cultural activities for the Tallahassee community. If you would like information about joining the University Musical Associates, please contact Kim Shively, Director of Special Programs, at kshively@fsu.edu or 850-644-4744.
The Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at 850-644-3424 at least five business days prior to a musical event if accommodation for disability or publication in alternative format is needed.