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When the Caged Bird Sings was commissioned by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance as part of its Michigan Orchestra Repertoire for Equity initiative, founded in 2020 by Kenneth Kiesler, who conducts on this recording of its first performance. Part of a ten-year project to commission, premiere and record ten new orchestral works, When the Caged Bird is the fourth commission in the enterprise.
Nkeiru OKOYE (b. 1972)
When the Caged Bird Sings
Rita Coburn, Narrator • Angela Brown, SopranoChristie Dashiell, Mezzo-soprano • Issachah Savage, Tenor
Jubilant Sykes, Baritone • Cyrus Chestnut, Piano
EXIGENCE • University of Michigan Choirs
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Kiesler
Nkeiru Okoye’s When the Caged Bird Sings is a ‘musical celebration’ whose compositional voice, though rooted in the African American church, also embraces minimalism and improvisational elements. Delivering a message of adversity turned to triumph, it celebrates the transformative ability of African American women, partly evoking the experiences of the author and activist Maya Angelou. The work functions as a communal ritual that, like oratorio, opera and theatre, brings together vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, in an experience that both commemorates and celebrates hope and possibility.
I thought this life would protect us
Narrator
Mezzo-soprano
Tenor
Baritone
Piano
Music director
Summerland
Violin Suite • Pastorela • American Suite
Schiff
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Eisenberg
– Fanfare
Negro Folk Symphony
KAY, U.:
Fantasy Variations • Umbrian Scene
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Fagen
– Fanfare
Symphony No. 3 in C minor
The Mississippi River • Ethiopia’s Shadow in America
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Jeter
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
– Gramophone