Celebrating American Composers Concert

2 p.m. Sunday, September 17, 2017

Published:

August 28, 2017

Soprano Randye Jones and pianist Marlys Grimm will present a program of arias and songs by American composers at 2 p.m. Sunday, September 17, 2017, in Herrick Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

“This program was put together to honor the contributions of American composers to opera, art song, and musical theater,” says Jones. “The music ranges from a rarely performed opera by Ragtime king Scott Joplin to Negro Spirituals to musicals that have withstood the test of time.”

The program includes works by American composers:

Scott Joplin,
George Gershwin,
Samuel Barber,
Robert MacGimsey,
Hall Johnson,
Florence Price,
Betty Jackson King,
Hale Smith,
Moses Hogan,
Margaret Bonds,
Mitch Leigh,
Charlie Smalls, and
Richard Rodgers.

Randye Jones, Soprano

Randye Jones holds her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina, and her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Florida State University, Tallahassee. She is currently a doctoral student in Vocal Literature at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Jones has gained recognition for her research of and published writings on African American vocalists and composers and as a performer and lecturer through her projects, "The Art of the Negro Spiritual, Afrocentric Voices in 'Classical' Music," and "The Spirituals Database."

She regularly presents lecture-recitals and concerts or has served as a panelist at events such as the Research, Education, Activism and Performance (REAP) National Conference on Spirituals, African American Art Song Alliance Conference, the National Association of Negro Musicians conference, and the Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium VIII.

Jones currently coordinates the media collections for the libraries at Grinnell College.

Marlys Grimm, Piano

Iowa native Marlys Grimm attended Sheldon High School, Sheldon, Iowa, and Central College in Pella, where she studied piano with Donald Gren. She has collaborated at Dordt, Northwestern, Grinnell, and Central Colleges in student and faculty recitals.

Grimm has accompanied high school, college, community, and professional singers, instrumentalists, and choruses throughout Iowa and at National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions. She has played for numerous conference, district, and regional choral festivals.

Grimm is currently the accompanist for the Grinnell Oratorio Society, Grinnell Singers, and the Central College Community Chorus.

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations.

The College welcomes the presence of minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child’s safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases the College expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child’s safety and sees that the child complies with directions of College personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.