Year of the Griot
The Christmas Spirituals Project
Conceived and Performed by Tara Lake, Scholar, Soprano and Storyteller, the Christmas Spirituals Project is an exploration of African American Folk Traditions from the late-Eighteenth through the mid-Twentieth Centuries. The concert includes art songs, spirituals, gospels, stories, poetry, and biblical scripture rendered in the African American folk tradition. Drawing from archival documents such as the The (A.M.E.) Christian Recorder, and featuring works from Paul Lawrence Dunbar and others, The Christmas Spirituals Project takes listeners on a Nativity journey spanning multiple generations, with stops in the Gullah-Geechee coast of the southeast and in cities including Lexington and Chicago. Developed under the auspices of the AfroSouthern Education Project, the Christmas Spirituals Project has been delighting audiences of all ages since 2012.
The AfroSouthern Concert Series
The flagship program of The AfroSouthern Education Project is the concert series, conceived performed by Tara Lake. These concerts explore the heritage of African American Spirituals, gospels, art songs, and protest music, and present African American literature reflecting the AfroSouthern experience from the 1700s through the present.
Hold On: Songs of Justice, Hope and Solace
A recital featuring soulful renderings of African American spirituals and gospels in concert style, along with Nineteenth Century African American poetry and historical folktales -- all mined from the African American historical experience to inspire hope and perseverance in changing times.
Featuring community tales and cautionary tellings captured by legendary anthropologist and author Zora Neale Hurston and others, this concert presents songs from the African American protest music tradition, from spirituals to soulful anthems of the 1960s, and engages the rhythms of Black Arts poetry, the sermons of the Civil Rights movement. Rooted in a narrative of freedom struggle, “Hold On” is a joyful reminder for our times. Since March 2017!
Miss Wheatley’s Garden & Other Works: A Celebration of African American Women Poets and Composers
A celebration of African American women’s poetry and musical compositions in a lively exploration of classical art songs, poetry and prose. African American composer Rosephanye Powell’s “Miss Wheatley’s Garden” is an homage to Phyllis Wheatley, an enslaved poet who in 1773 became the first African American, female or male, to publish a book. A sensation in her day, Ms. Wheatley is now widely regarded as the Mother of African American poetry. In celebration of her groundbreaking accomplishments, “Miss Wheatley’s Garden” sets the work of three prominent African American women poets – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Georgia Douglass Johnson, and Angelina W. Grimke – to music for Soprano and Piano. The concert also features compositions by three additional African American women composers, Brittney Boykin (whose Maya Angelou Songs received their Midwest Debut with “Miss Wheatley’s Garden & Other Works: A Celebration of African American Women Poets and Composers), Undine Smith Moore and Jacqueline B. Hairston, along with performance of poetry and prose by African American women writers active in the Eighteenth through Twenty-First Centuries. Conceived and Performed Tara Lake.
AfroSouthern is a Not-for-Profit Entity Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. Tax Deductible Donations are Accepted Throughout the Year.
Ride On, Jesus!: Celebrating the Folk Hero Narrative of Jesus Christ in the African American Cultural Tradition
Coming Soon!
This concert highlights the legacy of folk hero narrative and racial justice movements in the folk depiction of Jesus Christ in African American Spirituals and Folktales, which have been echoed in the work of theologists Howard Thurman and James H. Cone, activist theologians who works greatly inspire this project.
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The Easter Recital & Reception
Special Concert - April, 2022, Philadelphia, PA
An afternoon of Spirituals and Sacred Songs for Easter, followed by a reception in a historic, intimate setting!
This Easter Eve, join us for an afternoon of celebration featuring sacred songs -- African American Spirituals, Traditional Hymns, and Classical Art Songs. Soprano and Scholar Tara Lake performs this special recital with readings. The recital features seasonal favorites including the Spirituals "Ride On King Jesus", "Crucifixion", and "Give Me Jesus". A development event for new concert event from The AfroSouthern Education Project, the Recital & Reception will be an intimate event. Seating is limited and tickets are required.
Original Artwork by D.A. Adisa
