Requiem For Color: A Journey Through Lament and Joy
This program was nothing short of amazing. This body of work by Dr. Jeffery L. Ames showcases fluidity of visual and performing art. As walked into the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, I noticed that the where black and white pieces of art by Steve Prince. In observing the pieces, I noticed I was on a journey that depicted various experiences of black people from their traumatic and tumultuous transatlantic journey. I saw the horror in their treatment and conversely, I saw how they didn’t allow their joy to be taken.
The symbolic image that is used for The Requiem of Colors is the Sankofa—“a mythical bird with its feet firmly planted forward and its head turned backwards to retrieve a precious egg.” (from the program notes) “The literal translation in the Twi language is “It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”” The Sankofa’s brightly colored plumage of black, red, gold, and blue have their own symbolic meaning. These same colors were represented in lights on stage as the musician played and sang. This added a depth and breadth to the overall experience and the performance.
The program began with vibrant drumming, singing, and dancing. The opening depicted the West African celebrations. During the opening piece audience enjoys the West African dancing and drumming, flashing lights that a representative of the Sankofa, instrumental and vocal music.
Abruptly, the celebrates ends. The audience is disoriented with sounds of terror, screens depict turbulent sea, and red lights flashing. An English Horn solo of the spiritual Go Down Moses was beautifully played. This musical interlude symbolized the transatlantic journey that the enslaved took never to return home again.
Throughout The Requiem for Color there are many artistic intersections. The most prominent aspect that is portrayed throughout this body of work is the correlation between music of the African American diaspora and common choral pieces that are sung in Latin (as Kyrie, Dies Irae, and Angus Dei). As I was listening and reading the translations I realized that is correlation between the meaning of the Latin text and the experiences of the enslaved. Kyrie eleison translates to Lord have mercy. Dies irae, dies illa solvet saeclum in favilla translates to day of wrath, that say shall dissolve the world into embers. In exploring the infancy of my realization, came to appreciate Dr. Ames’ level of understanding and attention to detail in how he interpreted and expanded the concert spiritual. As the programs continues the audience is inundated with these types of intersections that is accented through the instrumentation, the choir, the orators, the projected images, and the soloists.
Both soloists were absolutely amazing. Their vocal range and versatility and allowed the audience to better understand the depth of the stories they were telling. Their softs kept the audience on the edge of their seats. Their forte shook the foundation of the building. Their presence of stage was captivating.
There were different types of spoken word. The orator spoke with conviction has they read the stories of the formerly enslaved. There was a hip-hop spoken word, and eloquently spoke about the current miscarriages of justice the African Americans face in today’s contemporary times.
This body of work is representative of different facet of black expression. The only critique I have is of myself. I wish we had sat further back to have a greater perspective of the show.
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Andrew M. Davis is from Durham, North Carolina. In 2016 started his matriculation at Fisk University. During his time at Fisk University, he was a part of the multi-awarding winning Fisk Jubilee Singers, he was an assistant director for the Fisk University Choir, and he was an UNCF Mellon-Mays scholar. In 2022 Andrew graduated from Fisk University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. Currently, Andrew is working as an adjunct professor with the Fisk University Choir while working on a Master of Music in Choral Conducting at Middle Tennessee State University
