Art Throb
No. 30: Shawn Okpebholo - Composer in Residence, Lexington Philharmonic
Shawn Okpebholo was born in Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of Tates Creek High School. He earned his doctoral degree in composition from the University of Cincinnati's Celloge-Conservatory of Music. 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.
Two Black Churches is a song set in two movements for baritone soloist and orchestra. Originally composed for voice and piano, featuring baritone Will Liverman and pianist Paul Sanche, this orchestration was co-commissioned by the Lexington Philharmonic during Shawn E. Okpebholo's tenure as the Saykaly-Garbulnska Composer-in-Residence.
Two Black Churches serves as a musical reflection of two significant and tragic events perpetrated at the hands of white supremacists in two Black churches, decades apart;
- The 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Birmingham, Alabama which took the lives of four girls.
- The 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, taking the lives of nine parishioners.
Shawn Okpebholo was born in Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of Tates Creek High School. He earned his doctoral degree in composition from the University of Cincinnati's Celloge-Conservatory of Music. 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.
Two Black Churches is a song set in two movements for baritone soloist and orchestra. Originally composed for voice and piano, featuring baritone Will Liverman and pianist Paul Sanche, this orchestration was co-commissioned by the Lexington Philharmonic during Shawn E. Okpebholo's tenure as the Saykaly-Garbulnska Composer-in-Residence.
Two Black Churches serves as a musical reflection of two significant and tragic events perpetrated at the hands of white supremacists in two Black churches, decades apart;
- The 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Birmingham, Alabama which took the lives of four girls.
- The 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, taking the lives of nine parishioners.