Black Girl Composers Rock! Courtney Bryan Triumphant Debuts New Work

Composer Courtney Bryan has been busy!

Fresh off the success of Charlotte Brathwaite’s powerful oratorio, Prophetika, a powerful musical and visual work that is inspired by the spirit and legacies of Harriet Tubman, Sun Ra, and Alice Coltrane, Courtney Bryan debuted her new work “Sanctum” at Lincoln Center in New York on April 9th. The night of new music also featured trumpeter/composer Wynton Marsalis’ new work, “Blues Symphony.”

In her review for the New York Times, Vivien Schweitzer writes,

Mr. Marsalis attended the same New Orleans high school as the composer Courtney Bryan, whose “Sanctum” received its premiere on Thursday. Ms. Bryan took inspiration from recorded sermons, like Shirley Caesar’s “The Praying Slave Lady,” and recent events in Ferguson, Mo., layering uneasy string sections with the sounds of moaning and recordings of rallying cries like “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

Read more at the New York Times.

(Photo Credit: Columbia University)