Episode 40: Composers & the Solo Spiritual

Courtney Carey

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Courtney Carey earned the B.A. degree in Music from Morehouse College, the M.M. degree in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and the Professional Studies Diploma in Voice from Mannes College of Music. His wide range of experience includes teaching at all levels of public and parochial school music education, in addition to conducting church, community, chamber, and collegiate choruses. While a student at Mannes College of Music, Mr. Carey was approached by the Metropolitan Opera Guild to sign on as one of its teaching artists. He has since enjoyed a lengthy relationship with both the Metropolitan Opera and Metropolitan Opera Guild. He has served as Associate Conductor at the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church, Associate Adjunct Professor and Director of Jubilee Singers at Westminster Choir College, Director of Music Ministries at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church: Bethel, and Director of the Brooklyn Ecumenical Choir. In addition to his work as a singer, lecturer, and conductor, Mr. Carey is an accomplished composer/arranger. His choral arrangements My God is So High, I Ain’t Got Weary Yet, Lord, I Want Two Wings, Calvary, and You Can Tell the World are published by GIA Publications, the Lorenz Corporation, and Carus Verlag respectively.

Damien Sneed

As a multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist, Damien Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, which he is featured on Norman’s final recording, Bound For The Promised Land on Albany Records. He also worked with Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson, J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Brandie Inez Sutton and many others. Sneed has served as music director for Grammy Award-winning gospel artists The Clark Sisters, Richard Smallwood, Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker, Marvin Sapp, Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole and Kim Burrell, among others. Sneed is a featured producer and writer on the Clark Sisters’ new project, “The Return”, released on March 13, 2020.

In January 2020, he embarked on his 40-city North American tour, “We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring Damien Sneed.” The 2020 tour kicked off on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at Joe’s Pub in New York, NY, and made stops at concert halls and universities in the U.S. and Canada. The tour concluded on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, at the College of Southern Idaho Fine Arts Center in Twin Falls, ID. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sneed brought his brand of classical, jazz, and sanctified soul to venues across the country during Dr. King’s holiday, Black History Month, and Women’s Month. “We Shall Overcome” is a joyous celebration reflecting on the triumphant and victorious moments during our history.

In January 2020, Sneed released his debut classical album, Classically Harlem and We Shall Overcome Deluxe on his boutique label, LeChateau Earl Records, which was established in 2009 to reflect his varied musical interests. Previous recordings include, Jazz In Manhattan (September 2019), The Three Sides of Damien Sneed: Classical, Jazz and Sanctified Soul (July 2018), Broken To Minister: The Deluxe Edition (March 2015), Spiritual Sketches (June 2013), and Introspections LIVE (January 2010).

Dave Ragland

Dave Ragland (daveragland.com) is a two-time EMMY nominated composer, vocalist, pianist, and conductor. Hailed as “über-talented” by The Nashville Scene, Dave received an EMMY nomination for composition and music direction for Frist Art Museum’s “NICK CAVE FEAT. NASHVILLE”. Dave Ragland received a second EMMY nomination for "I'm Troubled" - a musical collaboration with Nashville Ballet’s Gerald Watson and violinist Chandler Custer. Dave was nominated for Best Director of a Musical by First Night Honors for Wildcard Productions’ run of "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill".

Most recently, Dave Ragland arranged "Lift Every Voice and Sing" for GRAMMY-nominated opera singer Lawrence Brownlee for "Concert for Inauguration Day" presented by Washington National Opera. In Nashville Opera's first ever commission, Dave collaborated with librettist Mary McCallum to create "ONE VOTE WON" - an opera commemorating the centennial of Women's Suffrage. Dave, in collaboration with Inversion Vocal Ensemble, shackled feet DANCE, and Diaspora Orchestra, is slated to debut his opera “STEAL AWAY” as Artist-in-Residence for OZ Arts in its upcoming season. Additional compositional credits including Nashville Symphony, Nashville Ballet, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Intersection Contemporary Ensemble, and GRAMMY-nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble. For the past two seasons, Dave has served as Chorusmaster for Nashville Symphony's "Let Freedom Sing". Dave Ragland is the 2020 GRADY-RAYAM Negro Spirituals Foundation Composer-in-Residence. Dave is a member of the inaugural cohort of composers for the National Teachers of Singing (NATS) Mentoring Program.

Shawn E. Okpebholo

A widely sought-after and award-winning composer, Shawn E. Okpebholo has been described by Augusta Read Thomas as "...a beautiful artist ...who has enormous grace in his music, and fantasy and color." Okpebholo comfortably composes in various styles and genres, intentional in creating music that is diverse, dynamic, and genuine. His artistry has resulted in many prizes and honors, including First Place Winner of the 2020 American Prize in Composition (professional/wind band division) and Second Place Winner in the 2017 American Prize in Composition (professional/orchestral division), First Prize Winner in the Flute New Music Consortium Composition Competition, Sound of Late Composition Contest, Accent06 International Composition Competition, and the Inaugural Awardee of the Leslie Adams-Robert Owens Composition Award.

Dr. Timothy Amukele

Dr. Timothy Amukele is a composer and arranger of vocal music. He graduated from City College of the City University of New York, where he majored in Music Theory and Biochemistry. His commissions include “Journey to you” a song cycle and short film based on the pictures of William Christenberry and commissioned by the Phillips collection due for release in April 2021; “I will rise”, by the New York regional chapter of the National Association of Negro Musicians; a song cycle for voice and piano celebrating the life of Dr. Norman Kretchmer, by Dr. Sam Seifter; ‘What Sweeter music’, a Christmas cantata, by the Queen Anne United Methodist church; and dozens of songs for classical and gospel recording artists. He loves arranging spirituals, and was the composer in residence for the Grady-Rayam foundation in 2011 – an honor that is bestowed every year to one arranger of spirituals. Other honorees include Uzee Brown, Joseph Joubert and Ronald Carter. Like Alexander Borodin, Fritz Kreisler, and many other musicians before him, Dr. Amukele is a working physician, and is on faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.