Raise Every Voice: Conductor Malcolm Merriweather on Returning Neglected Composers to the Spotlight

<p>For conductor and baritone <a href="https://malcolmjmerriweather.com/">Malcolm J. Merriweather</a>, artistic inspiration has largely sprung from asking questions related to his identity. What role does his work as a Black musician play within the larger tapestry of music history? Who are the artists of the past who contributed to the legacy he&#39;s inherited today?</p> <p>As director of the <a href="https://nyphil.org/about-us/artists/new-york-philharmonic-chorus">New York Philharmonic Chorus</a> and music director of the <a href="https://www.dessoff.org/">Dessoff Choirs</a>, Merriweather spends his days bringing to life great choral works from the Renaissance through the 21st century. But two composers — who happened to live 400 years apart — have proved his primary focus over the past several years: Margaret Bonds, a contributor to the Harlem Renaissance; and Vicente Lusitano, an Afro-Portuguese musician who&#39;s considered the first published Black composer.</p> <p>Merriweather has led the Dessoff Choirs in performances of both composers&#39; music, oftentimes programming their work alongside that of their contemporaries. Which, in the case of Lusitano, includes Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and Giovanni Palestrina — who also happens to be an important figure in the ensemble&#39;s early history.</p> <p>&quot;It&#39;s part of the Dessoff Choirs&#39; mission to bring underperformed and underrepresented music and composers to the concert stage,&quot; Merriweather says on the latest episode of the <em>Classical Post</em> podcast. &quot;That&#39;s been part of our mission since our founding in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff, a German Jewish immigrant. At that time, she was bringing the music of Palestrina to this country, which had never been heard here.&quot;</p> <p>In this episode, Merriweather and I talk more about his relationship to Margaret Bonds&#39;s music, and how his critically acclaimed recordings of her songs led him to London to hear Lusitano&#39;s works for the first time. Plus, he shares how the act o