The UVA Music Department presents a concert by Amina Claudine Myers on Tuesday, September 30th at 8pm in Old Cabell Hall.  This is a free concert, no tickets required.

 

 For this special concert, Amina Claudine Myers will perform her original works for organ and vocals on UVA's massive Skinner pipe organ, which has not been heard on campus in many years. Built into Old Cabell Hall with over 1500 pipes, UVA's Skinner organ is the oldest functioning organ of its kind; it dates back to 1907.  Meyer's music is a uniquely expressive weaving of gospel, jazz and creative music. This will be a performance to remember!

 

Amina Claudine Myers, Pianist, Organist, Vocalist, Composer, Master Improvisationalist, Actress and Educator.  Ms. Myers has performed nationally and internationally throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America.  She is well known for her work involving voice choirs, voice and instrumental ensembles. After moving to Chicago, Ill. in the 1960’s from Little Rock Arkansas, Ms. Myers became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 1966. As an AACM member she started composing for voice and instruments. 

 

In 1975 she organized her very first choir for a musical she wrote called I DREAM. In 1976 Ms. Myers moved to New York City where her career became even more multifaceted.  In 1977 she moved into the theater realm, writing pieces for this medium.  She acted and composed music for a number of Off-Broadway productions. Ms. Myers was the assistant musical director for AIN’T MISBEHAVIN' prior to it’s Broadway production.  In 1978 she was choral director at SUNY at Old Westbury for a year. Ms. Myers has recorded and/or performed with Archie Shepp, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, James Blood Ulmer, Lester Bowie, Bob Stewart, Joey Baron, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt,  Muhal Richard Abrams, Bill Laswell, Eddie Harris, Von Freeman, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Frank Lowe, Rahsaan Roland Kirk  and other well known artists.  Myers conducts workshops, seminar and residencies at colleges and universities, nationally and internationally. 

 

There are eleven recordings released under Ms. Myers’ name:  SAMA ROU (Songs From My Soul),  piano and voice, Amina C Records;  AUGMENTED VARIATIONS , Solo piano and voice, Vocal Quartet with Instrumental Trio and the Amina Claudine Myers Trio,  Amina C Records;  AMINA CLAUDINE MYERS LIVE in Bremen, Germany, Tradition and Modern Records;  AMINA and IN TOUCH,  RCA Novus;  JUMPING IN THE SUGARBOWL and COUNTRY GIRL, Minor Music;  THE CIRCLE OF TIME,  Black Saint;  AMINA CLAUDINE MYERS SALUTES BESSIE SMITH and SONG FOR MOTHER E,  Leo Records;  POEMS FOR PIANO, the piano music of Marion Brown, Sweet Earth Records.

 

Most recently Ms. Myers has been performing original works of jazz, blues, gospel, spirituals and improvisations for the pipe organ. She has performed at Columbia University (St. Paul’s Chapel) NYC; St. Marks, Phil., Penn. and cities throughout North America, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Norway and Finland.

 

Ms. Myers has received many grants and awards, including National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, and The New York Foundation for the Arts.  She was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame 2001 and the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame 2010.  Her latest project is a duo with legendary AACM trumpeter  Wadada Leo Smith called Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens, released by Red Hook. Myers resides and teaches privately in New York City.

 

This promises to be an unforgettable performance with AMINA CLAUDINE MYERS performing original works on the Skinner organ in Old Cabell Hall.