Wendell G. Wright collection of concert recordings, 1957-1997 | Center for Black Music Research

Printer-friendly | Email Us

Contact! Us About This Collection

Collection Overview

Title: Wendell G. Wright collection of concert recordings, 1957-1997

Predominant Dates:1977-1994

ID: 4000/WRIG_4004

Primary Creator: Wright, Wendell G. (1921-2000)

Other Creators: Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series

Extent: 18.0 Boxes. More info below.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in five series

Series 1: Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series audio tapes, contains 17 sub-series arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Audiovisual materials, contains 2 sub-series arranged alphabetically my artist

Series 3: Papers

Series 4: Scores

Series 5: Gerald Burks Wilson Materials

Date Acquired: 00/00/2000

Abstract

Collection, 1957-1997 (bulk 1977-1994), consisting chiefly of audio recordings (reel-to-reel and cassette) of the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series; video cassettes; scores, including several compositions and arrangements by Gerald Burks Wilson; and papers, including concert programs and correspondence relating to the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Wendell G. Wright Collection consists primarily of materials relating to the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series. The collection includes nearly 300 reel-to-reel audio tapes of musical performances, most of which are recordings of Concert Series performances. Also relating to the Concert Series are a number of audio cassettes and video cassettes of musical performances. Papers relating to the Concert Series, which include concert programs and correspondence, have been arranged chronologically by concert season. While the Concert Series appears to have continued from 1977 until at least 1997, the collection contains no papers relating to the years 1980 through 1984. The collection also lacks audio and video recordings of the Concert Series beyond the 1993-94 concert season.

The Wendell G. Wright Collection also includes several published musical scores by black composers, and these consist largely of spiritual arrangements. An interesting component of the collection is a group of twenty scores (both manuscripts and copies of manuscripts) by the African-American composer Gerald Burks Wilson. A few fragments and unidentified pieces by Wilson are also included. Other materials relating to Wilson, including copyright registration certificates for his compositions, follow in the series.

Collection Historical Note

Wendell G. Wright, born August 18, 1921, was an East Baltimore native who attended Douglass High School. He had desired to attend the Peabody Conservatory after graduation but was denied admission because he was an African American. He instead took private singing lessons in Baltimore and sang with choirs along the East Coast. He became the first African American to join Baltimore's Handel Choir and performed at the White House at one of President Richard M. Nixon's prayer breakfasts.

Wright devoted his life and resources to helping young singers and musicians. He started the Young Artists Series at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church in the spring of 1977. This soon evolved into the Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series, named for Wright's first wife, who passed away that year. The Concert Series encouraged and supported performances by minority classical musicians. Wright’s efforts also resulted in the creation of the Community Outreach Committee at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he was appointed chairman of the Inclusion Committee, which brought more African Americans into the orchestra. Additionally, he created "Live, Gifted and Black," an annual concert where African-American artists performed the work of African-American composers with the BSO. Wright died on May 24, 2000, at the age of 78. His second wife Dorothy, to whom he was married in 1978, donated the collection after his death.

Biographical Note

Administrative Information

Repository: Center for Black Music Research

Alternate Extent Statement: 18 boxes

Access Restrictions: None

Use Restrictions: None

Physical Access Note: Includes reel-to-reel (5 in. and 7 in.) and cassette tapes, video cassettes and scores

Acquisition Source: Wright, Dorothy

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series audio tapes],
[Series 2: Audiovisual materials],
[Series 3: Papers],
[Series 4: Scores],
[Series 5: Gerald Burks Wilson Materials],
[All]

Series 1: Lois J. Wright Memorial Concert Series audio tapes

Sub-Series 1: Spring 1977 Season (Young Artist[s] Series)

Box 1

Item 1: Corine Anderson, pianist.
Item 2: Sylvester R. Graves, tenor.
Item 3: Daisy Jackson, soprano; Buckner Gamby, accompanist.

Sub-Series 2: 1977-78 Season

Box 1

Item 4: Delores Jones, soprano; Patricia Springer, accompanist.
Item 5: Arthur Warner, baritone; J. Spencer Hammond, accompanist.
Item 6: Margaret Carol Lindsay, soprano; Julius Tilghman, accompanist.
Item 7: Alma Garrick, soprano.
Item 8: Alma Bethea, soprano.
Item 9: Dorothy Lofton Jones, soprano.
Item 10: Mareda Gaither-Graves, soprano.
Item 11: Gregory Thompson, piano.

Sub-Series 3: 1978-79 Season

Box 1

Item 12: Reynaldo G. Reyes, pianist.
Item 13: Dr. Walter F. Lee, oboe.
Item 14: Charles Younger, bass.
Item 15: Mellasenah Morris, pianist.
Item 16: Leroy O. Dorsey, bass; Clyde Parker, accompanist.
Item 17: Daniel Comegys, baritone; Julius Tilghman, accompanist.

Sub-Series 4: 1979-80 Season

Box 1

Item 18: Jeanette Walters, soprano.
Item 19: Yvette Matthews, mezzo soprano; Maurice Murphy, accompanist.

Box 2

Item 20: Shirley Mathews, harpsichord.
Item 21: Roosevelt Newson, pianist.
Item 22: Henry T. Mayes, cello.

Sub-Series 5: 1980-81 Season

Box 2

Item 23: Richard Hobson, baritone; Charles, Lloyd, accompanist.
Item 24: Nelda Ormond, soprano.
Item 25: Ernest Ragogini, piano.
Item 26: Rosemary Fetter, soprano.
Item 27: Marilyn Thornton, violin.
Item 28: Yvette Matthews, contralto. [?]

Sub-Series 6: 1981-82 Season

Box 2

Item 29: John Lamkin Concert Jazz Quintet.
Item 30: Duo Pro Viva (Dr. Antoinette Handy, flute; William Terry, piano).
Item 31: Ben Holt, baritone; Cliff Jordan, accompanist.
Item 32: Thomas Ahrens, piano.
Item 33: Irene Lumpkin, lyric soprano.
Item 34: Sylvester R. Graves, tenor.

Sub-Series 7: 1982-83 Season

Box 2

Item 35: John Young, piano.
Item 36: Delores Jones, soprano.
Item 37: Spencer Hammond, organ; John Lamkin, trumpet.

Box 3

Item 38: Dominique-Rene DeLerma, musicologist.
Item 39: Luvada Harrison, soprano.
Item 40: Alma Bethea, soprano; Mellasenah Morris, accompanist.
Item 41: Joel A. Martin, piano.

Sub-Series 8: 1983-84 Season

Box 3

Item 42: Raymond Jackson, pianist.
Item 43: Mattiwilda Dobbs, coloratura soprano.
Item 44: Mareda Gaither-Groves, soprano; Cliff Jackson, accompanist.
Item 45: Cliff Jackson, piano.
Item 46: Clarinet Trio. Johnny Batts, tenor.
Item 47: Joy Simpson.

Sub-Series 9: 1984-85 Season

Box 3

Item 48: Jerris Cates, soprano; Kevin Short, bass.
Item 49: Dorothy Lofton-Jones, mezzo soprano.
Item 50: Paul Maillet, piano.
Item 51: Mellansah Y. Morris, piano.
Item 52: Barbara Ray Francis, soprano.

Box 4

Item 53: Irene Lumpkin, lyric soprano.

Sub-Series 10: Summer 1985 Music Festival

Box 4

Item 54: Recital for Piano and Percussion. F. Corine Anderson, piano; Donald Carrington, percussion.
Item 55: Lisa Renee Hammack, soprano; Bryan G. Rowe, accompanist.
Item 56: Joel A. Martin, piano.
Item 57: Mellasenah Indira Morris, violin; Troy Kenneth Stuart, cello; Kathryn Brake, accompanist.
Item 58: Mellasanah I. Morris, violin; Troy Stuart, cello. [?] Joint Recital.
Item 59: Kevin Short, bass.

Sub-Series 11: 1985-86 Season

Box 4

Item 60: Rhea Jackson, lyric soprano.
Item 61: Ollie Watts Davis, mezzo soprano.
Item 62: Toni-Marie Montgomery, piano.
Item 63: George Shirley, tenor. Benefit Recital.
Item 64: Joseph Pearson, baritone; Charles Sloan, accompanist.
Item 65: Samuel Cook, lyric tenor; Mellasenah Y. Morris, piano.
Item 66: Regina McConnell, soprano.
Item 67: Richard Fields, piano.

Sub-Series 12: Summer 1986 Music Festival

Box 4

Item 68: Children's recital
Item 69: Cliff Jackson, piano. Benefit Recital.
Item 70: Kevin Short, bass.
Item 71: Louise Toppin, coloratura soprano.
Item 72: Craig Walters, bass; Alsandria Miller, soprano. Joint Recital.
Item 73: Ivan Griffin, baritone; Mellasenah Morris, violin. Joint Recital.

Sub-Series 13: 1986-87 Season

Box 5

Item 74: Carren Mohan, soprano; Alfonso Anderson, tenor.
Item 75: Laura English-Robinson, soprano.
Item 76: Ignacio Alcover, cello; Kathryn Brake, piano.

Sub-Series 14: 1987-88 Season

Box 5

Item 77: Kevin Short, bass.
Item 78: Delores Jones, soprano.
Item 79: Lawrence Bowie, organ.

Sub-Series 15: 1990-91 Season

Box 5

Item 80: Diane Monroe, violinist; John Dulik.
Item 81: Martin David Jones, piano.
Item 82: Michelle Howard, soprano; Marcus Eley, clarinet.
Item 83: Yvette Vanterpool, soprano; David Holkeboer, accompanist.
Item 84: Rachel Jordan, violin; Troy Stuart, cello; Michael Adcock, accompanist.

Sub-Series 16: 1991-92 Season

Box 5

Item 85: Charles Richardson, piano.
Item 86: Louise Toppin, soprano.
Item 87: Cheryl Morris, bassoon; Walter Lee, oboe.
Item 88: Joel A. Martin, piano.

Box 6

Item 89: Joy Michele Cline, piano; Amadi Hummings, viola.

Item 85: Charles Richardson, piano.

Item 86: Louise Toppin, soprano.

Item 87: Cheryl Morris, bassoon; Walter Lee, oboe.

Item 88: Joel A. Martin, piano.

Box 6-May

Item 89: Joy Michele Cline, piano; Amadi Hummings, viola.

Sub-Series 17: 1992-93 Season

Box 6

Item 90: April A. Haines, soprano. [?]
Item 91: Charlotte Bunch, soprano; David Yarbrough, violin. Joint Recital.
Item 92: Beverly Anne Williams, mezzo soprano.
Item 93: George Shirley, tenor.

Sub-Series 18: 1993-94 Season

Box 6

Item 94: Vincent Craig, piano.
Item 95: Louise Toppin, soprano.
Item 96: Dylana Jenson, violin; Brian Ganz, piano.

Sub-Series 19: Undated

Box 6

Item 97: Yvette Matthews, mezzo soprano. [?]