June 10: Black Composers – Gibbs, 2014

We begin with Stacey Gibbs, a composer who has become one of the most commissioned arrangers of our time. His recent collaboration with the famed group, The King’s Singers, confirms his popularity and the demand for his work, and also demonstrates the remarkable skill he has in bringing new life to well-known music. Most amazing, perhaps, is the fact that Stacey’s main profession is not music, but retail sales. Allan has worked with Stacey on many projects, shared the workshop stage with him, and is proud to call him a good friend.

The lyrics are a reminder that the violence against, and oppression of black people that we still see today has been going on for centuries. The piece appears to be a slave’s thoughts and the retelling of the experience of being hunted by their slave master, while they’re praying to God to save them from being killed. The program notes from a performance of this piece by the St. Charles Singers in St. Charles, IL, said, “The music serves to underscore the cruel reality of slavery and the despair the slaves must have felt, yet the powerful ending speaks to the strength to overcome.”