Musical History Takes Center Stage

You may be used to the high school music concert where the audience claps politely at students who learned to perform a song we've all heard more than once before.  Proving that music can do much more, Robbinsdale Middle School brought people to their feet and history to center stage Friday night in its "The Evolution of African-American Music" concert.

The evolution took the audience from the 1600's all the way to today's Black Eyed Peas.  This history lesson had the crowd shouting its approval more than once.

Making the evening even more special, singer, songwriter and educator Bruce A. Henry joined Robbinsdale Middle School eighth graders in the band, choir and orchestra performance at RMS auditorium.  Henry has performed with and opened for many well-known musicians like Natalie Cole, Jimmy Jam and The Sounds of Blackness.

Addie Thielen, the RMS choir director, says the experience takes students beyond just learning and performing songs.  With Bruce Henry, students got a heightened sense of the historical context as they learned about music and its place in African-American history.

The performance chronicled the history of this musical genre from 17th Century Africa to modern times.  Two West African village pieces set to drums and vocal chants were a prelude to a moving piece about the journey of slave ships to the new world. 

From “Boogie Woogie” to “We Shall Overcome,” the music showed the varied styles and emotions that have emerged from African-American Music.  Eighth-grade vocalist Blessing Ogunyemi received a standing ovation for her performance of “I’ll Be There,” made famous by the Jackson 5.

During the daytime concert given for students, one of the most popular performances represented modern rap music with RMS’ very own “BK” rap group made up of students Bashiru Kormah and Sama Kallon.

The finale of the night brought students from all of the musical groups on stage at once for an energetic performance of the Black Eyes Peas' “I Gotta Feeling.”  The students’ energy was contagious as they skipped up and down the aisles, danced on stage and even got the audience up on its feet to join in.

This concert was the culmination of a weeklong residency by Bruce Henry at RMS.  It was made possible by a grant from the Robbinsdale Area Schools Desegregation Committee.

Leaving the auditorium after the evening performance, one eighth grader smiled and said to her friends, “That’s the best concert we’ve ever had.”