PRESS RELEASE
21 September 2007New York, NY
EVT EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTIONS TO LAUNCH EXPANDED WEBSITE FOR RADIO SERIES ON BLACK CHORAL MUSIC
EVT Educational Productions, Inc., President Eric V. Tait, Jr. today announced expansion of the educational outreach for Every Voice And Sing! on the company's www.evted.org web site. This 5-part series on the history and legacy of Black Choral Music premiered on WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM in late January. To date it has aired on at least 242 public radio stations, and an additional 137 “repeater” translators. Mr. Tait, also the Series Executive Producer, said that in addition to the free distribution of the series to educational institutions, school systems, libraries and museums across the country, the expanded web site will include an interactive on-line research capability. On-line research will be supported by a fully-inverted text database that crosslinks all text from the show transcripts and the original expert interview transcripts. The audio from the show and interviews is synchronized with the transcript text for a richer multimedia experience. The crosslinking will allow visitors to the www.evted.org web site to jump back and forth between the shows and the underlying interviews or to follow information threads based on the indexed themes. In addition to extended download privileges, qualified institutions and researchers will be allowed to add comments, notes, and links to other off-site web-based resources. Currently being tested, the expanded web site will launch on Friday September 28, 2007.
Every Voice And Sing! is a collaborative production of EVT Educational Productions, Inc., and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM.
Michele Norris, award-winning journalist and a host of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, hosts and narrates the series, and WBGO has it available at www.wbgo.org as on-demand listening.
Every Voice And Sing! explores the importance of Black choirs in the birth, growth and survival of Black colleges and Black Choral Music from before the Civil War through the post-Reconstruction eras. With unique stories, interviews and performances, the series traces the development of this music, from the early Spirituals and Work Songs, evolving into Blues, Jazz, and Gospel. That musical legacy is even reflected in today’s World music and Popular music genres, even Hip-Hop. The programs also trace how Hollywood and Broadway influenced wide public acceptance of the music, and highlight how such diverse artists as Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Ray Charles, as well as Woody Guthrie, Take 6, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, James Cleveland, Cissy Houston, and Kurtis Blow all connect to this Black Choral tradition.
Writer-Producers Eric V. Tait, Jr. and Ann S. Hayward most recently gave us the multiple award-winning 2-part video documentary, and 13-part radio series, ‘Then I’ll Be Free To Travel Home,”. DownBeat award-winning Jazz pianist, arranger and composer Onaje Allan Gumbs dis musical arrangements and scoring. Duke Markos, esteemed for his technical direction of NPR’s JazzSet, provided sound design and audio engineering. Drs. Roland Carter and James Arthur Williams are Series Advisors.
Every Voice And Sing! is made possible by grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation. WBGO is a non-commercial, publicly-supported, cultural broadcast institution that champions and presents jazz on 88.3FM and worldwide on wbgo.org.
EVT Educational Productions, Inc.
212-281-2456
www.evted.org
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