American Music: A Black Composer Concert at Armstrong Community Music School

Join us for an evening of stunning music curated by two great Austin musicians! Dr. Nicole Taylor, Soprano and Nikki Birdsong, Pianist/Composer present a celebration of music and the human voice. Works by: Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Robert Owens, John Daniels Carter, Nikki Birdsong, and more!

CONCERT PROGRAM

American Music: A Black Composer Concert

Dr. Nicole L. Taylor, Soprano

Nikki Birdsong, Piano/Composer

Additional Information

For additional information on the composers, click on the hyperlink text.

Most of the poetry for the songs is by the African American Poet, Langston Hughes. 

Cantata is based on Negro Spirituals. 

“Theology,” is by the African American Poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar. “Love Let the Wind Cry…How I Adore Thee” is based on a Greek poem by Sappho translated to English by Henry Thornton Wharton. 

An excellent resource for art songs is The African American Art Song Alliance.

The concert begins at 7:00PM followed by a reception.

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  Dr. Nicole L. Taylor Biography

 Native Texan Nicole L. Taylor, hailed by the American Recording Guide for her “full, rich soprano voice,” enjoys a diverse singing career that includes opera, classical music, gospel, and jazz, and is a champion of music by African American composers. She performs for professional organizations, corporations, churches, and private weddings in the Austin, Texas area.

Nicole’s operatic roles include Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring, the Queen of the Night and the First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Lidoine in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Lia in Debussy's first opera L’Enfant Prodigue. Her voice can also be heard on the recording of the newly rewritten opera by Duke Ellington, Queenie Pie. Nicole has commanded the stage in San Jose, Costa Rica, Mazatlan, Mexico as well as in Houston, Galveston, and Austin. Most recently, Nicole sang in the brilliant award-nominated opera Lardo Weeping composed by Peter Stopschinski produced by LOLA.

In March of 2007, she produced and performed a concert of works by African American composers with musical colleagues at The University of Texas musicians. The following year, a much grander sequel became the first-ever Black History Music Celebration of The Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. This celebratory concert is now an established annual event as a combined celebration between The University of Texas Butler School of Music and Huston-Tillotson University, an HBCU. It creates opportunities for both musicians and audience members to be introduced to a rich and largely unfamiliar repertoire by African American composers.

Nicole received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Houston Moores School of Music, and both her Master of Music degree in Opera and her Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Opera from the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. Currently, Nicole is the soprano section leader at University Presbyterian Church. She continues to educate the public on the contributions of Black American Composers to the classical music landscape, teaches voice lessons, and performs in various operatic productions, concerts, events, and recitals.

Nikki Birdsong Biography

Nikki Birdsong has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as a collaborative pianist, church musician, and educator in Austin for over 20 years. She has served as musical director with Once Ounce Opera (Thyrsis and Amaranth, A Miller's Tale), Austin Summer Musical for Children (The Big Bad Musical), and Dede Clark's KidsActing (Elf The Musical, Descendants 2, High School Musical, Wicked). This is her fourth concert with soprano Nicole Taylor, prior appearances include a concert at Symphony Square as part of the LOLA (Local Opera Local Artists) Outside Voices concert series.

Ms. Birdsong performs regularly with hip-hop ensemble Thee Phantom and the Illharmonic Orchestra, including a showcase at SXSW 2022. She was featured in several episodes of KMFA's ICONS of Broadway with Mela Dailey, and can be heard on the Viola by Choice album Florilegium. As an advocate of new music, her premieres include works by P. Kellach Waddle, Donald Grantham, David Heyes, and Steven Serpa.

Currently, Ms. Birdsong is adjunct faculty at Huston-Tillotson University. She is the pianist for St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Austin, and the Austin Children’s Choir, and the assistant accompanist for the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University, and a Master of Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin. She is an alumnae of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.