Dr. Phyllis Lewis Hale, Assistant Professor of Musical Voice and Director of Opera/Musical Theatre at Jackson State University, joins us in the galleries of A Movement in Every Direction. In this Gallery Talk, Dr. Lewis-Hale will perform concertized arrangements of Negro Spirituals, coupled with opportunities for audience sing-alongs, to offer a brief historical account of the evolution of music in the lives of African Americans before, during, and after the Great Migration.
Free with exhibition admission.
Phyllis Lewis-Hale:
A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Phyllis Lewis-Hale has performed/presented in Italy, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Austria, Bermuda and throughout the United States. Some highlights in her career include receiving several performance awards, such as the winner of the IBLA Grand Prize in the International “Monteverdi” Vocal Competition held in Italy, a winner in the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera Vocal Competition held in New York and the recipient of an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards. She has performed with such opera companies such as Indianapolis Opera, Opera Memphis, Mississippi Opera, Opera Ebony, Houston Ebony Opera, OPERA/SOUTH of Jackson, MS She recorded the “Songs of Separation” of William Grant Still for WGUC Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as an Assistant Director of opera scenes for various programs such as The Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and the historic Opera /South Company of Jackson.
