Harrison Leslie Adams, Jr. (born December 30, 1932, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His works have been performed by the

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu'', Czech acronym SOČR, English acronym PRSO) is a Czech broadcast orchestra based in Prague, the Czech Republic. The SOČR performs concerts at the Dvořák Hall of th ...

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution under the aus ...

Buffalo Philharmonic The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Faletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it p ...

, and

Indianapolis Symphony The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Monument Circ ...

, and commissioned by The

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

, Ohio Chamber Orchestra,

Cleveland Chamber Symphony The Cleveland Chamber Symphony is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music, and has presented over 200 performance premieres. History The Cleveland Chamber Sympho ...

, and the Center for Black Music Research, among others.

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

artists have performed his vocal works internationally. He has also received composition awards from the National Association of Negro Women and the Christian Arts National Competition for Choral Music. Adams is best known for writing music for voice (including choral music, art songs, vocal solos, and music drama) but has also written numerous purely instrumental compositions as well. Adams's music is composed largely within the tradition of Western classical music and also incorporates elements unique to

African-American music African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music and musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Their origins are in musical forms that first came to be due to the condition of slave ...

Biography

Born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, Adams began to study music at an early age, having lessons with neighbor and violinist Dorothy Smith at four years old. Adams earned a Bachelor of Music Education from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1955, a Master of Music from

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

in 1967, and a Ph.D. in Music from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1973. He also pursued private studies with Leon Dallin, Herbert Elwell, Joseph R. Wood,

Vittorio Giannini Vittorio Giannini (October 19, 1903 – November 28, 1966) was an American neoromantic composer of operas, songs, symphonies, and band works. Life and work Giannini was born in Philadelphia on October 19, 1903. He began as a violinist under the t ...

Robert Starer Robert Starer (8 January 1924 in Vienna – 22 April 2001 in Kingston, New York) was an Austrian-born American composer, pianist and educator. Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy ...

and Eugene O'Brien. He received composer residency fellowships from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

(Bellagio, Italy, 1979) and

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

Artist Residence (Saratoga Springs, New York, 1980 and 1984). Mr. Adams has held high school appointments and faculty positions at

Stillman College Stillman College is a private historically black Presbyterian college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It awards the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 17 disciplines/majors housed within three academic schools (Arts and Sciences, Busi ...

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

and the University of Kansas (Lawrence). Adams's

music drama is a German word that means a unity of prose and music. Initially coined by Theodor Mundt in 1833, it was most notably used by Richard Wagner, along with Gesamtkunstwerk, to define his operas. Usage Mundt formulated his definition explicitly ...

Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

'' (composed 1986) was the focus of a significant portion of Y.C. Williams's ''New Perspectives on Music'' (ed. J. Wright with S.A. Floyd Jr, published Warren, MI, 1992, pages 172–209). This music drama is very loosely based on Martin Delaney's novel ''Blake; or, The Huts of America'', which is about the lives of African-American slaves on the eve of the civil war. The work incorporates many elements of

, such as syncopated rhythms, melodies reminiscent of spiritual and gospel music, and an improvised percussion passage in the style of Afro-Cubano. Adams started to compose

in June 1980 after taking up residence at the Yaddo Arts Colony. During this stage, he worked with librettist Daniel Myers, which carried the development of the opera into 1985. The opera was introduced at Oberlin College at a workshop setting and officially had its first hearing at the Bolden Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse. The premiere was broadcast over PBS with Veronica Tyler and Kathleen Orr as sopranos, Jane Vernon as a mezzo-soprano, Paul Atkins as tenor, Herbert Perry as a baritone, Stephen Saxon at bass, and the William Appling singers with the Appling conductor. Between 1997 and 2007, Adams composed Twenty-Six Etudes for Solo Piano, which were recorded by Maria Thompson Corley (1-12) and

Thomas Otten Thomas Otten is a French countertenor singer in the Classical Crossover style. Otten was classically trained as a child, learning piano and singing in chamber choirs. His voice did not break as thoroughly as usual upon reaching adolescence, retai ...

(13-26) and performed live at the

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. In 2015, he received the Cleveland Arts Award. Adams works from his Cleveland studio in Ohio purely focused on composition and promotion of his music. He is also a frequent lecturer at various colleges and universities, instructing people on his music.

Compositions

Solo Voice and Piano

The Works of H. Leslie Adams American Composers Alliance Available from

Daybirth

(A Collection of Songs on the Texts of Joette McDonald) "On This Day" "Love Union (a.k.a. Christ at a Wedding)" "In the Midnight of My Soul" "Cantus" "Anniversary Song" "Daybirth"
Link to Youtube recording here
"Flying" "From a Hotel Room" "Love Request" "Lullaby Eternal" "Midas, Poor Midas" "Song to Baby Jesus" "Song of Thanks" "Song of the Innkeeper's Children" "Wave and the Shore" "Contentment" "Night People"

Five Millay Songs

(Songs on the Texts of Edna St. Vincent Millay) "Wild Swans" "Branch by Branch" "For You There is No Song" "The Return from Town" "Gone Again is Summer the Lovely"

Nightsongs

"Prayer" (text by Langston Hughes) "Drums of Tragedy" (text by Langston Hughes)
Link to Youtube recording here.
"The Heart of a Woman" (text by Georgia Douglas Johnson) "Night Song" (text by Clarissa Scott Delany) "Sence You Went Away" (text by James Weldon Johnson) "Creole Girl" (text by Morgan Collins) Note: Nightsongs is also available for medium solo voice and chamber orchestra. "The Heart of a Woman" is also available for solo tenor, solo baritone and piano.

The Wider View

"To the Road" (text by Paul Laurence Dunbar) "Homesick Blues" (text by Langston Hughes) "Li'l' Gal" / "My Man" (text by Paul Laurence Dunbar) "Love Come and Love gone" (text by Georgia Douglas Johnson) "The Wider View" (text by R. H. Grenville) "Love Rejoices" (text by James Dillet Freeman)

Collected Songs

"Love Request" (text by Paul Laurence Dunbar) "Love Memory" (text by Paul Laurence Dunbar) "Amazing Grace" (text by H. Leslie Adams)
Link to Youtube recording here
"Song of Solitude" a/k/a "Alone...." (text by Nikos Valance) "Dream Song" (text by Countee Cullen) piano-vocal and optional with cello obbligato "Advocation" (text by Suzanne Hassler) "Christmas Lullaby" (text by H. Leslie Adams) "It's So Nice Being Home at Christmas" (text by H. Leslie Adams) "Walking After Midnight" (text by H. Leslie Adams)

Scores and Recordings

Critically Acclaimed CD Recordings of H. Leslie Adams are Twelve Etudes (Piano Etudes Part I), Piano Etudes Part II, Piano Etudes Part II.

Notes

References

Musical scores at WorldCat.org

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Leslie 1932 births Living people African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American male classical composers African-American opera composers American male classical composers California State University, Long Beach alumni Classical musicians from Ohio Florida A&M University faculty Male opera composers Musicians from Cleveland Oberlin College alumni Ohio State University Graduate School alumni Stillman College faculty University of Kansas faculty 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American male musicians