In a Speculative Light - UTK Symposium on Beauford and Baldwin

"In a Speculative Light" was a powerful and enlightening symposium that explored how the relationship between Beauford and his dearest friend, James Baldwin, shaped their artistic creations and influenced 20th-century arts. Hosted by the University of Tennessee Humanities Center, and funded in part with a Collaborative Research Grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities, it brought together scholars from the domains of visual arts, musicology, and literary studies to address this previously unexplored question. Professor Amy Elias, Director of the UTK Humanities Center, organized the entire event.

The symposium opened on February 19 with "An Evening Celebrating James Baldwin and Beauford Delaney" that featured a keynote presentation by award-winning author Hilton Als.

UTK Humanities Center Director Amy Elias and
Keynote Speaker Hilton Als
Image courtesy of Professor Amy Elias
The event was held at the Knoxville Museum of Art, where the current exhibition, Through the Unusual Door, also focuses on the relationship between Beauford and Baldwin. Als' presentation was entitled "The Mentor: James Baldwin, Beauford Delaney, and the Habit of Doing."

This was followed by two full days of on-campus presentations in six research domains: arts history and Black aesthetics, music and sonic arts, ethics and social values, style and form, gender and sexuality, and biography and legacies.

NYU professor Fred Moten gave his keynote presentation at the end of the first day. His topic was "Blue(s) as Cymbal: Beauford Delaney (Elvin Jones) James Baldwin”; he explored representations of blackness through Beauford's art, Baldwin's writing, and Jones' theory of music.

Keynote speaker Fred Moten
Image courtesy of Professor Amy Elias
A total of 26 speakers presented papers during the symposium. Beauford's biographer, David Leeming, was among them. To see the list of presenters (excluding Hilton Als) and topics, click HERE.

Speakers Magdalena Zaborowska (with microphone)
and Beauford Delaney biographer, David A. Leeming
Image courtesy of Professor Amy Elias
To see the list of presenters and topics (excluding Hilton Als), click HERE.

On Friday, February 21, a private session was held during lunch at the Frieson Black Cultural Center on the UT campus. Tanisha L. Jenkins, Director of UT Multicultural Student Life, welcomed participants and attendees. Presentations were given by Sylvia Peters, Director of The Delaney Project; Monique Y. Wells, President of Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, and Reneé Kesler, President and CEO of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center.

Presenter Monique Y. Wells on screen
at luncheon conference
Image courtesy of Professor Amy Elias
A unique and inspired project associated with the symposium was a pop-up portrait studio project through which four artists created portraits of several of the symposium speakers, including Fred Moten and David Leeming. The artists were Jered Sprecher, Joshua Bienko, Rubens Ghenov, and Mary Laube, all of whom work at UTK. Participants sat with artists for 60- to 90-minute portrait sessions during the run of the symposium in a dedicated space at the UT Student Union. The sessions were open to the public.

Pop-up Portrait Center
Image courtesy of Professor Amy Elias
Also on campus, Derek Spratley, Esq., the executor of the Beauford Delaney estate, presented a showing of Beauford’s paintings at the Student Union Art Gallery. The Paris Years: Paintings by Beauford Delaney from the Artist’s Estate gave the public and UT students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to see original Delaney artwork that was made available for purchase after the close of the exhibition.

The Making of ShadowLight

Juxtaposed in a kind of dialogue were Beauford Delaney's paintings on the stage backdrop, exploding silently in color and light, and the soaring notes of the operatic performance that presented a moving interpretation of Beauford's struggle with his haunting inner voices. Three different voices contending for the mind and heart of the artist. It was an intimate and expressionist performance that conveyed episodically the struggle of Delaney to create beauty and meaning through his work.

Amy Elias, Director of the University of Tennessee Humanities Center and organizer of the groundbreaking UTK symposium "In a Speculative Light" on ShadowLight

**************
Last week, I shared news about the world premiere of ShadowLight, the opera that brings Beauford's life story to the stage through song.

In that article, I indicated that Emily Anderson spent six months researching Beauford so that she could write a libretto that vividly portrayed his life.

Emily Anderson
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
Today, I'm pleased to share Marble City Opera director Kathryn Frady's remarkable story about how she cast the production and baritone Brandon J. Gibson's sentiments about portraying Beauford. Gibson is also the managing director of Marble City Opera.

Kathryn Frady
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
To select the cast of ShadowLight, Kathryn Frady completely immersed herself in the music and the roles to be played during the performance:

"I held auditions in the Fall of 2019 after receiving the piano/vocal score from composer Larry Delinger. Larry had designated voice types for each of the roles, but before casting the singers I sang through each of the roles and studied the score so that I could understand what types of voices were needed.

"In opera, there are many different kinds of voices for each voice type. It is not as simple as casting any baritone, soprano, tenor, or bass. The texture of the music and which register the singer spends the majority of their time singing in, are majorly important.

"In my opinion the best way to understand how to cast a new opera is to sing through each role and study the score, so that is what I did. After studying the score I heard auditions and made selections from the singers who attended our audition days."

Frady believes that ShadowLight was well received for several reasons:

"I believe that the story and character of Beauford Delaney, a local to Knoxville, connected to the audience on a personal and emotional level that is unique to our community.

"I believe that the musical score that Larry Delinger created is beautiful, unique, and emotional.

"I believe it was also well received because of the cast's dedication to the interpretation of their characters given to them by the directors and all of the musicians' attention to detail led by maestro, Brian Holman.

Brian Holman conducting the orchestra
on opening night
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
"Add to that the beautiful projections designed by Joe Payne. The evening was well planned out and executed from all aspects."

Projection of Beauford's Untitled (Jazz Club)
on opening night
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
The most important thing to Frady for any production is that it connects to the audience and moves them emotionally. She believes that in art, music, and theater, the audience should have a visceral reaction to what they have seen, heard, and experienced. She says that ShadowLight "brought all three of these things together and I believe moved the audience in attendance."

Brandon J. Gibson's portrayal of Beauford was profoundly moving for the audience.

Brandon J. Gibson
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
He first heard about Beauford about three years ago, following Marble City Opera’s first year of “Chocolate & Wine” concerts for Valentine's Day. Emily Anderson, the librettist, came to one of these performances and after hearing Gibson sing that night, she went up to him and said “I’ve found my Beauford!” She proceeded to tell Gibson about "this wild painter who also happened to be a short, round, and gregarious black man with a deep voice" that she was writing an opera about.

When Gibson looked Beauford up and realized just how local he was to the Knoxville community and how beautiful Beauford's work was, he became intrigued. As he learned about the life behind those works of art, he was even more intrigued and was "hooked from then on."

Gibson's mother died unexpectedly about a year and a half ago and he drew heavily from his experiences dealing with her passing as he portrayed Beauford's relationship with his mother, Delia.

"...it was not a stretch for me to sing about “missing her” as he [Beauford] often does in the opera. Once that vulnerability was established, the other barbs that he endured from the voices in his head were easy to react to in kind."

Beauford Endures His Voices
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
I asked Gibson why he thought the opera was so well received. He replied:

"I think that the timing of the opera was perfect. From the exhibits, to the lectures and documentaries, etc., the city was primed to learn more about this man’s tragic story. The
combination of the material, and the visual elements really added a lot as well. The score, text, and direction all combined to tell a rich story."

The most important thing about ShadowLight for Gibson was that

"...in the end, Beauford triumphed. Despite, or perhaps in spite of his struggles, he was able to bring some beauty into the world. And to leave behind a legacy that serves as an inspiration to all of us. I feel honored to have played a small part in bringing his story to life!"

Brandon J. Gibson as Beauford Delaney
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
Read additional reviews of ShadowLight here:

Marble City Opera’s 'Shadowlight' is another success

Opera airs anguish and artistry of Beauford Delaney

Read articles that describe Beauford's emergence into the minds and hearts of the people in Knoxville and East Tennessee here:

Artist of Color

Beaufort Delaney Acclaimed From Paris to Knoxville

Beauford Delaney Opera a Tremendous Success!

The world premiere of ShadowLight, the opera that depicts Beauford's life in a series of flashbacks, was a tremendous success!

I posted preliminary information about the opera in last week's blog. At the time, I was not aware that on February 28, OperaWire (an online publication whose mission is "to shine a spotlight on all the amazing people nurturing and developing the art form [of opera] today") listed ShadowLight as one of the top six operas to be seen in North America that weekend:

OperaWire article by David Salazar - February 28, 2020
Opening night was sold out long before February 28.

Opening night audience
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
Sylvia Peters, director of The Delaney Project, was the first person to send me news of the results of opening night. She said the performance was "spectacular" and that "it must be presented in Paris."

Joy Stone, a parent of one of the children from the Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville program that is rooted in Beauford's life and work, sent me the link to the review by Arts Knoxville - "the source for news and commentary on the art and music scene in Knoxville":

Marble City Opera's 'ShadowLight' - A Stunning Celebration of the Art and Life of Beauford Delaney

I then began receiving comments from others who attended the performance.

Heather Klessig-Zeiger, another Classes Duo parent, had the following to say:

"The combination of art projected on the wall, the orchestra music, the facial expressions and the words spoken were very powerful.

Beauford and his inner voices
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
"I paid attention to the angst, confusion, fear in the speaker’s face. It was tear jerking when the three voices were speaking all at once which resulted in Beauford crying. The struggle to stay focused on his art to quiet the voices but wanting to hear his mother’s voice. Calling out to his mom and wanting her when he was in Paris, watching him in the insane asylum and fighting against people who had to restrain him was hard to swallow.

An anguished Beauford
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
"Because of ... the 25 years I’ve worked with children and adults with mental illness, it was powerful and insightful. I have seen first hand the way a person acts and responds to this trauma and not wanting to live to get rid of the pain. All of this was so beautifully conveyed with the music, his art and James Baldwin’s words.

"ShadowLight is not the presence of darkness in light but the presence of a light (Beauford) in the darkness. I believe that was the meaning of it all."

L to R: Librettist Emily Anderson; cast members Brandon J. Gibson, Regan Bisch, Vincent Davis, and Breyon Ewing;
director Kathryn Frady; orchestra conductor Brian Holman, composer Larry Delinger, cast member Joshua Allen
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
Librettist Emily Anderson shared the following about her involvement in ShadowLight:

"I first learned about Beauford Delaney twenty-five years ago, when Knoxville Museum of Art curator Stephen Wicks started researching him. Sylvia Peters, director of The Delaney Project, invited me to write the libretto. I spent six months researching Delaney’s life, mostly in newspaper and magazine clippings and museum catalogues, plus the David Leeming biography. Except for the Leeming biography, there is not much about him in any archive."

I asked Anderson why she believes the opera was so well received. She replied that the audience seemed to understand who Beauford was, the obstacles he overcame, and the contributions he made to 20th-century art. The most important thing about the performance for her was that "Audience members took Beauford Delaney home with them."

Marble House Opera director Kathryn Frady first learned of Beauford when Anderson approached her about producing an opera about Beauford. She told me that one of her passions is to tell stories through opera that are relatable and accessible to a new audience. So the idea of producing an opera about an artist from Knoxville made logical and emotional sense to her.

Frady describes ShadowLight as "a story of someone that our audiences themselves would be excited about seeing, since he grew up where they live, and that had the potential to bring a new non-traditional opera audience to the performance."

Next week: I'll share information about how director Kathryn Frady selected the cast for ShadowLight.

Black and White and ShadowLight: Beauford's Life in History and Song

As Black History Month comes to a close, Knoxville continues to recognize and celebrate Beauford.

Promotional image for Black & White
L to R: Beauford Delaney, Joseph Delaney, and Ruth Cobb Brice
The Museum of East Tennessee History is featuring Black & White: Knoxville in the Jim Crow Era, an exhibition that explores what life was like for African Americans in Knoxville during the Jim Crow era. This exhibition, presented as a timeline, provides historical context to the lives of local African-American artists Beauford Delaney, Joseph Delaney, and Ruth Cobb Brice. It seeks to answer what influence the city had on the early lives of these artists and whether they could succeed without leaving home.

East Tennessee History Center
© Wells International Foundation
The show highlights three African-American artists from Knoxville — Beauford, his brother Joseph, and Ruth Cobb Brice — and examines how Knoxville during the Jim Crow era shaped their lives and careers.

Entrance to Black & White exhibition
Image courtesy of the East Tennessee History Center
The exhibition includes 66 artifacts highlighting the history of race relations, African-American art, and the development of an art community in Knoxville following the Civil War. Forty-five (45) of these artifacts are on loan to the Museum of East Tennessee History from the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, and private donors. Also featured are several videos, including "Knoxville’s Red Summer: The Riot of 1919" and "Beauford Delaney," both of which are courtesy of East Tennessee PBS and Black Appalachia; and "The Civil Rights Movement in Knoxville," courtesy of the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound. A variety of artworks by the highlighted artists are on display as well as works from other Knoxville-based artists who influenced them.

Photo of the Delaney Family at Black & White exhibition
Image courtesy of the East Tennessee History Center

"Beauford Delaney Abroad" at Black & White exhibition
Image courtesy of the East Tennessee History Center
Black & White: Knoxville in the Jim Crow Era opened on February 14, 2020 and is on view through June 14, 2020. For more information, call (865) 215-8824, email: , or visit www.easttnhistory.org.

The world premiere of ShadowLight, a Marble City Opera production that presents Beauford's life through song, took place at the Beck Cultural Center on Friday, February 28.

Starring Brandon J. Gibson as Beauford and Vincent Davis as James Baldwin, it sold out weeks in advance.

ShadowLight rehearsal - Brandon J. Gibson as Beauford
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera

ShadowLight rehearsal - Vincent Davis as James Baldwin
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
Beauford's tormenting inner voices are being sung by Regan Bisch, Joshua Allen, and Breyon Ewing. Brian Holman is conducting the orchestra.

ShadowLight rehearsal - Beauford taunted by his voices
L to R: Joshua Allen, Breyon Ewing, Regan Bisch
Image courtesy of Marble City Opera
I had the pleasure of meeting Gibson for the first time during my recent visit to Knoxville for the opening of the Through the Unusual Door exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

L to R: Marble City Opera artistic director Kathryn Frady,
Monique Y. Wells, and Brandon J. Gibson
ShadowLight was written by Larry Delinger (music) and Emily Anderson (libretto) and is directed by James Marvel and Kathryn Frady. The show's finale will be presented at the Beck Cultural Center this evening.

To learn more about the production, click HERE.