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INSIDE MOREHOUSE. SEPTEMBER 2008
European Production of Porgy and Bess
Highlights Brown and His Former Students
Music Department chairman Uzee Brown Jr. (right) performs in a scene as Frazier
the attorney with Kevin Short (left) who portrayed Porgy.
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
M usic department chairman
Uzee Brown Jr. felt like a
proud father.
He was in Paris this summer per
forming as “Frazier,” the attorney in
Porgy and Bess, with several of his
former Morehouse music students
as part of the professional chorus
behind him.
“I was so proud because they
were so on top of their games and
so professional,” Brown said. “Peo
ple looked at and admired what
they saw in those guys.”
The Morehouse contingent was
part of the Atlanta Opera Chorus
that traveled to Paris this summer to
participate in the production of
Porgy and Bess at the historic
Opera-Comique for seven weeks.
Opera-Comique has involved iconic
composers such as Daniel Auber
and Georges Bizet. It also staged the
first performance of Bizet’s Carmen
in 1875.
Brown, who performed in
The Atlanta Opera’s 2005 produc
tion of Porgy and Bess, was con
tracted to perform in this
production by both the Atlanta
Opera and Opera-Comique.
“It is one of the most significant
things for me because it was not
simply a touring company, but it
was a resident production,” he said.
“All the other productions of Porgy
and Bess had been American tour
ing companies.”
The group spent up to two
months living in Paris. A month of
rehearsals for soloists like Brown
preceded their seven-week run in
Paris, followed by week-long en
gagements in Granada, Spain; Caen,
France, and upcoming performances
in the European country of Luxem
bourg on October. 7,9 and 11.
“This new production of Porgy
and Bess [has been] an important
event in Europe,” said Opera-
Comique general director Jerome
Deschamps. “The fact that The At
lanta Opera [has been] associated
with this project makes us even
more proud of it.”
Morehouse has been well-repre
sented in the production. Singing
with The Atlanta Opera are assistant
professor Mel Jackson and alumni
James Binion Jr. l 06; Gregory Cald
well ’99; Bradley Candie ’92; Edwin
Cotton ‘07; the youngest member of
the entire production, 21-year-old
current student Marcus Hill; LaSean
Lewis ’03 along with Timothy Miller
’03, who is now an adjunct professor
in the music department and per
formed the “Crabman’s Call.”
“On the last night, he interpreted
a high “D” and the audience went
ga-ga,” Brown said.
European audiences have adored
the predominantly African Ameri
can cast as every seat was sold for
each of the 18 performances.
“It has been quite an experience,
Brown said. ■
SUMMER AT THE HOUSE
Summer Programs Taught Students Academics, Leadership and Community
Brian Dawson thought this
summer’s Pre-Freshman Sum
mer Program was going to be
fun and games. He quickly
found out that he was com
pletely mistaken.
“We had to line up, go to
class, make sure our shirts were
tucked,” said the freshman from
Baltimore, Md. “I wasn’t expect
ing that. I was like ‘What’s going
on here?”’
What was going on was one
of 18 summer programs that
made up the Morehouse College
Summer Academy 2008. Spread
across campus, they engaged
nearly 1,000 students - pre-teens
to rising college freshman - in a
variety of academic, athletic and
social enrichment programs.
“The value of participating in
a Summer Academy program is
arguably immense,” said Sum
mer Academy director Anne
Watts, associate vice president
for Academic Affairs. “Students
were able to get an early start in
preparation for college work by
being in classes taught by college
professors, using college text
books and guided by college syl
labi. Students who return to
their high schools after intensive
study in these Summer Academy
programs are stretched to
achieve at a higher level, and
they almost always perform bet
ter in their remaining high
school courses.”
Four of the 18 programs are
highlighted here.
Pre-Freshman Summer Program
Like the other 150 PSP participants
heading to Morehouse in the fall, Brian
Dawson quickly acclimated himself to a
summer of classes, lectures and an
overall orientation to college life.
Courses in English, reading, history,
math and sociology were offered as
were lectures of particular interest to
African American males. Earning a B or
better in each summer college credit
course would count towards credit for
their Morehouse coursework during the
school year.
But Brian Carter, an 18-year-old
freshman from Americus, Ga„ who also
participated in PSP, said there was
an even more important aspect of
the experience.
"The very first person I met when I
moved on campus this fall was a PSP
counselor from this summer," he said. "I
mean, I kept running into PSP people. So
it's like I have 150 PSP brothers already."
Among their leadership and academic
lessons. Project Identity students also
learned about table etiquette from
Belinda J. White, an assistant profes
sor in business.
"It actually gave me the opportunity
to be comfortable in a new place," said
Dawson. "It was like my brothers were
my family."
Morehouse NYSP
Just behind the stands of B.T. Har
vey Stadium this summer, a fierce soft-
ball or kickball game was usually going
on between some very competitive 10-
to-16 year olds. The game was part of
several athletic and academic compo
nents of the Morehouse National Youth
Sports Program.
"It was a successful summer," said
program administrator Robert Wilson
III. "We had close to 200 children."
This year the Morehouse NYSP
got a boost: the Atlanta Falcons
Youth Foundation, which is part of the
Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation,
gave $3,200 to provide scholarships so
50 young people could take part in
the program.
NYSP participants hit the pool as
well as the field and the classroom
during their month of academic and
athletic enrichment.
Project Identity Summer Institute
A snazzy group of rising high school
sophomores and juniors in shirts and
ties who always seemed to be in a hurry
to a class were Project Identity Summer
Institute students. Forty males from
across the country - out of hundreds
who applied to be part of the program -
learned about math and science, cre
ative writing and public speaking. But
they also learned about leadership and
African American male development.
Danny Bellinger, director of
Project Identity, said the students
come from a variety of economic and
social backgrounds.
"But the thing they had in common
is that they were highly motivated
kids," he said. "We try to give them
an even playing field and allow them
to meet other kids and show
them somebody as highly motivated
as themselves."
Bryant Marks, director of the
Morehouse Male Initiative, speaks
with PSP students in Sale Hall's
Chapel of the Inward Journey.
Coca-Cola Pre-College
Summer Program
Thirty rising junior and senior high
school students from 16 states took part
in this summer's week-long Coca-Cola
Pre-College Summer Program. The
program introduces students to the
traits, skills and behaviors necessary
for leadership.
"We like to say that we impact sev
eral areas: character, self-esteem aca
demic excellence, gaining a greater
respect for others and creating a sense
of community,” said Walter Fluker, ex
ecutive director of the Leadership Cen
ter at Morehouse College, which runs
the program. "I think the greater piece
of our program is that we have a pow
erful program that creates community."
"It's not failed for ten years since I've
been part of this program that the stu
dents say, 'I don't want to leave, I want
to come to Morehouse,’" Fluker said. ■
Coca-Cola Pre-College Leadership
Program students began each morning
with exercising and stretching
together to prepare them for long
intense days.