W&M Homepage
[PAST EVENT] "Music and Social Action: A Conversation with Dr. Ysaye Barnwell"
Access & Features
- Registration/RSVP
"Music and Social Action: A Conversation with Dr. Ysaye Barnwell," former member, Sweet Honey in the Rock, an all-woman African-American a cappella ensemble
Moderated by Anne K. Rasmussen, Professor "Washington & the Arts"
Please join the William & Mary Washington Semester Program for a special event with Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, 1939 Maurine Stuart Dulin Artist-in-Residence in the Department of Music, William & Mary.
Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell studied violin for 15 years beginning at age 2 1/2, and majored in music through high school. She went on to earn the Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Speech Pathology (SUNY, Geneseo), Doctor of Philosophy in Speech Pathology (University of Pittsburgh), and the Master of Science in Public Health (Howard University). She also holds honorary doctorates from SUNY Geneseo, the Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary in Chicago, the Virginia Theological Seminary, and the Chicago Theological Seminary.
For over a decade, Dr. Barnwell was a professor at the College of Dentistry at Howard University. In 1979, she joined Sweet Honey In The Rock®, an internationally acclaimed, Grammy-nominated African American women's a cappella ensemble. In 2013, after 34 years, Barnwell retired from the group to pursue her other interests.
Dr. Barnwell appears as a vocalist or instrumentalist on more than thirty recordings with Sweet Honey In The Rock as well as other artists. She has been a commissioned composer on numerous choral, film, video, dance and theatrical projects. In addition to these endeavors, Dr. Barnwell is an actress whose credits include voice-over narration for film, video and radio productions, and she has published two children's books.
Dr. Barnwell has spent much of her time off stage working as a master teacher and choral clinician in African American cultural performance. Over the past 35 years, she has conducted her workshop "Building a Vocal Community®" across the United States and internationally on three continents.
Contact
https://www.wm.edu/offices/dccenter/