Playbill for Antiphony Otherwise. Includes poem inside.
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“Antiphony, Otherwise: Friday Joy Night Service” is a sound art event that brings together musicians, singers, foodies and audiences to intentionally consider the role of the senses in Black religious practice and sacred traditions. To do so, “Antiphony, Otherwise” utilizes the Hammond organ instrument with its use in Black Christian worship to be the particular “site” from which questions about gender, sexuality, spirit, enfleshment can emerge. The Hammond instrument and the musician do not work alone but with others, with the sound of handclaps, foot stomps, tambourines ringing and singers. “Antiphony, Otherwise” consists of three movements:
I. Singing
II. Talkback with Musician and Lead Singer
III. Eating
Curated by Ashon Crawley, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California Riverside, “Antiphony, Otherwise” approaches and makes more intentionally considered the concept of the multisensory, the way Black religious traditions are about feeling as the grounds for practice. “Antiphony, Otherwise” illustrates how the senses in Black religious spaces are unitary, how sense experience is one of simultaneity, how the senses are nondivisional. So to remember and recall the way the Hammond B-3 sounds is also to hear the voices of saints singing and talking, to remember the tactility and touch of carpet or wooden floors underfoot, to smell the cooking of food and then, also and of course, to taste the fried chicken, the fish, the hot sauce. This is why eating will be integral to the show as part of the event itself, not something occurring “after” we have finished. “Antiphony, Otherwise” stages the sound of the Hammond B-3 organ to think about sense experience itself.
“Antiphony, Otherwise” will be a space of multiple beliefs, doctrinal and theological positions. It will be an intentionally and explicitly safe space for Christians believers and believers from other religious traditions and sects, as well as a safe space for agnostics, atheists, non-believers and for TQPOC people to gather together and share with one another.
Musician
Abdul Hamid Royal: Mr. Royal was recently awarded the coveted OVATION AWARD and LOS ANGELES DRAMA CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD for Best Music Direction for his work on the Los Angeles production of The Gospel At Colonus. He was previously awarded the NAACP IMAGE AWARD for his work on Broadway’s FIVE GUSY NAMED MOE and recently awarded the NAACP Theater Award for Best Musical Direction for his work on THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS. His Broadway credits, as well as National and International tour credits, read like a Broadway hit list – Five Guys Named Moe, Smokey Joe’s Café, Twist, Sophisticated Ladies, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Jelly’s Last Jam, The Wiz, Truly Blessed, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fiddler on the Roof, Betsy Brown, Concerts for the Earth, Colors of Christmas and Sound of Music. Born in Wisconsin, Royal was raised in the Midwest and began piano lessons at the age of 4 at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. He completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance/Jazz Studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, received a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from Northwestern University, a Master of Theological Studies from the Claremont School of Theology and is currently working on his PhD. He says, “The sanctified church is my inheritance and gospel music is my culture and the genesis of my musical experience. My first love was the sound of the hand-clapping, foot-stomping, tambourine accompanied sounds of the Hammond organ; the Leslie speaker and the click, click, click were the pulse of my soul. Then and now, nothing moves me more than ‘the sound’ of gospel music.”
Song Leader
Troy Sanders: Pastor Troy Sanders’ relationship with the divine started when he was a toddler, preaching on the front porch of his home in Denmark, South Carolina, and has served as the bedrock of his faith and ministry. As he grew so did his yearning and zeal for spiritual things, resulting in a life-long ministry designed to affect the lives of youth and adults. His ministerial background includes over 25 years as a licensed and ordained minister, and over 15 years of church administration, where he created training curriculums and modules for leadership development; lecturing; and the development and institutionalization of a gospel choir in his hometown of Denmark. In 2001, he completed his Bachelor’s of Arts program from Beulah Heights University (Atlanta, GA) and completed a dual Master’s of Divinity and Masters of Art degree at the Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, GA). Pastor Troy is the Episcopal Liaison for the Greater Atlanta Area and servers the Executive Committee of The Fellowship Of Affirming Ministries, under the leadership of Bishop Yvette Flunder, an international movement of radically inclusive religious organizations committed to promoting liberation and addressing pivotal issues regarding racial, social, and economic equity. And he is pastor of Rehoboth Fellowship of Atlanta, United Church of Christ, Inc., a ministry called to be a 21st century prophetic voice admonishing all to Love God, Love Self and Love People"
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