UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State African American Music Festival will take place Feb. 9-11 in the School of Music's Esber Recital Hall and the Worship Hall of the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. Now in its 22nd year, the festival, sponsored by the School of Music and coordinated by faculty member Anthony Leach, celebrates the music of African-Americans and African-American composers and includes five performances by Penn State faculty, students and guest artists. The 2017 festival features guest artist Rollo Dilworth from Temple University. All events are free.
This event is part of the 2016-17 initiative “All In at Penn State: A Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion.”
Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 9, 12:10 p.m., Eisenhower Chapel, featuring multiple student performances — see program
Thursday, Feb. 9, 5:30 p.m., Esber Recital Hall, featuring Oriana Singers, Glee Club, and faculty member Velvet Brown — see program
Friday, Feb. 10, 2:30 p.m., Esber Recital Hall, featuring University Choir and Essence of Joy — see program
Friday, Feb. 10, 5:30 p.m., Esber Recital Hall, featuring Rollo Dilworth — see program
Saturday, Feb. 11, 1:00 p.m., Worship Hall of the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, featuring Essence of Joy with Rollo Dilworth — see program
Dilworth serves as chair of music education and music therapy at Temple University. He holds degrees from Case Western Reserve University, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Northwestern University.
More than 150 of Dilworth's choral compositions and arrangements have been published — many of which are a part of the Henry Leck Creating Artistry Choral Series with Hal Leonard Corporation. Additional publications can be found in the catalogs of Santa Barbara Music Publishing and Colla Voce Music, Inc. Dilworth is a contributing author for the "Essential Elements for Choir" and the "Experiencing Choral Music" textbook series, both published by the Hal Leonard Corporation/Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publications, and for Music Express! Magazine. He has authored three books of choral warm-up exercises intended for elementary and secondary choral ensembles, entitled "Choir Builders: Fundamental Vocal Techniques for General and Classroom Use" (2006); "Choir Builders for Growing Voices" (2009); and "Choir Builders for Growing Voices 2" (2014).
A frequent presenter at local, state, regional and national conferences, Dilworth has conducted 43 all-state choirs at various levels (elementary, middle school, high school), and has conducted 6 regional honor choirs and 4 national honor choirs (ADCA, OAKE and NafME). He has most recently appeared as guest conductor for international choral festivals and master classes in Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Ireland and China. For the 2015-2016 season, Dilworth was invited to conduct all-state choirs in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Arizona and Massachusetts. He has also conducted honor choirs for the Central and Southwest regions of the American Choral Directors Association. International festival and clinic invitations include Canada, Singapore, Austria and France.
Dilworth is currently national board chair for Chorus America. He is an active life member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He also holds memberships with several other organizations, including the National Association for Music Education (NafME), the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).