Performance Opportunities

Composers-In-Residence

Each year the foundation selects a musician with credentials in composition and arranging to receive a modified residency in conjunction with our competition for the GRADY-RAYAM PRIZE In Sacred Music. This residency commissions a musician to prepare a new arrangement of a traditional Negro spiritual for solo voice and piano delivered in high, medium, and low voice settings. The piece is to serve as the common audition work for all GRADY-RAYAM PRIZE competition entrants nationwide. (The composer/arranger is in residence in Central Florida on the final day of competition there to work with each finalist for their performance of the new work before judges, and must present an hour-long music mastery session for those students and an assembled audience.) A commissioned work is given its first performance by a reputable professional singer during our annual World-Premiere Gala, with the composer/arranger at the piano. A modest stipend ($1,000) is attached to this commissioning, along with transport, lodging, meals, and other amenities specific to each appearance. Contact Edward Washington II via e-mail: ewashington@negrospiritual.org to learn more about this opportunity.

World-Premiere Artists

A recital staged to present the Negro spiritual as arranged for solo voice and piano is one of the most enduring and beloved listening experiences in the world of classical music. During our annual World-Premiere gala event, the Foundation joins forces with makers of the famed Steinway piano to prepare a magical setting for just such an event. Our agency is committed to diverse interests when contracting with high-caliber vocal artists to headline these performances. We strive to present a wide range of tone qualities and performance styles to our audiences over a period of time. We seek to recognize some well-established professionals, and to introduce younger or newer artists as well. We relish singers who show great strength in their dramatic presence, or unusually fine interpretive skills. And we want our audiences to hear some hard-to-find voices of rare tonal quality: a truly sweet “Mozart” tenor, an authentic contralto, the elusive coloratura soprano or countertenor. Matched to a worthy accompanist and high-performance instrument, our world-premiere artists enchant selected audiences year after year. Their virtuosity only adds to our luster! Anyone with an interest in making a world-premiere appearance on our behalf should contact Edward Washington II via e-mail: ewashington@negrospiritual.org.

“NS”SF Master Singers

The “Negro Spiritual” Scholarship Foundation maintains its own choral unit consisting of trained voices who qualify by audition to participate in our Master Singers program.  Using a repertoire of arranged Negro spirituals and other selected master works, the Master Singers program offers its members performance/appearance opportunities along with intellectual stimulation, professional development, and musical growth.  The program is open to post-secondary singers of all ages and backgrounds.  Master Singers are paid for their service. Interested persons should contact Edward Washington II via e-mail: ewashington@negrospiritual.org to learn more about this opportunity.

Suitable Airs Feature Artists (Vocal)

Each year the Foundation selects a vocal artist to appear as the featured soloist on the program of ‘Suitable Airs’, our benefit concert of spirituals presented to the Central Florida community. This opportunity is often made available to younger pre-professional or newly-professional voices.  A singer is required to render a total of eight pieces entirely from memory, four of them being sung along with a backing choral unit. There is a stipend paid for this engagement, along with transport, lodging, meals, and other amenities specific to the appearance. Interested persons should contact Edward Washington II via e-mail: ewashington@negrospiritual.org to learn more about this opportunity.

Recital/Concert Accompanists (Piano)

The Foundation regularly engages skilled pianists to accompanists on recital and concert programs.  An instrumentalist wishing to be hired in this capacity must demonstrate fine keyboard skills, experience in accompanying vocalists, and a knowledge of/affinity for the arranged Negro spiritual song. A stipend is provided for each engagement. Interested persons should contact Edward Washington II via e-mail: ewashington@negrospiritual.org to learn more about this opportunity.