{"id":2928,"date":"2025-08-07T22:23:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T22:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/?page_id=2928"},"modified":"2025-08-07T22:27:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T22:27:25","slug":"andre-myers-composer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/?page_id=2928","title":{"rendered":"Andre Myers – Composer"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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To be black means to be closer to death,\u201d says composer Andre Myers.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s not been a day in the last 15 years when I\u2019ve not said or thought I\u2019m not dead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

In the midst of an American society newly sensitized to racism and the perilous condition of Black men, Myers has chosen to focus on life in his latest commission from the Albany Symphony. \u201cBlack and Alive\u201d for chamber orchestra will be debuted in a live streamed performance on Saturday evening, Nov. 14, from Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs.\u00a0 The virtual concert conducted by David Alan Miller will also feature Debussy\u2019s \u201cPrelude to Afternoon of a Faun\u201d and a chamber version of Mahler\u2019s Fourth Symphony.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cBlackness is associated with death in European and American literature, in our cultural imagination and as of late with the public discourse,\u201d says Myers.\u00a0 \u201cEvery day something has tried to kill us and failed.\u00a0 So what does it mean to be Black and alive?\u00a0 I don\u2019t want \u2018black and alive\u2019 to be incongruous.\u00a0 I want Black people to live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Myers, 47, made his ASO debut in the June 2019 concert of the Dogs of Desire at EMPAC.\u00a0 Amid an overstuffed concert of new works with heavy political messages, Myers\u2019 tribute to Frederick Douglass was a sure-footed standout.\u00a0 \u201cStudies in Hope: Frederick Douglass\u201d brought together percussive rapping by two MCs, lyrical writing for the Albany High School choir, and a turbulent deployment of the instrumental ensemble. \u00a0Six months later the piece was reprised by the full orchestra.\u00a0 The piece\u2019s nickname is \u201cGood Fred.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

While making his way in the classical realm, Myers did not leave behind popular styles.\u00a0 \u201cFor me now, they\u2019re not separate. \u00a0I\u2019ve avoided any conscious efforts to integrate African-American vernacular with concert music if it didn\u2019t feel intuitive.\u00a0 You can\u2019t force it,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>

Myers describes his new piece for the ASO as a blend of Stravinsky, Bang on a Can and James Brown.\u00a0 Unlike \u201cGood Fred,\u201d there\u2019s no rapping.\u00a0 In the honorable tradition of orchestral music, the composer is relying on the music itself to communicate any message or sentiment.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI take a lot of solace and strength from Stravinsky\u2019s neo-classical period.\u00a0 This piece is partly influenced by that period and the boxy-ness of it,\u201d says Myers. \u00a0\u201cI feel like a lot of composers of the 1800s and 1900s lived in the shadow of Beethoven.\u00a0 A lot of my music is in the shadow of Stravinsky, also Armstrong, Monk, and Ellington.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

In Myers\u2019 growing list of works, there aren\u2019t any titles that ring out the theme of race in the way that \u201cBlack and Alive\u201d does.\u00a0 Yet Myers insists that social struggles are always there in his scores.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI feel absolutely compelled by issues of political agency,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cThis is what I know how to do.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if writing classical music is going to be a real part in our global struggle.\u00a0 But it is at the forefront of every musical choice and influences every decision I make.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Asked to consider how he would like the current musical scene in America to be remembered in 20 years, Myers replied, \u201cMusic in 2020 was the canary in the coal mine.\u00a0 It was the time when we began to reckon with the global condition.\u00a0 I want folks looking back to say that composers pursued the urgent nature of where we are.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to be alive for that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

The ASO performs Myers\u2019 \u201cBlack and Alive\u201d at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Universal Preservation Hall.\u00a0 The live stream is an exclusive to subscribers. Admission to the virtual concert hall afterward is by donation, starting at $25.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

More information at:<\/span>\u00a0albanysymphony.com<\/a>.<\/p>

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To be black means to be closer to death,\u201d says composer Andre Myers.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s not been a day in the last 15 years when I\u2019ve not said or thought I\u2019m not dead.\u201d In the midst of an American society newly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2928","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/?author=1"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":null,"rttpg_excerpt":"To be black means to be closer to death,\u201d says composer Andre Myers.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s not been a day in the last 15 years when I\u2019ve not said or thought I\u2019m not dead.\u201d In the midst of an American society newly...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2928"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2933,"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2928\/revisions\/2933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/composersofcolorcollective.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}