Oakland Youth Orchestra – The Black Composer In America

Although this LP is undated, it seems to be from the late ’60s and was released on the Desto label from New Jersey. It features the Oakland Youth Orchestra (a High School aged Orchestra) as well as Mezzo-Soprano Cynthia Bedford and is conducted by Robert Hughes. The works are all fron the 20th Century and get increasingly more modern sounding as the LP progresses, with the tracks on side two being particularly forward-thinking for their time. Check out Stephen Chambers’ “Shapes For Orchestra”.

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