Sun 7/7 @ 3PM
Guitarist/composer/educator Justin Holland (1819-1887), born a free Black man in Virginia, became well known during his lifetime as a musician and activist despite having to drop out of Oberlin College after two years due to lack of money, a story he shares with Black composer William Grant Still, whose revival continues this week at the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom opener.
Instead, settling in Cleveland, he forged his own career as a guitar teacher, author of a successful series of guitar method books, transcriber of Italian arias such as Rigoletto and La Traviata, and composer and/or arranger of more than 300 pieces. In addition, he participated in the Underground Railroad and worked to expand opportunities for Black Americans. He moved to the West Indies during the Civil War but eventually returned to Cleveland.
Lake View Cemetery’s second Classical Lake View concert is a tribute to his legacy titled “Cleveland’s Forgotten Composer, Guitar Hero, and Abolitionist, Justin Holland.” It features Cleveland guitarist Damian Goggans who will be a senior at Oberlin in the fall. Beginning his guitar studies as an eighth grader, he is committed to diversifying classical music and making it accessible to everyone.
He’ll be joined by Cleveland Orchestra members violinists Isabel Trautwein and Liyuan Xie, violist Eleisha Nelson, and cellist Tanya Ell with Jennifer Coleman of the Gund Foundation emceeing. They’ll perform a program featuring three centuries of music by Black composers including Joseph Boulogne (1745-1799), Scott Joplin (1868-1917), William Grant Still (1895-1978), George Walker (1922-2018), young contemporary composer Thomas Flippin, who served as artist in residence at the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, and of course, Goggans.
The concert takes place at Lake View Cemetery’s Commumity Mausoleum. Get tickets here.
clevelands-forgotten-composer-guitar-hero-and-abolitionist-justin-holland
Cleveland, OH 44106