Despite being raised in a musical family and growing up surrounded by music, composer Damien Geter initially decided to major in English. But after some time, he knew in his heart that his destiny was in music, so he changed his major to music education. It was then that a professor heard him sing and told him he should take voice lessons because his voice had “operatic potential.”
Geter took her advice and that journey found him singing major roles in opera, choral music, musical theater and television. But at the end of 2016, his path shifted again as the whole country reached a racial boiling point. Geter felt he needed to do something more as an artist.
He pulled out his compositional voice, and wrote apiece to reflect the times.
An African American Requiem for orchestra, choir and vocal quartet is based on the traditional Latin requiem liturgy. However, Geter infused the piece with spirituals, as well as a setting of Ida B. Wells’ speech "Lynching Is Color Line Murder."
Infusing classical music with various styles from the Black diaspora has become his calling card. As a result, Geter’s path is now “breaking down the barriers of what classical music should be.”
Credits
Host: Vernon Neal
Producer: Dan Nass
Writers: Andrea Blain and Scott Blankenship
Executive Producer: Julie Amacher
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About Rhapsody in Black
Where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music, with host Vernon Neal.
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