Cleveland Institute of Music

So, now you started--tell us how you started "The Black Arts" Show?$$As I told you I loved classical music so WCLV [FM] is Cleveland's classical music station. So I would always listen to it. And they had of course all the, you know Italian, blah, blah, blah, but they had a program for the Jewish hour, Catholic hour; nothing for Blacks. So I called Bob Conrad and said, what do you think about having a program that features the contributions that Blacks have made to classical music? He said come in and talk to me about it. At that time the--they were down at Terminal Tower which is a big, tall tower downtown [Cleveland, Ohio]. And so I went down and told him what I had in mind and some of the artists I had in mind and he said well do a trial program for me. I did that trial program. I did it with Jessye Norman. Jessye Norman. And he liked it and he said I would like to have you continue to do this but you must do it at least six months. I would, you know, you must agree to do it for at least six months and I've been there, what's it 37 years? Is that 37? [Laughter].$$Now this is--your first, your trial show is with Jessye Norman?$$Yeah.$$And now was Jessye Norman as big a star then as she is now?$$Was she what?$$Was she as big a star then--?$$She was a big star at the time. Yeah--$$Right, okay.$$--because I had records and CDs to play, you know.$$Yeah.$$But my first show turned, I did Leontyne Price, the first, you know when he--when I was on in May of 1976, I did Leontyne Price. And every five years I repeat that because I--the title was Leontyne Price in Prayer, you know, and used a lot of Verdi Arias and things at where she would be--the heroine would be praying as well as at the end. And I always try to use spirituals at the end of my show that would you know--songs that had prayer in them or in the title. Like, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" or whatever. So that's what I did.$$So--$$And that's what I still do.$$Okay. So did the station manager know who Jessye Norman was when--?$$Oh yes, everybody knew who these classical artists are.$$Okay.$$And I try to pay tribute to them on their birthdays. I find out when their birthdays are cause I just did Leontyne Price. She was born in February, and coming up Marian Anderson's birthday, you know, I try to do birthdays. And I did Joe Wilder who is a trumpet player who was the--a forerunner of Wynton Marsalis because he can play classical and jazz. And he's 93, I believe now coming up. I just saw in the New York Times that they're doing some kind of tribute to him and he's on up there now. But I try to acknowledge them on their birthdays. I usually do Miles Davis and Duke Ellington, but I usually have classical artists. And if new people are coming in all the time I try to you know, spotlight them as well.$$Okay. So you do like a weekly show--$$Weekly show, Wednesday nights from 10 [p.m.] to 11 [p.m.], weekly, one hour show.$$Now did the show ever interfere with your performances on the road with The Descendants?$$If they do, I you know, I'm not traveling anymore you know so--$$I mean in those days.$$In those days--$$Yeah.$$I could record, put it in, in advance, you know. Like I said we weren't out for two and three weeks. We would you know go to a college and, couple of days at the most, you know. You do your rehearsal and the concert and come back home.$$Okay.$$So it wasn't a matter of being out for a long period of time, no. And certainly didn't interfere and if it did I would just tape it another day.$$So, now did you have children during this period of time?$$For--did my husband and I have children? No, I don't have any children.$$Oh okay, all right. So you didn't have to worry about trying to take care of children and--$$No.$$--travel and all that.$$No.$$Okay, all right.$Now did you have any--I mean could you afford to get bad grades when you were growing up?$$Never thought about it. Always, just came natural. I was valedictorian of my high school at Snow Hill [Industrial and Normal Institute, Snow Hill, Alabama]. And so I never even thought about bad grades, didn't think about bad grades when I went to Hampton [Institute, Hampton, Virginia]. I graduated second in my class at Hampton. I'm just wondering, now was Snow Hill [Normal and Industrial Institute, Snow Hill, Alabama] sort of like a cultural gathering place for the rest of the community there, you know? You--I imagine some of the school--did Snow Hill have a library too?$$Yeah, we had a library.$$You had a library. So you had all--yeah. So--$$But it was just a warm feeling. The people didn't come on campus except for special occasions you know. But there was a tree and around that tree was a bench and they would wait for the mail there and that--that's where all the community gossip and stuff would go on. That's where the men said they heard Ms. Stedward's daughter got married. But anyway, everybody met and that was just down a slope from my [maternal] grandfather's [William James Edwards] house and everybody would gather around that tree for mail. And the mail would--the Rural Free Delivery, FDR [RFD]. You know we had--and it was a white man who came--Mr. Stabler, he was very nice and he drove over and gave us--everybody their mail.$$Okay.$$But people lived on over--it felt very you know, warmly towards the school but they weren't down there all the time. I mean it was a school. It was a school and it was for the people who came and were down there as boarding school students and teachers who lived with them in the dormitory who were the dormitory school masters as well as teachers. So--$$I didn't ask you about the students but who were--are there any remarkable students who were there or people that are memorable that you remember from your Snow Hill school days?$$I don't remember any outstanding students when I was there. My mother [Alberta Edwards Lee] had written information about the school and she gave it to us. I think I gave you a copy of that. But I can't remember anybody in, you know during my era that was--became famous except Bill Lee [brother] was probably, you know--Spike's dad Bill was somewhat famous with his composing and playing in jazz groups.