Episode 8: In Spirit and Truth: Music and Faith through the lens of Black Catholic Experience, Expression, and Heart

Guests: M. Roger Holland, II and Dr. Kim R. Harris M. Roger Holland, II is a Teaching Associate Professor in Music and Religion and Director of The Spirituals Project at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he received the Master of Divinity degree, Roger also served as Artist-in-Residence and director of the Union Gospel Choir for over 13 years. In 2015 Union awarded him the Trailblazers Distinguished Alumni Award, the first given to a graduate whose ministry is music, for his contributions to the legacy of African American music. He received a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, also in New York, and completed his undergraduate work at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey where he majored in Music Education with a concentration in piano and voice. Roger toured nationally and internationally with The Boys Choir of Harlem, working with them as a conductor, pianist, instructor and arranger for several of their recordings. Roger served as Minister of Music for Our Lady of Charity Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, NY for 12 years and is Liturgical Music Consultant for the New York Archdiocese Office of Black Ministry, acting as Music Director for their special Masses at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Roger is the newly appointed editor of the In Spirit and Truth series published by GIA Publications, Inc., which reflects the aesthetic of Black Catholic worship. Commissioned works include The Dream and The Dreamer, The Tribulation Suite, and The Call. Original music collections published by GIA include “Building Up the Kingdom,” featuring the single “Worthy God,” and his recent collection, “Honey from the Rock, Vol. 1-4” He has played for the Broadway productions of Oprah Winfrey’s The Color Purple and the Tony award winning show, Memphis. In November 2016 Timothy Cardinal Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York presented Roger with the Pierre Toussaint Medallion for service. Dr. Kim R. Harris is the Associate Professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. In addition to teaching courses on Black liberation and Womanist theologies, Harris leads music in a variety of liturgical and academic settings. She is a liturgist, composer and recording artist, presenting lectures on the music of the Black Catholic experience, the spirituals of the Underground Railroad and the freedom song of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Harris is a member of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium and the North American Academy of Liturgy. She is an academic member of the African American Catholic Center for Evangelization in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as a liturgical consultant for the Archdiocese of New York Office of Black Ministry. A gifted cantor, leader of song and a passionate cultural advocate, Harris earned a PhD in worship and the arts from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. In fulfillment of her degree, she composed Welcome Table: A Mass of Spirituals, one of the complete Mass settings included in the Lead Me Guide Black Catholic hymnal second edition (GIA Publications Inc). Music from this episode: Honey from the Rock, Entrance and Communion Antiphons for the Church Year, Arr. Holland https://giamusic.com/resource/honey-from-the-rock-volume-1-print-g9233 Welcome Table Mass, arr. Harris/Holland https://giamusic.com/resource/welcome-table-a-mass-of-spirituals-print-g8225 All of Me, Holland https://giamusic.com/resource/all-of-me-print-g10512