Last month Winston-Salem lost one of the Triad’s most creative spirits. On November 28th, Rodney Holman passed away unexpectedly.

He was Delta Fine Arts' Program Developer, a North Carolina Governor’s School Foundation Board Member, a U.S. State Department Franklin Fellow, a Winston-Salem Centennial Committee member, Golden LEAF Scholars Program Center for Creative Leadership coach, author, singer/songwriter and poet.

Rodney had recently been busy at work collaborating with Press 53’s Kevin Watson on a new project for Winston-Salem Writers, called “Poetry in Plain Sight”—a title that Rodney came up with. Kevin plans to honor Rodney as one of four poets featured in the January kick-off for Poetry in Plain Sight.

Rodney was recently commissioned to write the inaugural poem for the Harlem Book Fair, and his first book of poetry had just been published this year. Rodney was a real force and a fountainhead of ideas, and he will be deeply missed. Last year he dropped by to talk about his poetry collection, The Universal Solvent.

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Triad Holiday Celebration 2012 Part II (Transcription)

Welcome to the second installation of Triad Holiday Celebration. I'm David Ford, host of Triad Arts Weekend. Last week we sampled from Triad singer/songwriters, bowed dulcimer players, poets, brass ensembles, orchestras, choruses, jazz bands, wind ensembles and more. And today on Triad Holiday Celebration we’ll add a storyteller, saxophone quartet, Indian sarod player, harpist, and a rock n roll chorus to our holiday mix. They’re all great performances and I can’t wait to share them with you.

The best part is, for the next hour everything you'll hear will be performed by musicians, poets and writers who call the Piedmont home. It’s a Triad Holiday Celebration Part 2!

Martha Bassett Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

David Soyars We Three Kings

Rhiannon Giddens/Laurelyn Dossett String of Pearls

This is THC with music and poetry by Triad Artists. I’m David Ford and Martha Bassett kicked things off with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. She was joined by the Giannini Brass, and a great rhythm section with pianist Federico Pivetta, Matt Kendrick on Bass, and John Wilson on drums. Pianist David Soyars was next with We Three Kings from his Christmas CD Peace & Joy. David is the organist at College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro. And singer/multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens of The Carolina Chocolate Drops’ teamed up with singer/songwriter Laurelyn Dossett and friends to wrap up that little mini-set with String of Pearls. That’s Laurelyn’s tune from her 2011 release The Gathering.

Time now for a little Triad Pride!

Triad Pride Men’s Chorus Let it Snow!

Frank Voltz Go Tell it on the Mountain

We heard harpist Frank Voltz and his hip little arrangement of Go Tell It On The Mountain. Before that Woody Faulkner led Triad Pride Men’s Chorus in a rousing performance of Let it Snow! This is THC. I’m David Ford and one of the many great holiday traditions we enjoy here in the Triad each December is Black Nativity by Langston Hughes with outstanding annual productions at universities, churches and professional companies. Pianist and singer/songwriter Claire Cu breath has long been inspired by a tune often featured in Black Nativity: Mary Did You Know. She writes that the song has special meaning to her. Claire is visually impaired and the song lyrics include a line that says with Mary’s “baby boy being born, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again”. Claire says the song gives her hope for herself and for others. Here she is with Mary Did You Know with lyrics by Mark Lowry and music written by Buddy Greene.

Claire Culbreath Mary Did You Know

New Century Sax Quartet The Last Noel (arr. Larry Dillon)

That was the New Century Saxophone Quartet and The Last Noel arranged by Lawrence Dillon. Before that little chestnut we heard pianist/singer/songwriter Claire Culbreath performing Mary Did You Know. This is THC Part 2. Part 2 because I’ve received so much great music and poetry for this year’s show that I could not possibly havecrammed it all into one hour. I’m David Ford and it’s time to ROCK with the High Point University Singers.

High Point University Singers Rockin Around the Xmas Tree

Sheila M. Whitley Lights, Camera, Christmas

Tony Griffey & Joe Pecoraro Sweet Little Jesus Boy

Gaurang Doshi Jingle Bells

That’s Winston-Salem’s sarod master Gaurang Doshi and his take on Jingle Bells. Gaurang’s father Dr. Laxmikant Doshi studied with Pandit Ravi Shankar’s guru, and the Doshis were greatly saddened by Ravi Shankar’s recent passing. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described his death as “the passing away of an era”, but the Doshi’s are keeping the great classical Indian music tradition alive right here in the Triad…High Point native Anthony Dean Griffey is keeping the great opera tradition alive—and then some—with four Grammy-Awards under his belt. We heard him sing Sweet Little Jesus Boy with the amazing guitarist UNCSA’s Joseph Pecoraro. That was one of Joe’s great arrangements from their new CD This Little Light. Sheila M. Whitley read her short story Lights, Camera, Christmas, and High Point University Singers rocked our little world with Rockin Around the Christmas Tree. Dr. Marc Foster directed.

Happy Holidays! I’m David Ford and this is Triad Holiday Celebration 2012. I hope you’re enjoying the sounds of the season so far—some familiar, and some maybe not-so-familiar, but it’s all from right here in the Triad. Comin’ up it’s Mary Had a Baby, Wolcum Yole, and a Buglar’s Holiday!

W-S State University Choir Mary Had A Baby

W-S Children’s Chorus Procession and Wolcum Yole! (B. Britten)

Piedmont Wind Symphony Buglar’s Holiday

Rob Simon, The Piedmont Wind Symphony and Buglar’s Holiday. How about that lightning fast tempo huh? Not bad, especially when you consider it’s from a live concert recorded earlier this month.The Winston-Salem Children’s Choir came before that with a stirring performance of Procession and Wolcom Yole from Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. Barbara Beattie conducted. And to start off we heard an incredibly soulful rendition of Mary Had a Baby arranged by Roland Carter, and sung by the Winston-Salem State University Choir. They’re led by D’Wall Simmons Burke with piano accompanist Roy Belfield. That’s from a recent live performance.

I’m David Ford and I’m glad to be along with you sharing some of the best sounds of the season: instrumental, choral, and spoken word, all from local performers. Poet Joe Mills has written a poem especially for this Triad Holiday Celebration. It’s called What We Still Might Have Left ironically enough, and that’s some of what we have left for you coming up next.

Centenary United Methodist (Directed by Dr. Robert Frazier) Come to the Cradle

Joe Mills What We Still Might Have Left

(Poem accompanied by The Cutty Wren performed by Immigrant’s Daughter)

Piedmont Chamber Singers Away in the Manger

Wendy Looker led the Piedmont Chamber Singers in that nice performance of Away in the Manger. Joe Mills walked us through the mind of an aging magician in his poem What We Still Might Have Left, and the Centenary United Methodist Church choir sang Come to the Cradle. They were led by Dr. Robert Frazier.

This is Triad Holiday Celebration. I’m David Ford. I host Triad Arts here on 88.5 WFDD. On the show you can hear from this area’s many talented musicians, poets, artists, dancers and more weekday mornings at 8:35am and evenings at 5:44pm. Friday afternoons at 1:00pm it’s an entire hour of arts on Triad Arts Weekend.

Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, and Christmas are now behind us, and we’re almost to the end of our program. But there’s still some Kwanza celebrating ahead and then it’s time to count down until the New Year. So Happy Holidays to you and yours!

I hope you've enjoyed the wonderful music and spoken word performances offered this year by the many talented musicians, poets and authors who continue to call the Triad home. I’d like to thank the artists for their submissions, thank you for listening, and we leave you now with composer/arranger, conductor, Jack Jarret. Jack’s also the inventor behind Notion music creation software in Greensboro. This is his beautiful arrangement of Silent Night for chorus, orchestra and soprano. He leads the Boston Metropolitan Orchestra and Chorus, with soprano soloist Kathryn Wright.

From everybody here at 88.5 WFDD, Happy New Year!