2015 McCormack Artist-Scholars: Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon

Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon, two musicians known for their socially conscious compositions and their distinctive performing styles, will be at Skidmore College next week as its McCormack Visiting Artist-Scholars. Their residency will end with a public concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, in the Arthur Zankel Music Center.

Admission is $8 for the general public, $5 for seniors and for Skidmore faculty and staff, and free for students. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Zankel Box Office at 580-5321.

Bernice Johnson Reagon, a scholar, singer, and activist for over half a century, has been a profound contributor to African American and American culture. Born in southwest Georgia, she developed a singing style and traditional repertoire grounded in her experiences in church, school, and political activism. As a composer, she has created a narrative of her social and political activism. She performed as a member of the SNCC Freedom Singers during the 1960s; she founded an all-women a cappella ensemble, the Harambee Singers, during the Black Cultural Movement. She founded the internationally acclaimed Sweet Honey In The Rock group and led it for 30 years until retirement.  

Her daughter Toshi Reagon also is a noted composer and the producer, founder, and leader of her own ensemble, Toshi Reagon and Big Lovely. She has been described as “a one-woman celebration of all that’s dynamic, progressive and uplifting in American music.”

The artists have created two operas, The Temptation of St. Anthony and Zinnias, the Life of Clementine Hunter; the music scores for “Africans in America” on PBS and “BEAH: A Black Woman Speaks” for HBO; and numerous studio recordings. Their latest project is an opera based on the novel Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.

During their Nov. 9-13 residency, they will visit a variety of classes, lead a master class with advanced music students and participate in other events with students and faculty across disciplines and majors.

Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon have a special connection to Skidmore: Tashawn Reagon, a member of Skidmore’s Class of 2016, is Toshi’s daughter and Bernice’s granddaughter. Last fall the three generations of Reagon women provided the keynote address at the annual Facing Race national conference, the largest multiracial, intergenerational gathering for organizers, educators, creatives and other leaders. Approximately 1,600 people attended the event.