Page 26 - CJSept24

William Dawson: A Personal Reflection

under the baton of legendary conductor Leopold Sto- his own African American folksong settings? Southern
kowski, gave him special delight. Sadly, it was not pro- Division leadership happily embraced the idea and
grammed so often fifty years later. Pickard approved gave the green light.
right away. We would bring the Winston-Salem Sym- Later in September of that same year, my office
phony, playing far better than its budget suggested it phone rang. “Hello, Kinchen,” I said in my customary
should, to campus, but would leverage our institutional greeting.
resources to feature a work by an African American “Dawson,” came the reply.
composer on this HBCU campus. I was a bit confused. “I’m sorry. You must have the
Pickard dispatched me to ask Dawson if he would wrong number. There is no Dawson here!”
consider doing a residency and being consultant to “This is Dawson,” the caller responded. I was speech-
orchestra music director Peter Perret. Then, Pickard less! He continued: “I’m here at the Holiday Inn. I just
asked me if I would like to have Dawson come into called Dan Andrews [his former student] and now, I’m
one of my choral rehearsals and work with my singers calling you. I want you birds to come over here and
as part of his visit. You have no idea how many times I see me!” Dawson explained that he had been to Ra-
pinched myself as William Dawson stood in my choir leigh, a couple of hours east of us, to testify at a copy-
room and worked with my choir on Lit’l’ Boy Chile, In right infringement trial. He was now on his way back
His Care-O, and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. His Symphony to Alabama—driving—and thought he should stop for
was wonderfully played and received with appreciation the night.
at the concert. Once I hung up, I collected myself and called Dan
I chaired Local Arrangements for the 1988 ACDA to confirm that this was not some sort of prank. We
Southern Division Conference in Winston-Salem. had dinner with Dawson, and when the server brought
Dawson called me and asked me to arrange his lodging. a bowl of vanilla ice cream (he had asked for a scoop),
We even got a chance to enjoy a meal: Dawson; his for- the disciplined man that he was, Dawson had a couple
mer Tuskegee student, Daniel Webster Andrews, Jr.; a of spoonsful and left the rest! We went back to his ho-
local choral leader and member of my committee; and tel room and continued to talk. Then without warn-
myself. Sharing the evening meal with Dawson also ing and unrelated to any particular prompt, Dawson
meant sharing a couple of end-of-day rituals: his “vice” started singing the refrain of his iconic Soon-Ah Will Be
of ordering a single scoop of vanilla ice cream and his Done, gently conducting it in duple meter from his chair
enlisting the aid of friends to put drops of glaucoma- as he sang.
control medication in his eyes. Dawson led the general I last saw Dawson a year and a half later in Birming-
session of that convention in the singing his setting of ham, site of the 1990 Southern Division Conference. I
Every time I feel the Spirit. had left the division to accept an appointment at Uni-
versity of Wisconsin-Parkside. My esteemed colleague,
Robert L. Morris, had taken on leadership of the Daw-
Tribute Performance son tribute that I had proposed, and with Bob’s usual
This great man, now about to complete his ninth de- deep care for “getting it right” and attention to detail,
cade of life, deserved special recognition from ACDA, had brought my idea to wonderful fruition. Dan An-
and, especially, the region of ACDA where he had done drews had made the trip from North Carolina. When
so much of his work—the region from which the songs we saw Dawson, we were both happy to see him but
of its enslaved sons and daughters caught his attention shocked at his appearance. He had been a very agile
as a youngster and became so central to his creativ- and mobile man. Now he had a cane and was much
ity and choral artistry. I proposed a special session to slower, almost fragile. We soon learned why.
honor Dawson at the next conference two years hence! Dawson’s wife, Cecile, had been facing health chal-
What could be more appropriate than for him to hear lenges, but Dawson saw himself being able to take care
a large choir of students from HBCUs from across the of her. However, one day she took a fall in their home,
South, schools not unlike his beloved Tuskegee, singing and he was unable to get her up. The episode itself was

24 CHORAL JOURNAL September 2024 Volume 65 Number 2