About Open Ears: So many people who made invaluable contributions to classical music were underappreciated in their time, or have been nearly lost to history. That’s why KUSC is starting Open Ears, a series of stories about composers, musicians, and conductors who deserve more recognition. You can learn more and explore other articles here.
Jester Hairston was born in 1901 in Bellows Creek, North Carolina, near the plantation where his grandparents had been slaves. Not long after he was born, his family moved to the steel mill town of Homestead, Pennsylvania. Later on, Hairston said, “There’s nothing to do there but work in steel mills. That’s the reason I got out of there as quickly as I could.”
Hairston studied at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Tufts University, and Juilliard. After Julliard, he became the assistant director of the Hall Johnson Choir in New York and it was there that he developed his interest in African-American spirituals.
He trained choirs for radio and Broadway musicals. When he came to Hollywood in 1936, he sang and appeared with the Hall Johnson Choir in the movie The Green Pastures, the story of a preacher in a small church in Louisiana.
In 1943, Hairston formed his own choir and throughout the 40’s he arranged and conducted choral music for background use in films. When filmmakers stopped using large choral ensembles, Hairston worked as a character actor on radio and television and in movies.
This is one of his most popular arrangements:
One of Hairston’s original compositions is so authentic-sounding that it’s often mistaken for a traditional tune. He wrote it for the 1963 movie Lilies of the Field. In this scene, Sidney Poitier is teaching the song to a group of nuns. The voice is not Poitier; it was dubbed by Jester Hairston.
Alan Chapman, in addition to his weekday morning program, is also the host and producer of two weekend programs: Modern Times and A Musical Offering.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. He is currently a member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. He was a longtime member of the music faculty at Occidental College and has also been a visiting professor at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. His analytical work has appeared in the Journal of Music Theory and in The New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, winner of the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music.
Well known as a pre-concert lecturer, Alan has been a regular speaker on the L.A. Philharmonic's "Upbeat Live" series since its inception in 1984. He also works closely with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pacific Symphony. His lectures have been presented by virtually every major performing organization in southern California. He has been heard globally as programmer and host of the inflight classical channel on Delta Airlines.
Alan is also active as a composer/lyricist. His songs have been performed and recorded by many artists around the world and have been honored by ASCAP, the Johnny Mercer Foundation, and the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. His children's opera Les Moose: The Operatic Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was commissioned by LA Opera for its 1997-98 season. Alan frequently appears in cabaret evenings with his wife, soprano Karen Benjamin. They made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 and performed at Lincoln Center in 2006. Their recent CD, Que Será, Será: The Songs of Livingston and Evans, features the late Ray Evans telling the stories behind such beloved songs as "Mona Lisa" and "Silver Bells."
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