An Interview with Rollo A. Dilworth on “Joyfully together”

The Washington Chorus, in collaboration with Wolf Trap, is proud to be producing Joyfully Together, a vocally-powered community event that celebrates the power of singing. Joyfully Together is coming to Wolf Trap’s Filene Center on September 18th at 5pm. Tickets on sale now for as low as 10$

Today we had the pleasure of sitting down with Rollo A. Dilworth, who is the Vice Dean of the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts at Temple University. Rollo also happens to be the composer of “United in Purpose,” a piece that will be performed at Joyfully Together in just over a week.

Thanks for joining us, Rollo!

Happy to be here!

Tell us, what do you usually start with when you're composing a new piece? Is it a story, a theme or something else?

I try to find compelling text. In much of the music that I write, I am heavily relying on the writings of African American poets because I believe that they have lots to say, not only about the times and the circumstances in which they were living, but I think that often the words they wrote have immense relevance and meaning in the present day.

Many of my pieces utilize the words of giants like Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Maya Angelou, and William Stanley Braithwaite, for example, these are all people whose voices should be amplified, yet many people don't know who some of them are.

I always start with their words, and I study them many times over to get a sense of the energy and the character and the ethos of what is being said through those words. And I try to capture that in the music that I write, which of course, is an attempt on my part to elevate and to amplify those words.

It's all about contributing to their legacy.

So how did the concept for “United in Purpose” come to you?

I read a lot of poetry, as you can imagine, and I wanted to create a message that was short, straightforward and centered around the themes of unity and community. It ties into the central idea of the concert which is all of us sharing in not only the celebration of being together, but also celebrating the responsibility of doing the work that it takes to bring people together and to sustain these very diverse and inclusive communities that we hope for.

I was reading the words of Maya Angelou in a book of hers entitled Rainbow in the Cloud, and it's a memoir consisting of short chapters and life lessons about a lot of different things.

And I stumbled upon these words and fell in love with them. I just knew that these words needed to go out into the universe in song format, because not enough people will ever read these words… But I can do my part to make sure that more people hear them.

So what was your experience working with Eugene and TWC on this piece?

Oh, it's been absolutely wonderful. Eugene has a strong resonance with the words, the rhythmic sort of pulse and gospel style groove that the piece has. And I think it's been really fascinating because Eugene's mission is to find ways to bring people from diverse backgrounds together through choral music.

And I certainly resonate with that mission as well. We're really looking forward to performing this piece because we really think that the tune is catchy enough and the words are compelling enough that people in the audience will feel as though they have had some sort of emotional, visceral and maybe even transformational experience.

If you want to have impact and you want to inspire, you can't just make sure the music hits the head, you've got to make sure it hits the heart.

When did you realize that you wanted to be a composer?

I was about seven years old, and I was really excited about music and choir at school. I started writing poetry, but then it turned into poetry plus melody. And my music teacher looked at some of the things that I was doing and said to me, I think you have some talent and skill in this area, consider growing that talent, studying and learning more about music… And that was about 45 years ago.

And what was your first piece of music that you published?

I didn't publish my first piece of music until I was well into my twenties. I'd been writing music long before that time, but I began to get encouragement and support of people who were in the industry and they said to me, you've got to get your music published.

My first published piece was entitled “Everlasting Melody,” and I got the publishing contract in 1998 when I was 28 years old. I wrote the words and the music and it's still in print to this day!

Did you go to school for music composition?

While it’s more common now, a composition degree is hard to find in the undergraduate world. I went to school for music education because I wanted to be a teacher. And of course, in a music education program, you learn how to play piano, you learn how to sing, and you learn music theory.

And when I got out of my undergraduate program, I started teaching middle school, and that's when I really started to use my compositional skills because I had middle school students who could not necessarily sing the music that was in print because of vocal range, because of rhythms, and for a lot of other reasons.

I started creating my own arrangements of the music to help them be successful based upon where they were in their musical development. After that I got a master’s in education and studied composition privately with Robert Ray. Then I got my doctorate in conducting performance with a minor in composition and studied with three composition professors at Northwestern University.

Would you say that your first love is teaching music?

I think at this point in my life, I have more fully integrated this idea of being a teacher, conductor and a composer. I used to separate them out a little bit more, but as I've gotten older, I've come to understand that one of those areas of my life really does feed the other. When people ask me what I do, I literally say, I'm a conductor-teacher-composer. Hyphenate, hyphenate, hyphenate.

Do you have a particular piece of music or an artist that you would point to as who or what inspired your passion for music?

I would say Robert Ray, who wrote the Gospel Mass, was a huge influence on my life because he was, at that time when I was a little kid, the only living African American male composer that I knew of.

And he lived right in my town in St. Louis. I even eventually studied with him for my master's degree. As a kid in the 1970s, I was listening to his compositions in the St. Louis area and watching him work.

And then later in my life, I began to learn about the work of Robert Harris, who was my principal teacher at Northwestern University. It's really the two Roberts who have had a great influence in my life. And to this day, I still feel as though much of who I am is really a reflection and combination of those two.

Robert Ray (above) and Robert Harris, two artists Rollo Dilworth cites as integral to his development as a composer.

That really does prove that representation matters in media. TWC’s Mahogany Initiative is all about amplifying the voices of artists of color and increasing representation in classical music. What role do you think that classical music can play in social justice and creating a more equal society?

This is sort of a difficult question to answer because everyone's going to have a different idea on it. But my take on it is I think the classical music industry needs to examine the role it has played in the marginalization and the underrepresentation of African American voices in the field.

I think that will begin the conversations that need to happen for us to move forward with a renewed sense of what it means to be more inclusive and more diverse. And many parts of the industry have attempted to widen the tent, so to speak. But unless you deal with the history behind the narrowing of the tent, you cannot have perspective in the present with widening the tent.

We need to acknowledge and recognize that there has been some harm caused in the past. And I don't think we can move forward in this renaissance moment of classical music if we don’t.

Thank you Rollo, we are so looking forward to seeing your piece at Joyfully Together on September 18th at Wolf Trap.

Thank you!

Don’t miss Joyfully Together, a community-powered singing celebration where the best part is YOU are invited to become a member of a massive group choir during sing-along moments set to popular songs such as "Lean On Me," "Oh Shenandoah," and more!

Join us at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center on Sunday, September 18 at 5pm for Joyfully Together, a live music experience. Tickets are on sale now here. ($10!)