Toni-Marie Palmertree
So Lit Song Lit Co-Host
Appears in 65 Episodes
Francesca Caccini
Francesca Caccini (1587-1640) came from a very important musical family, studying music with her father alongside her brother and sister. A noted singer and voice teac...
Season 4 Trailer
The So Lit Song Lit academy is back in session - Season 4 drops starting August 19th! This season, Toni Marie and Ellen focus on women composers from the 16th century ...
Afro-Latin Songs (ft. Zuly Inirio)
In the final episode of Season 3, our guest Dr. Zuly Inirio of the Afro-Latinx Song & Opera Project shows us some fabulous songs by Afro-Latin composers that she uses ...
B. E. Boykin and M. Roger Holland II
B.E. Boykin is a graduate of Spelman college, Westminster College, and holds a doctorate from Georgia State University. In addition to Moments in Sonder, she has an ex...
Carlos Simon and Dave Ragland: Songs
This episode was inspired by the program of a colleague that was posted on Facebook! Both Carlos Simon and Dave Ragland are modern composers working with some of the m...
Songs from the Anthologies
This episode offers a taste of a few different songs from the anthologies that we've been talking about all season, all of which would be a great addition to everyone'...
Dorothy Rudd Moore: Songs (plus a few other composers)
This episode is an eclectic mixture of pieces and composers, starting with two song cycles by Dorothy Rudd Moore! Born and raised on the East Coast, she studied with N...
Rosephanye Powell and Betty Jackson King: Songs (ft. Sonya Baker)
On this episode we focus on some songs of Rosephanye Powell and Betty Jackson King, both amazing women with some fabulous songs to their credit. All of these songs are...
Adolphus Hailstork: Songs (ft. Darryl Taylor and Kenneth Overton)
Adolphus Hailstork is an active, award-winning composer with a great output of art songs - and he's another name in our growing list of fabulous composers who studied ...
Robert Owens: Songs
Robert Owens (1925-2017) funded his musical studies in Europe on the GI bill after serving in the military. He lived most of his adult life in Germany and in addition ...
Valerie Capers: Song of the Seasons (ft. Louise Toppin)
Valerie Capers (b. 1935) was Juilliard's first blind student pianist, earning both her bachelor's and master's degrees there, and at the encouragement of her brother h...
John D. Carter: Cantata (ft. Casey Robards)
John D. Carter's Cantata was premiered in 1959 by Leontyne Price and David Garvey. A great pianist in his own right, Carter's song cycle is challenging for the pianist...
H. Leslie Adams: Songs (ft. Darryl Taylor)
H. Leslie Adams (1932-2024) is best-known for his vocal compositions, with a large output of art songs and song cycles to choose from, and his works have been performe...
Margaret Bonds: Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay (ft. Lester Lynch, M. Roger Holland II)
Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) is probably best known for her setting of "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands", but has an extensive repertoire of art songs, which have ...
Zenobia Powell Perry: Songs
Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004) decided to become a classical pianist when she heard Hazel Harrison (the first Black musician to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic)...
Howard Swanson: Songs
Howard Swanson (1907-1978) studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and went on to study at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger. He was close with poet Langston Hugh...
Undine Smith Moore: Songs
Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989) was a classical pianist who trained at several prestigious universities, and despite her professors urging her to become a professional,...
Florence Price: Songs
Known as a symphonic composer, Florence Price was the first African-American female to have one of her composition performed by a major orchestra in the US. Her music ...
William Grant Still: Songs of Separation (ft. Lester Lynch, M. Roger Holland, II)
William Grant Still (1895-1978) was the first African-American to have a symphony performed by a major US orchestra (Symphony No. 1-"Afro-American" in 1931), to have a...
R. Nathaniel Dett & Hall Johnson: Songs
R. Nathaniel Dett was a Canadian-American composer and concert pianist with a degree from Oberlin College. His arrangements of spirituals use the piano to great effect...