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Dr. William D. Banks presents a recital of original songs that preserves southern African praise poetry -- a historic poetic style that uses metaphor and figurative language to describe the qualities of people, animals, and objects. Dr. Banks's songs cover a range of subjects, from blacksmiths, beer pots, and mythic heroes to hunters, birds, honey wine and more. His interest in these subjects developed from adventures as a researcher in five African countries, where he built relationships with a variety of communities and natives as he lived among them and participated in their lives. His unique musical style preserves an ancient African song tradition.Dr. Banks’s background in both singing and anthropology has shaped this unique program of original songs inspired by African culture and traditional music. He has a diverse singing background that includes opera, musical theater, liturgical music, and corporate events. His performance credits in opera include Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Nardo (La Finta Giardiniera), Frédéric (Lakmé), and Der Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte). His musical theater credits include Newt Lee (Parade), Booker T. Washington (Ragtime), and John the Baptist (Godspell). Dr. Banks has also performed as a cantor in both Catholic and Protestant churches. His work as a cantor at the Christian Church of Wilkinsburg is featured in the Wilkinsburg Sacred Spaces Tour documentary, produced by the Religious Architectural Heritage Committee of Preservation Pittsburgh.
Dr. Banks began singing publicly in the late 1990s in musical theater productions. His singing as John the Baptist in Godspell with Saltworks Theatre Company in November of 1999 (when he was 16 years old) was acclaimed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. After graduating from the distinguished Winchester Thurston School, he pursued undergraduate training in opera at the College of Music at Loyola University New Orleans, with additional study at the Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria, and the MasterWorks Festival. His studies at Loyola and in Austria were funded in part by the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Guild, whose support of his singing career began when he was awarded the Constance T. Rockwell Scholarship in 2001. In 2003, the Pittsburgh CLO invited him to perform at the Pink Frolic Ball, where it was his performance of “America the Beautiful” that “brought guests to their feet,” the Post-Gazette reported.
Desiring a stronger connection with his African heritage, he pursued graduate studies in cultural anthropology, which included numerous field trips to Benin, Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). While studying a broad range of subjects, he built relationships with a variety of communities and natives as he lived among them and participated in their lives. His experiences in Africa helped to shape his current artistic interest in composing songs that draw on Africa’s rich and diverse musical and poetic heritage. For more information about Dr. Banks’s portfolio background, which includes teaching, writing, and various activities in the performing arts, please visit www.williamdbanks.com.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Monroeville Public Library, 4000 Gateway Campus Blvd, Monroeville, United States