Passion Programs
Passion programs combine music and spoken word to take audiences on a journey. Each speaks to a specific social theme with music of different genres, interwoven with commentary on how they connect to our own lives.
Oh, Glory! (OG)
Oh, Glory! (OG) grew out of a desire to celebrate Black American musical history; it gathers some of the core repertoire of five great Black musicians (Paul Robeson, Roland Hayes, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and Robert McFerrin, Sr.) to invoke their spirits, honor their accomplishments, and inspire us to question the status quo. Nina Simone said that “Freedom is the absence of fear", and music can help us taste that freedom. Here’s a recent interview about OG (with a little about my frequent collaborator EMAP at the end): https://youtu.be/HGZzabFe2w8?si=ulVSw86xurtiNGmj
OG2
The first "Oh, Glory!" was all about showing the irrelevance of musical and racial boxes. "OG2" is all about exploring different Black composers, and the Black poets they set to music. The complexity and variety of these songs shows that again, boxes are silly, in music and in life. Our lives are all different, and our experiences are all valid. This program focusses on the glory and depth of Blackness, and on my lived experience as a Black musician.
Ladies Only
Imagine a world where artistic merit determines whose music we hear the most. Imagine a world where music truly unites us, where all our voices are heard. That world isn't the one we live in now...but it could be, and this program is a very, very small taste of what that world would be like.
Ladies Only is all music composed by women, many of whom are all too often spoken of in connection with the men in their lives. These women and their work stand out on their own, and I’m honoured to channel their stories and songs.
Reviews:
“There will doubtless be other concerts on MLK’s birthday weekend, but none will be delivered with more beauty and thoughtfulness than “Oh, Glory!... Dargan’s enunciation was strikingly clear, his voice, especially when he went into his high register, a thing of beauty.”
— Susan Miron (The Boston Musical Intelligencer)
“ The students sat in rapt attention along with the rest of the audience. James has a large and compelling presence and voice, and his spoken words were as communicative as the ones he sang.”
— Stephen Stubbs, artistic director of Pacific Music Works
“The latest featured a superb baritone from New York, James Dargan, who sang spirituals, art songs by Schubert and Verdi, even a Persian love song by Anton Rubinstein.
His is a beautiful voice which he used with nuanced musicianship and fine technique to give every song its due in meaning and emotion.”
— Phillipa Kiraly, The Sun Break
Use the ‘Contact Me’ page to inquire about hosting one of the above programs or collaborating on a new passion project.