FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Black Sacred Music Masters Degree program has wrapped up its first summer semester.
Grammy Award-winning Dr. Jeffrey Murdock started the program as the founding director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music. He spent nine years as the conductor of the Universities Inspirational Chorale.
"You cannot talk about Black Sacred Music without first understanding the history," Dr. Murdock said. "Sadly, this genre, and genres that are associated with it, have not been taken as seriously as they should. Part of that is because this music has been passed down by oral tradition."
Dr. Murdock explained that with many African American, African, and Black studies at the University, it made sense to form the degree. He gathered with colleagues three years ago to create the academic program.
According to the degree page, "No other such degree program exists in the United States. Our program is supported by a gift from the Alice L. Walton Foundation. This three-year M.M. program, a summer-only program, will be housed within the Department of Music at the University of Arkansas. While there are several sacred music programs throughout the United States, this program is forward-looking by virtue of its focus specifically on Black Sacred Music."
"Yes, it's fun to sing, it's fun to perform. It is for many of us a major part of who we are. However, it's also worthy of studying and writing down and sharing that history and the academic side of those things with the world," Dr. Murdock said.
Classes for the degree started in late June and ended in July. They welcomed seven students for their first cohort. Amongst the faculty joining the Arkansas Center for Black Music, Jake Hertzog taught Innovators of Jazz music for the summer semester.
"This music ties in really well to all sorts of forms of American music and Black music and Black diasporic music," Hertzog said. "We have performers and scholars and researchers, and folks coming from all sorts of musical and academic backgrounds."
The students will return for two more semesters before becoming the first with the historic degree.
"This is an incredibly special and moving experience to interact with these students, with these guest faculty, with our regular faculty," Hertzog said.
"They rose to the occasion, they worked together to produce their research, and I'm looking forward to the ways in which they will impact the world, as musicians and scholars," Dr. Murdock added.
Dr. Murdock explained that they plan on accepting seven to ten more students for the next summer semester. They'll take 36 students a year by their third semester.
Applications will soon open for next summer but close on October 15.
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