“WE SANG ALLELUIA, PRAISE THE LORD!”: AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDENTITY AND THE USE AND RECEPTION OF MUSIC WITHIN A SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH IN NEW YORK CITY, 1970 – 2010

Author

Jeryl Lee Cunningham-Fleming, University of KentuckyFollow

Date Available

4-7-2013

Year of Publication

2013

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

College

Fine Arts

Department/School/Program

Music

Advisor

Dr. Everett McCorvey

Abstract

The Ephesus Seventh-day Church, one of the first Black SDA churches that were formed in the New York City area during the late 1920s and early 1930s, is one church that has been faced with the challenge of maintaining traditional repertoire and musical practices, while including more popular genres and styles that lay outside the SDA guidelines. Located in Central Harlem, Ephesus is surrounded by the cultural and historical influences within the Harlem community. The Ephesus Church, based on extant hymnals and the recollections of church members, continued in the Euro-centric musical traditions of early SDA churches until the 1960s, when it began to explore African-inspired musical practices. Around 1970, close in time to the SDA 1972 Music Guidelines were instituted, a struggle between Euro-centric versus Afro-centric musical cultures became apparent. Following introductory chapters on the history of African-American membership in the SDA Church from the 19^th century to the early 20^th century and early musical leaders of Ephesus Church, the musical practices of Ephesus from 1970 to 2010 serves as the focus of this study.

Recommended Citation

Cunningham-Fleming, Jeryl Lee, "“WE SANG ALLELUIA, PRAISE THE LORD!”: AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDENTITY AND THE USE AND RECEPTION OF MUSIC WITHIN A SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH IN NEW YORK CITY, 1970 – 2010" (2013). Theses and Dissertations--Music. 15.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/15