Nick Ross, SBC assistant professor of music, will perform a solo piano recital at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7 in Memorial Chapel.

Ross will play Virginia composer John Powell’s suites “In the South” and “At the Fair,” as well as his Sonate noble. The concert is part of Ross’ preparation for a recording that he will make with Centaur records in January. According to Ross, it will be the first commercial release of the works apart from his own earlier recording of “At the Fair.”

Powell, who lived from 1882 to 1963, achieved fame and influence during his lifetime. Virginia even dedicated a day to him in 1951. But his music has virtually disappeared from the body of frequently performed repertoire, Ross said.

“The reasons for this are inextricably connected with Powell’s obsessive and unpleasant focus on racial issues from the 1920s onward. However, his early music seems to transcend this racism and is notable for its many innovations,” he said.

Those earlier works include the suites “In the South” (1906) and “At the Fair” (1907), and his “Rhapsodie négre” (1918), for piano and orchestra, which he performed all over the United States to great acclaim. At that time, he was considered one of America’s most important composers, striving towards a uniquely American music, using Anglo-Saxon folk elements as well as African-American music.

Powell later rejected African-American elements in his music as his racist views intensified. Ross, and others, belief his work suffered because it.

For more information about the concert, please contact Ross at nross@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6121.