In this collaborative project, we partnered with the music students, creating a meaningful intersection between visual art and performance. Music and graphic design students worked together to bring a shared creative vision to life. I worked with one of the music students, a talented vocalist whose expressive voice was ideal for this piece. She performed a moving interpretation of Countee Cullen’s poem “A Brown Girl Dead,” originally set to music by Margaret Bonds. Her performance brought emotional depth and sensitivity to the work.
Margaret Bonds
Design Category
ENTERTAINMENT/EXPERIMENTAL
Margaret Bonds History
Margaret Bonds was a 20th-century American composer, pianist, and arranger
Known for blending classical music with African American spirituals, poetry, and jazz influences
Born in 1913 in Chicago and raised in a culturally rich musical environment
Studied piano and composition, including training at Northwestern University
One of the first Black women to gain national recognition as a composer in the U.S.
Famous for collaborations with poet Langston Hughes, setting his poetry to music
Composed art songs, orchestral works, choral pieces, and vocal music
Helped bring African American musical traditions into classical music spaces
Created The Ballad of the Brown King, a major cantata highlighting Black historical figures
Broke barriers in classical music as a Black woman composer
Legacy is known for emotional depth, cultural impact, and representation in American classical music
Lyrics
Posters
Mood Board
