Podcast
A strong moral compass
We each carry a lens shaped by how we see the world, what drives us, and what we value. For me, the foundation of who I am is built on integrity, honesty, and an unwavering respect for all living beings. Ethics and a strong moral compass are not just ideals, they are the core of my personality and how I choose to live and with whom I choose to associate.
Living these principles in all aspects of her career is this week’s guest on the MyBlueSkiesMusic Podcast – my friend and collaborator Yolanda F. Johnson, a New York-based singer, composer and philanthropy consultant. She is the President and Founder of YFJ Consulting. Her philanthropic work includes counseling philanthropists on where to direct their resources, and through her own YFJ Philanthropies, she personally gives back to causes supporting equity, those with disabilities and the arts.
In this episode, you will hear a conversation that touches on themes of creative allyship, musical intersectionality, musicology, cultural exchange, spirituality and mentorship. You also will hear the rich clarity of Yolanda’s soprano singing voice faithfully transmitted over the internet via MyBlueSkiesMusic’s proprietary low-latency audio. Yolanda sings a spiritual – a sorrow song entitled “Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray” – and an excerpt from “Night”, the beloved composition by ground-breaking 20th Century African-American composer Florence Price. She also beautifully models her “Radiant Lip Gloss” from the Women of Color Fundraising and Philanthropy website.
Yolanda and I go back to pre-COVID New York, when the world was my oyster. I had spent decades making my mark in the music world with international performances, recordings, master classes, and championing contemporary composers. I was at the helm of a music organization whose crowning achievement was being awarded a grant by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in 2020 to present a festival in Queens, New York celebrating women composers and performers. The occasion: 100 years of women’s suffrage in the United States.
The organization hired Yolanda’s company to create a five-year strategic plan. The future looked bright, until the pandemic torpedoed the New York music community overnight. When New York City locked down, the festival did too – although we were able to use the grant money to make recordings, which can be found here.
During that challenging time, Yolanda proved to be both a professional of great integrity and a devoted friend. I have had the privilege of performing with her many times, often in collaboration with our mutual friend, David Fetherolf, composer and former Editor and Production Manager of Premiere Works at G. Schirmer, Inc.
My musical offering this time around is a cello rendition of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, which I performed in New Orleans in 2022 at the posthumous pardoning of Homer A. Plessy. A civil rights activist, Mr. Plessy was arrested when he refused to move to a “colored-only” passenger train car. What was so remarkable, profound and moving for me as I played those immortal notes was to hear the descendants of freedom riders singing along with Johnson’s rousing lyrics as we brought the Black National Anthem to a triumphant conclusion.
My connection to Homer A. Plessy is my great-great grandfather, John Marshall Harlan I, who was the famous “lone dissenter” who argued against racial segregation in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson United States Supreme Court case. His dissent set the legal precedent that became foundational in U.S. civil rights jurisprudence.
In addition to celebrating people who have made a difference, Yolanda and I muse about the nature of creativity and how, as far as we know, human beings are the only species capable of spontaneous imagination. From centuries-old wooden instruments to new musical compositions to advanced technologies like MyBlueSkiesMusic, our innovations can actually amplify that imagination. When analog and virtual tools are intentionally designed to work together, they elevate how we connect, communicate, and transcend mere coexistence with mutual appreciation – and inspiration.