There’s no shortage of works that celebrate the sensibilities of the French, but what you may not be as familiar with is classical music from French-speaking Haiti. While there are many composers contributing to this corner of the repertoire, today, there are a few who actually paved the way. Bonjour – I’m Loki Karuna, and on this edition of Noteworthy, I’d like to highlight one of those composers whose name you may not know: Julio Racine.
Born in Port-au-Prince in 1945, Julio Racine began his musical journey at the local conservatory before earning a scholarship to study in the United States at the University of Louisville. As a talented flutist, he understood the instrument’s capabilities, and wrote flute music that blended his western classical training with the cultural heritage of his homeland. Among those was this – a work her called the Voodoo Jazz Suite.
After returning to Haiti, he served for many years as the conductor of the Holy Trinity Philharmonic Orchestra, and later moved back to Kentucky, where he lived, taught, and wrote music until he passed away in 2020. As classical music from Haiti plays a growing role in today’s ecosystem, it’s important to remember those who came before, including Julio Racine – one of history’s most Noteworthy composers.
Noteworthy is a production of WDAV Classical Public Radio.