What is Nikoyle Noel?
Nikoyle Noel is a collective of musicians. They are not only classically trained in orchestral performance, but also church and R&B. They perform a fusion of hip hop/soul and classical music which they call a new genre: Symphonic Soul.
The name is created after the middle names of the creators:
Da’Kneisha Nikoyle Blount and Justin Noel Hall.
What is the goal of Nikoyle Noel?
This collective has 2 goals:
- create concerts that highlights the beauty, creativity and aural architecture of both classical and R&B music
- use the profits from their performances to fund our soon to be established non-profit, The Nikoyle Noel Foundation, that aims to provide instruments and financial aid to black and brown students that want to pursue music seriously, but don’t have the means to do so.
The Founders:*
Da’Kneisha Nikoyle Blount will be completing her Bachelors Degree in Opera Performance from Kansas City Kansas Community College in 2021. She also attended Emporia State University and Wichita State University during the completion of her degree. Da’Kneisha has been singing for 30 years at her home church of Grace Tabernacle. She’s performed in plays such as Cinderella, Little Shop of Horrors, and as Vita in Gianni Schicchi for a 2019 Tour through Spain and Portugal.
Justin Noel Hall graduated from Wichita State University with a Masters Degree in Music Performance in 2019. He’s worked as the Assistant Drumline Instructor at Derby High School for nine seasons since 2009. Justin has also been the music director at Holy Savior Catholic Church since 2014, and been singing with the Gospel Choir since 2009.
What is Tupac Meets Bach? *
“There’s a conversation going on within the classical music community that concerns itself with the lack of racial and gender diversity with personnel both on and off stage. Although women have made significant strides as conductors, musicians and composers, we’re not seeing enough music written by Black composers played by orchestras and chamber groups.
In a system that continues to place the music of 18th-century European musicians in the forefront, we’ve chosen to compose and perform original works of art that share Black stories told from Black perspectives to relate classical music to Black audiences and foster a desire to study music amongst young black students. Think of this as Tupac meets Bach… (link facebook)
This is a way for us to reach the minds of Black kids who may have never thought of picking up an instrument, perhaps a violin or piano, but because of the connection to music they listen to and the music their parents listen to, we can begin that dialogue and entertain the possibility of these students being “classical” musicians. I use classical in quotations because the aim isn’t to foster Black kids that play only traditional classical music, but also learn how to improvise, play jazz and r&b, and use the fullness of their lived experience in their playing and expression.
Through this project, we will create scholarships for young musicians to provide them instruments, cover the cost of private lessons, pay for college audition fees, etc. However, we need your help to do so.”
-Nikolye Noel
*info pulled from their gofundme
How can you help Nikoyle Noel?
- check out their patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tupacmeetsbach or their go fund me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tupacmeetsbach to help with the costs of funding the project
