Mission Statement

Promote and Uplift the contributions made by African-Americans to art song, be they composers, performers or scholars. Art song here is defined as belonging to the tradition of Western art culture.

Serve the needs of scholars, teachers, and performers seeking information about African-American art song. Such service includes maintenance of this web site.

Share information and repertoire between teachers, scholars, and performers. It is essential to the mission of AASA that repertoire not be considered as a precious commodity to be kept from other performers. This repertoire must be performed, repeatedly, by many performers if it is to make its way into the mainstream of literature.

Encourage performance and scholarship related to African-American art song. This is done by the presentation of performances, lectures, and the publishing of articles in nationally recognized periodicals.

Recognizing that this music is best served with excellence in its presentation, AASA will seek to support the highest calibre of performance and scholarship.

The African American Art Song Alliance was founded in 1997