King of Prussia, PA — Theodore Presser Company is excited to announce the publication of In His Hand: Seven Spirituals (Theodore Presser Company - 451-40015 • $12.95) arranged by breakthrough black female composer Margaret Bonds. The collection notably features “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand,” an arrangement made famous by Leontyne Price, pioneering black soprano, as well as “Go Tell it On the Mountain,” “Ezek’el Saw the Wheel,” and four more. Each of these arrangements were previously available as separate publications, and are now all found in this collection, a fitting tribute.

A native of Chicago, Margaret Bonds grew up in a home visited by many of the leading black intellectuals of the era; among houseguests were soprano Abbie Mitchell and composers Florence Price and Will Marion Cook. While still in school, she studied composition with Price and with William Dawson. Bonds worked as an accompanist for dances and singers in various shows and supper clubs around Chicago; she also copied music parts for other composers, and became involved with the National Association of Negro Musicians. Upon her high school graduation, Bonds became one of the few black students at Northwestern University. Her song "Sea-Ghost" won a Wanamaker Award in 1932; two years later, at the age of 21, she left Northwestern with a bachelor's and master's degree, both in music. She performed as a pianist with numerous local organizations, appearing in 1933 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performing Florence Price's piano concerto with the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago the following year. While living in New York, Bonds began further study in piano and composition at the Juilliard School; she also began to study composition privately with Roy Harris and Emerson Harper. She also attempted to gain lessons with Nadia Boulanger, who upon looking at her work said that she needed no further study and refused to teach her. The work that Bonds showed Boulanger was The Negro Speaks of Rivers, a setting for voice and piano of a poem by Langston Hughes. Hughes and Bonds were great friends, and she set much of his work to music. (From Africlassical.com)

Offering music by today’s greatest composers and teachers, Theodore Presser Company is the leader in publishing educational and recital music. Theodore Presser Company is a full-range music publisher and distributes the music of over 30 publishers from around the globe, with a combined sales catalog that features over 60,000 available works. For more information about new publications from Theodore Presser Company or to locate a dealer near you, log on to www.presser.com or e-mail us at sales@presser.com. For a review copy of the publication listed in this release, please contact Heidi Vanderlee at (212) 777-0900, ext. 230 or send an e-mail to hvanderlee@presser.com.