PARTNERS
The Black-E Arts Centre
The Black-E (formerly The Blackie) began with the commitment to combine a contemporary arts centre with a community centre. When - having taken over the former Great George Street Congregational Church in October 1967 with the support of Peter (now Sir Peter) Moores - the team of artists led by Wendy and Bill Harpe began their cultural adventures with long term aims and with an 'open door' policy. And what might have seemed almost fortuitous at the time of the public launch in May 1968 can now be seen as essential ingredients in determining the character of the U.K.'s first community arts project, and in creating a centre where all the arts (performing and making, experimental and traditional) might engage with all the people who chose to come through the doors (young and old, disadvantaged and privileged).
Margaret Ferguson
As Mary Seacole
Margaret Ferguson. LLCM, Dip.EMA. Dip.SAI (Bus.). Margaret was born in Ghana, west Africa. She gained a Music Diploma from the University College of Education, Winneba. The British Council sponsored her for 3 years of Professional opera course at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. She gained a Diploma at the European Mozart Academy, Poland, in 1997. She obtained her LLCM in 1999.
Margaret's solo opera roles include Carman, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cavalleria Rusticana, and others. Her solo oratorio roles include Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria, Haydn's Creation, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Dvorak's Requiem Mass and Mozart's Requiem. etc. She has sung solo in the Royal Albert Hall, and other major halls in London, Manchester, Birmingham and other major venues. She has performed in various European cities. Margaret has performed over 1,500 concerts for Music in Hospitals. She has raised thousands of pounds for various charities. She is the Musical Director of the Manchester Gospel Choir. She has also taught Ghanianan drumming, singing and dancing.
Margaret has performed live and recorded on television and radio for the BBC, ITV and various radio stations in the UK and Ghana.
Larry Coke
Founder and Artistic Director of Gyenyame For Performing Arts
Larry Coke attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts to study Lighting Design and Stage Management. He also attended Goldsmith College where he took an MA degree in Performance/ Directing. He has designed lighting for operas, dance and plays, including Carib Theatre's production of The Amen Corner: Talawa's The Gods are Not to Blame, West Yorkshire/Royal Court's production of Thing Fall Apart, RJC Dance Co's Passionelle '97; also Technical Consultant for Panafest 97 in Ghana. In 1998, he founded Gyenyame for Performing Arts, and commissions its first opera Mary Seacole based on the life of a Jamaican Healer, which was premiered at the Linbury Studio Royal Opera House, October 2000, followed by. Cry of Innocence (Greenwich Theatre) October 2005.
SuAndi OBE
Cultural Director of The National Black Arts Alliance
Dr SuAndi OBE is the Cultural Director of the National Black Arts Alliance, a recipient of a NESTA Dreamtime award, and in 1999 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Honours list for her contributions to the Black Arts sector. Though born in Manchester, she traces her roots to Liverpool. SuAndi, with Larry Coke are supporting the Black-E in delivering this autumn, Mary Seacole the People’s Opera and Dance, a series of workshops that will culminate in a promenade showcase on the 30 October 2022, here at the Black-E.
Bill Harpe
Co-Founder and joint Artistic Director of The Black-E
is the Joint Artistic Director of the Black-E, which he founded over fifty years ago as an inclusive space to create and empower. Bill comes from a solidly working-class background, his work beyond the Black-E has been as a dancer, maker of dance and creative force.
having gained a degree in English from Cambridge, he went on to become the Director of the Commonwealth Arts Festival (Cardiff); Director Opening Celebrations Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool; Director Anniversary of Independence Celebrations, Zambia; Deputy Group Head (job share) Arts & Recreation. Policy Study Group, GLC.
Merseyside Play Action Council
Merseyside Play Action Council – MPAC – has been developing play in Liverpool and Merseyside since 1974. We provide year-round advocacy, support and advice for charities, organisations and community groups delivering activities for children and young people
Dr Rebecca Amissah MD
As Joan Stober
Joint Artistic Director of The Black-E
Dr Rebecca Amissah MD is an artist who combines her cultural practice with her role as a respected clinicalpractitioner in child and adolescent mental health. She has trained in theatre, performed as a live artist, and has written and lectured both in the UK and internationally on intergenerational trauma. She is a graduate of Southampton Medical School, trained at The Poor School, ID Theatre School and is a Winston Churchill Fellow and a member of the National Black Arts Alliance.
Liverpool City Council and the Culture Company
Culture Liverpool is the hub of all of Liverpool's cultural events, activities, film, cruise, halls and tourist information!
