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Dr. Anne Lundy Credit: Provost Studio<\/p>\nFor nearly 50 years, the Community Music Center of Houston has proven to be an important place of sound, vision and education.<\/p>\n
Through their outreach programs that includes classes, lessons, performances, and lectures, they\u2019ve been able to bring music education and appreciation to the mostly minority youth of the Third Ward. And provided opportunities that would not be available elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Dr. Anne Lundy Credit: Provost Studio<\/p>\n
As June is Black Music Month, the organization is reviving its Legacy Project Honors. For 2026 they are recognizing four women whose work has\u00a0shaped Houston\u2019s musical education through teaching,\u00a0performance, and cultural memory: Dr. Anne Lundy, Dr. Ruth Stewart, Ina Zellers, and Dr. Gloria Quinlan.<\/p>\n
One June 7, part of the festivities include the art exhibition \u201cMusic is My Sanctuary\u201d and the ceremony. But the highlight will likely be a live concert by the ensemble the Firey String Sistas. The New York-based collective has performed all over the country with their unique interpretations of jazz and classical standards along with bold original music.<\/p>\n
As to how they \u201cFire Up\u201d cover tunes so to speak, Nioka Workman (cello\/vocals) and Founder of the Sistas says it\u2019s about balancing respect for the writer, but also adding your own interpretation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur elders have always said to us that you can\u2019t take a piece of music and just play it the way it\u2019s written, you have to make it your own. And that\u2019s our task,\u201d she says. \u201cEach time we find a standard, we try to put our own feeling on it. And with the [original] music, it\u2019s great fun to try new ideas. Not all of them are great, but some of them are!\u201d<\/p>\n
Accompanying her to Houston are the two other core members: Marlene Rice (violin\/vocals) and Mala Waldron (lead vocals\/piano). All three have deep musical resumes which have taken them to recording studios and concert stages around the world. They will be augmented for this show by two guest \u201cBrothas,\u201d Belden Bullock (bass) and E.J. Stickland (drums).<\/p>\n
Though her background was more in classical, years ago Workman founded the group Sojourner, which reflected her new interests in jazz and improvisation. Then she hooked up with Rice and Waldron and a rotating lineup of players and instruments to form the Firey String Sistas around 2018.<\/p>\n
Workman knows that when people hear the phrase \u201cstring ensemble,\u201d they believe they might be in store for a slow, staid, and overly calm experience. This group is anything but. After all, it\u2019s right there in their name\u2014Firey.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople wonder well, what is it we do, jazz or classical? They\u2019re not sure what to expect. Some folks are calling what we do Jazz Chamber music. It\u2019s slightly a new term, but we just hope that people enjoy and connect to our music,\u201d she offers. The Sistas recently released their debut record That\u2019s What She Said.<\/p>\n
For her part, Dr. Anne Lundy is normally the CMCH Music Director. But here she finds herself among the Legacy honorees. \u201cIt\u2019s odd! I\u2019m usually the one organizing the show. But now, this is a rare time I\u2019m supposed to stand there and just say \u2018Thank you!\u2019\u201d she laughs. \u201cBut I appreciate it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Not lost on anyone is that the whole shebang will take place at the Eldorado Ballroom. Opened in 1939 and closed in 1972, it was the epicenter of Houston\u2019s Black musical life. The Eldorado attracted touring musicians like Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Arnett Cobb, Ray Charles, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and B.B. King. After a $10 million restoration by Project Row Houses, it reopened to much fanfare in 2023 as a cultural event space.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt changes my approach to be in such a historic place, and I do remember the El Dorado from a long time ago,\u201d Dr. Lundy says. \u201cI\u2019m just so grateful that it was preserved. It\u2019s a beautiful space and represents to me our past while we\u2019re continuing to look toward the future in the Third Ward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both women are also keenly aware of how in music education programs in public schools are being gutted, altered, or eliminated. And especially at institutions serving primarily Black and Brown kids. Dr. Lundy says that CMCH programs can step in and take up the slack, but only to a point.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur part of the Houston Independent School District is in the urban area. I\u2019ve got friends who teach in suburban schools and they have more resources, more money, and more everything,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when it comes to our kids, we don\u2019t have them. Our programs are being cut. And it\u2019s all about the test scores. I\u2019m sad about that, but all I can do is get angry and keep pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her part, Workman hopes that any children in attendance at the concert do have their interests piqued in music and hopes they have questions for her about the music or her instrument.<\/p>\n
The Community Music Center Houston\u2019s roots began in 1979 when Patricia Johnson and Ron Scales created The Society for the Preservation of Spirituals to celebrate and preserve the legacy of \u201cAmerican Negro Slave Music.\u201d<\/p>\n
They were inspired by the instruction of Clyde O. Jackson, Minister of Music at the historic Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. Two years later, they widened their scope to other black music traditions to become the Community Music Center of Houston. In 1983, Dr. Lundy came on board. The Houston Press wrote about their 40th anniversary in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finally, Workman does have a tangential connection to Houston music royalty, and that would be Ms. Beyonc\u00e9 Knowles. Workman\u2019s played on the single \u201cBaby Boy\u201d from her 2003 record debut, Dangerously in Love.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were only in the studio, so we really didn\u2019t get a chance to meet her personally,\u201d Workman says. \u201cbut we did a lot of recording playing strings for her!\u201d<\/p>\n The CMCH Legacy Honoree Celebration and Firey String Sistas play at 4:30 pm on Sunday, June 7, at the El Dorado Ballroom\u2019s Dupree Room, 2310 Elgin. Art exhibit opens at 2 p.m. For more information, call 713-523-9710or visit CMCHouston.org.<\/a> Donations accepted for entry.<\/p>\n