Arts Playlist: Makeda Hampton's "African Romances"

Most times, when a musician makes a new recording, they can draw on a wealth of information to help prepare their performance - historical writing by the composer, recordings by other artists over the years, and similar resources. But what if preparing a new record involved not only hours in the practice room, but hours doing original research as well?That was the challenge facing soprano Makeda Hampton, a Lincoln University assistant professor who performs regularly in Delaware, in between performances at the Met in New York City and other appearances around the world.Hampton's new recording, "African Romances" required that kind of in-depth research to present a groundbreaking recording of work of the same name by English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor based on poems by American author Paul Laurence Dunbar. On this edition of Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media's Martin Matheny spoke to Hampton about the music.