Lisa Narcisse Legacy Project

In 1964 Miss Narcisse spoke with family members about her wish to have her music published. At that time the process was too complicated, and so it was given up. In 1972 her niece, Denise Narcisse-Mair, had the first Mento Mass published in England. That work has been referred to in at least one academic paper [see JAMAICAN COMPOSERS IN THE CLASSICAL TRADITION: THREE VOCAL WORKS BY DEXTER, ASHBOURNE, AND MARSHALL by Melissa Anne Davis, Urbana Illinois, 2013]. Other referenced works in the paper have publication dates listed, but there was no such information for Miss Narcisse's mass, although it was included in the group as a "masterful work combining Euro-classical forms with Jamaican folk rhythms and melodies."

In fact Miss Narcisse's was among the earliest such work - most likely the very first, inspired as it was by the Missa Luba of Father Guido Haazen, which was first celebrated in 1958. As far as we know, Lisa Narcisse’s first Jamaican Mento Mass was first celebrated at Holy Cross Church in 1967-8. Documentation is being collected and a number of separate projects are underway, including a book focusing on the Narcisse family’s contributions in music, a children's book about Lisa Narcisse, and this, the cataloguing and publication of her works.

Jamaican composer Dr. Andrew Marshall has presented Miss Narcisse's work in public a number of times; notably, as part of his Jamaican Choral Scholars Festivals [2009, 2011, 2013]. Most recently, on December 23, 2023, one of her masses was included in a concert presented by him at the Lisa Narcisse Performing Arts Centre at Immaculate Conception High School. Dr. Marshall has agreed to arrange and typeset Miss Narcisse's works for publication via an online publisher, so that they can be available worldwide, and her importance be better known.

As her former students, friends, and family, we are asking for your support in making the publication of her works possible. Your donations will help to pay for the costs of registering and preparing all of her works for publication online, as well as the printing of sample copies to be placed in music stores, and also a public performance and re-release of her first Jamaican Mento Mass - which will take place as soon as sufficient funds have been collected! We will notify you of our progress along the way. A further goal of this Legacy Project is a compendium of her works, illustrated with photos and including biographical and historical details.

Thank you for your generosity. We are sure that Aunt Lisa would be proud to know that her musical legacy is living on, in the same way that her teachings have made a difference in the lives of so many people who knew her, and loved her.

Blessings,

Brenda and Kelly, on behalf of the Narcisse Family