Broadcast Pioneer Malcolm Poindexter To Be Honored For Music Legacy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The late Malcolm Poindexter, Jr was an Eyewitness News pioneer with a career that spanned more than 50 years. But his reach extends far beyond news. It's that part of his legacy that'll be recognized this weekend.
Malcolm Poindexter was a newsman's newsman. His career began in newspapers, then radio when he was part of the original team at KYW Newsradio, and finally at KYW-TV, where he worked for more than three decades.
But news was his day job; Malcolm's love was music.
"He thought he was a singer -- but he was not a singer," says David Poindexter, the oldest of Malcolm's three children. The elder Poindexter was the son of a baritone father and pianist mother. That combination birthed a love for opera music inside of Malcolm and later, a passion.
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"For all the years he spent on television on KYW-TV, at nighttime he would take off his jacket and he would sit in his office and work on opera," says David.
Malcolm Poindexter, III says his dad worked with Opera Ebony in New York and later co-founded Opera North, Inc. in Philadelphia, bringing shows like Porgy and Bess and Aidia to underserved communities.
"He saw something in me that he felt needed to be shared with the world at large," says Iris Fairfax, a soprano who began her career with Opera Ebony under Malcolm's direction.
Fairfax says Malcolm's support help launch her early career. She's returning the favor by coordinating Opera North's in-school programming alongside executive director Leslie Burrs, who was also influenced by Malcolm back in the 1970's. Today, the opera company continues to provide singers and composers of color opportunity.
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"It's not just opportunities for us to perform, but also for audiences to hear this wealth of talent," says Fairfax.
On Saturday, October 21 at 3 p.m., Opera North will honor Malcolm Poindexter's legacy by presenting a plaque to his family and will soon plant the seed for an "emerging artist" scholarship that will bear his name.
The one-day performance at Christ Church and St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Germantown will be a culmination of a 41-year legacy; one that the Poindexter family hopes will continue for many years to come.
"He'd be very thankful and appreciative and couldn't wait to be a part of it," says Malcolm III.