Detroit Symphony Orchestra digital concerts include music by composers of African descent: Philip Herbert, George Walker, William Grant Still, Chevalier De Saint-Georges, Adolphus Hailstork, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and Florence Price.
Thursday September 10
PHILIP HERBERT: Elegy: In Memoriam – Stephen Lawrence. DSO strings are featured in Philip Herbert’s remembrance of a Black British teenager murdered in an act of racist violence
Friday September 18
WALKER: Lyric for Strings
STILL: Serenade for Orchestra
CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES: Symphony No. 1 in G major
Highly varied in style, George Walker’s elegiac Lyric for Strings and William Grant Still’s expressive Serenade showcase mid-20th century works from two prominent African American composers. Saint-Georges, born Joseph Bologne, was the son of a French plantation owner and his African slave, who rose to prominence in 18th-century France as a champion fencer, violinist, composer, and conductor
Thursday October 1
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK: Baroque Suite
Thursday November 5
NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA: Primal Message (world premiere of orchestral version)
Violist-composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama writes “music of bold, mesmerizing character,” including her captivating viola quintet Primal Message, heard here in the world premiere of its orchestral version.
November 6
FLORENCE PRICE: Five Folksongs in Counterpoint
Florence Price’s arrangement of Spirituals for string quartet are equal parts hymn-like and lyrical
