[Photos courtesy of George Walker and Danielle Belen Nesmith]
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
July 1: Scenes from the Arts-burgh
By The Tribune-Review
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Isaac Hayes with the Pittsburgh Symphony
American music icon Isaac Hayes thrilled a large and appreciative audience at Downtown's Heinz Hall Thursday night for the Pittsburgh Symphony's fifth annual Community Partners Concert. The event raised money for 50 local nonprofit organizations. Hayes, 65, had a stroke two years ago and was helped onstage for the second half. But once at his keyboard and performing, he gained in strength. By the time he reached "Walk on By," his sonorous bass rolled over the audience, which responded with cheering.
When Hayes stood up and walked nearer to the center of the stage to conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the intro to "Shaft," there was another outburst of cheering and applause. Hayes' six-piece band and three vocalists were excellent and carried the show because the arrangements gave the symphony musicians little to do.
The first half of the concert was a mixed bag. Black composer George Walker's "Lyric for Strings," written for his grandmother, was beautiful and beautifully played. Conductor Lawrence Loh led a rip-roaring account of Franz von Suppe's "Light Cavalry Overture." But although Sphinx Competition winner Danielle Belen Nesmith proved a capable violinist playing the last movement of Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto, there was little rapport between her and conductor. -- Mark Kanny [The African American composer George Walker (b. 1922) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]
Pittsburgh SymphonyCommunity Partners Concert
George Walker
Lyric for Strings
Beautiful and beautifully played
Danielle Belen Nesmith
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