Henry Panion III, PhD
UAB News
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Two new works by UAB University Professor of Music Henry Panion
III, Ph.D., will be among the first in a series of efforts in 2013 to
commemorate the seminal events of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Civil
Rights Movement in Birmingham.
As
an institution committed to service, excellence, diversity and
community involvement, UAB is a proud partner with the City of
Birmingham in 50 Years Forward, the ongoing commemoration. Panion has
been commissioned by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) to compose the works for “Reflect & Rejoice,” the ASO’s annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, at UAB’s Alys Stephens Center, a cultural center that unites UAB and the Birmingham community.
“The Alabama Symphony is honored and delighted to commission two new
pieces from Dr. Henry Panion III, honoring Birmingham’s half-century of
the Civil Rights Movement,” said Curt Long, executive director of the
ASO. “Henry’s two new pieces — ‘Here We Are’ and ‘Send Me Hope’ — are
both deeply personal and speak for Alabamians’ struggle toward equality
and justice. These world premieres will be a highlight of our annual
‘Reflect and Rejoice’ concert, in partnership with the Birmingham Civil
Rights Institute. The world premieres will also help inaugurate
Birmingham’s city-wide year of remembrance for the events of 1963.”
“Here We Are,” composed for a small girls’ ensemble or female lead,
with choir and orchestra, is based around the spiritual “Give Me Jesus,”
Panion said. It opens with a brief, celebratory gospel feel,
“reflective of what was the probable scene of the church service the
Sunday morning the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed,” he said.
The church was bombed Sept. 15, 1963 at 10:22 a.m.
The work quickly transitions into a scene of restlessness, tension
and abrupt chaos, “reflective of the probable suspense just before the
bomb goes off and the sporadic questions of ‘where are the girls,’ which
is announced by the different sections of the choir,” Panion said. The
work then moves into a response by the girls’ ensemble, representing the
four little girls that were killed on that day. The adult choir will
sing another line from this spiritual as the orchestra builds, and the
work ends with the girls entering the stage for one more appearance with
the choir and orchestra and concludes softly.
“Send Me Hope” is written in a popular gospel style and features the
rich contralto voice of rising gospel artist Maquita Anthony, who
co-wrote the song with Panion, Clinton Green and Marc Raby. Backed by
the Aeolians of Oakwood College, Panion said he arranged and
orchestrated this work to serve as a bookend of sorts with “Here We
Are.”
The premiere will feature the Aeolians of Oakwood College in
Huntsville, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and a small girls’ choir from
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church youth choir, Panion says.
Comment by email:
Thank you, sir, for posting this so quickly. Happy Holidays. --Henry Panion, III
Comment by email:
Thank you, sir, for posting this so quickly. Happy Holidays. --Henry Panion, III
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