AL.com: 'Martin Luther King, four little girls given homage by Alabama Symphony (music review)'

Here We Are Title Page (AL.com Tamika Moore)

Henry Panion, III

AL.com

Birmingham News
By Michael Huebner | mhuebner@al.com
on January 20, 2013 at 10:19 PM, updated January 20, 2013 at 10:42 PM

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Alabama Symphony's annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a casual affair, where the  formalities and taboos of concert etiquette are often relaxed a bit. 

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This year's “Reflect and Rejoice” event at the Alys Stephens Center fit the pattern, mixing music by UAB music professor Henry Panion III, William Grant Still, Atlanta composer Alvin Singleton and one of Dr. King's favorite composers, Ludwig van Beethoven.

But one moment stood out Sunday afternoon. During a premiere of a Panion work, the orchestra's joyful rhythms, and clapping and swaying from the Huntsville choir, the Aeolians turned dark, dissonant and ominous. A percussive explosion was followed by voices repeatedly asking, “Where are the Girls?” A spotlight rose to the choir's right to shine on 16 girls from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Choir. They responded with the work's title, “Here We Are,” and an angelic rendition of “Give Me Jesus.”

It was an unforgettable passage, perhaps the most poignant in this concert's history – and especially significant at the beginning of 50th anniversary civil rights commemorations in Birmingham.

And Panion wasn't finished premiering new music.

“Send Me Hope” is a gospel showpiece -- reflective, hopeful and celebrative, highlighting Panion's considerable orchestration skills. Vocal soloist Marquita Anthony blended beautifully with the Aeolians, the choir from Oakwood University whose balance, discipline and musicianship impressed for the entire concert. 

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The concert started with Alvin Singleton's “Miaka Kumi” (Swahili for “ten years”), a fanfare composed in 2011 for Atlanta Symphony conductor Robert Spano's first decade, but with little connection to this concert. Between the Panion works, ASO concertmaster Daniel Szasz soloed in Still's Suite for Violin and Orchestra,” negotiating its alternately pastoral and jazzy flavors with passion and flair.

[William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com Recordings, sheet music and books of William Grant Still are available at www.WilliamGrantStill.com, which is operated by the composer's daughter Judith Anne Still]




[Alvin Singleton's publisher is Schott Music, whose website Schott-Music.com explains the 2011 premiere of the composer's fanfare Miaka Kumi]