U.S. Premiere of JacobTV’s Mountain Top, multimedia work blending MLK’s “Mountain Top” speech with eye-popping visuals, is centerpiece of
Chicago Sinfonietta’s Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Guest artists include hornist Nicole Cash,
the Roosevelt University CCPA Conservatory Chorus and
the Apostolic Church of God Sanctuary Choir
Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville, January 19
Symphony Center, Chicago, January 20 (MLK Holiday)
CHICAGO (December 11, 2013) – The Chicago Sinfonietta, led by Mei-Ann Chen, continues its 2013-2014 season with its Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A cherished Sinfonietta tradition since its founding in 1987 by Dr.
Paul Freeman, the 2014 MLK tribute concert celebrates the life, legacy
and vision of Dr. King through a diverse program that includes a
forward-thinking multimedia premiere, symphonic masterworks and gospel
music. The Chicago Sinfonietta’s Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. is presented in two performances only, Sunday, January 19 at 3 pm at Wentz Concert Hall of North Central College in Naperville (171 E. Chicago Avenue) and Monday, January 20 at 7:30 pm at Orchestra Hall of Symphony Center in downtown Chicago (220 S. Michigan Avenue).
The centerpiece of the Sinfonietta’s 2014 MLK tribute is the North American Premiere of a multimedia work by Dutch “avant-pop” composer Jacob Ter Veldhuis, a.k.a. JacobTV, called Mountain Top.
The work is inspired by one of King’s most famous speeches, known as
the “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech, which he gave on April 3,
1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, the day before he was assassinated. Video
and audio of King serve as the “lead singer” of the work, backed by
orchestra and the Roosevelt University CCPA Conservatory Chorus. JacobTV, with video collaborator Jaap
Drupsteen, manipulates the video and on-screen text, repeating, slowing
down and stretching out certain phrases – which are also echoed by the
singers – to reveal new layers of the speech, its moving message and
King’s prophetic vulnerability. The melody, harmony and rhythm of Mountain Top
all come from the speech itself, as JacobTV analyzed the pitch and
duration of King’s words to create the leitmotif of his composition. Mountain Top
had its world premiere by Nederlands Kamerkoor (Netherlands Chamber
Choir) and Radio Kamerfilharmonie, conducted by Otto Tausk, in 2008 at
the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and was broadcasted live on Dutch radio and
television.
“As
a Dutch boy growing up in the 60’s, I remember King very well because
the media in Holland reported on him regularly,” noted JacobTV.
“’Mountain Top’ is a timeless speech in which King calls for unity and
non-violent protest, while challenging the United States to live up to
its ideals. King was a charismatic preacher and one of the greatest
orators of American history. His passionate speech is characterized by a
rich melodic intonation, a great source of musical inspiration for me,
in addition to the words themselves.”
Destiny, and the question of whether great people in history are destined
for greatness, is a concept that inspires the remaining first half of
the concert. The evening opens with Chen conducting the Overture from La Forza del Destino (The Force of Destiny),
an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi that originally premiered by 1862
before Verdi made significant revisions through 1869. The work opens
with the easily recognizable “Fate” motif, three bold E notes played in
unison by the brass.
For the second selection, Richard Strauss’ triumphant Horn Concerto No. 1 features guest horn soloist Nicole Cash
of the San Francisco Symphony and a graduate of Northwestern
University’s Bienen School of Music. Strauss began work on his first
concerto for the horn when he was only 18 years old, completing the work
in 1883. Throughout the concerto’s three movements, it seamlessly
shifts between bright, energetic fanfares and softer, reflective
melodies, contrasts typical of late romantic era works.
The second half of the program features Morton Gould’s Revival, a Fantasy on Six Spirituals.
Played as one piece, the work samples themes and melodies from six
spirituals, including “Little David Play on Your Harp,” “All God’s
Children Got Wings,” “Steal Away,” “Were You There?,” “Ezekiel Saw The
Wheel” and “Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho.” Gould, a child prodigy in
composition who went on to be a prolific Broadway, film, television,
ballet and symphonic composer, premiered Spirituals in 1941 and
strove to write it with the straightforwardness of conversation.
Distinctly American jazz and blues patterns appear throughout, creating a
gamut of emotions from bitter and grim to light and jubilant
The Sinfonietta concludes
its annual MLK tribute with the uplifting sounds of gospel and
spiritual music, joined by frequent MLK concert guest singers of the Apostolic Church of God Sanctuary Choir.
Tickets
Single tickets range from $42-$54 for the concert at Wentz Concert Hall and $15-$54 for the concert at Symphony Center, with special $10 pricing available for students at both locations. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Chicago Sinfonietta at 312-236-3681 ext. 2 or online at www.chicagosinfonietta.org.
About the Guest Artists
Dutch “avant-pop” composer JacobTV
(Jacob Ter Veldhuis) started as a rock musician and studied composition
and electronic music in Groningen, Netherlands. He was awarded the
Composition Prize of the Netherlands in 1980 when he became a full-time
composer. He made a name for himself with melodious compositions,
straight from the heart and with great effect. The press have called
him the “Warhol” or “Koons” of new music and his “coming out” as a
composer of ultra-tonal, mellifluous music reached a climax with the
video oratorio Paradiso, based on Dante’s Divina Commedia,
with videos by Jaap Drupsteen. In the last decade, JacobTV’s so-called
“boombox works,” for live instruments with a sound track based on
speech melody, became internationally popular. With hundreds of
performances worldwide each year, JacobTV is one of the most-performed
European composers alive today. In 2007, a three-day JacobTV festival
took place at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
Fulcrum Point New Music Project performed his “reality opera” The News at Chicago’s Park West in 2012.
Nicole Cash,
a native of Annandale, Virginia, joined the San Francisco Symphony as
Associate Principal Horn in 2009. Prior to that she held the position
of Third Horn with the Dallas Symphony for eight seasons. She has
served as co-Principal Horn with the kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic
(Durban, South Africa), has performed with the orchestras of Honolulu,
San Antonio, Houston, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra and the
Sun Valley Summer Symphony, and as guest Principal Horn with the Saint
Louis Symphony. Cash earned a Master of Music from the Shepherd School
of Music at Rice University, where she studied with William VerMeulen,
and a Bachelor of Music cum laude from Northwestern University under the
instruction of Norman Schweikert and Gail Williams. As the winner of
the Shepherd School and Music Academy of the West Concerto Competitions
in 2000, Cash was a featured soloist with both orchestras, made her solo
debut with the Dallas Symphony in 2004, and with the San Francisco
Symphony in 2012 as a part of their Mavericks Festival chamber music
series. Cash is also an active chamber musician and teacher, having
made numerous appearances on the Nasher Sculpture Center and Fine Arts
Chamber Players Series, both in Dallas, TX.
For over 25 years, the Chicago Sinfonietta
has pushed artistic and social boundaries to provide an alternative way
of hearing, seeing and thinking about a symphony orchestra. Each
concert experience fuses inventive new works from a diverse array of
voices with classical masterworks to entertain, transform and inspire. The Sinfonietta has a proud history of having enriched the cultural, educational and social quality of life in Chicago. Under the guidance of Founding Music
Director Paul Freeman, the orchestra has performed at the highest
artistic level since 1987. Mei-Ann Chen succeeded Paul Freeman as the
Chicago Sinfonietta’s Music Director beginning with the 2011-12 season.
The Chicago Sinfonietta is a professional orchestra that forms unique
cultural connections through the universal language of symphonic music.
In
2012 the Sinfonietta was honored with two national awards for
excellence from the League of American Orchestras, one for adventurous
programming and one recognizing Maestro Chen with the Helen M. Thompson
Award for an Emerging Music Director.
The
Chicago Sinfonietta thanks its season sponsors including BP,
Naperville’s SECA fund, the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Magazine,
Southwest Airlines, the Hotel Arista, the Fairmont Hotel, and WBEZ 91.5
FM. Event sponsors include Lead Concert Sponsor Fifth Third Bank;
Supporting Sponsors Molex, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Macy’s; and ABC7.
Complete Program Information
Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sunday, January 19 at 3 pm, Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville
Monday, January 20 at 7:30 pm, Symphony Center, Chicago
Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director and Conductor
Paul Freeman, Founder and Music Director Emeritus
Nichole Cash, Horn
Roosevelt University CCPA Conservatory Chorus
Apostolic Church of God Sanctuary Choir
VERDI La Forza del Destino, Overture
STRAUSS Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major
JACOBTV Mountain Top
GOULD Revival, a Fantasy on Six Spirituals
WALKER/BRATTON Every Praise (is to our God)
MITCHELL Turning Around For Me
CYMBALA Hallelujah, You’re Worth To Be Praised
RODGERS/HAMMERSTEIN Climb Ev’ry Mountain
Tickets: $42–$54 (Wentz Concert Hall); $15–$54 (Symphony Center)
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