Thursday, January 31, 2019

DetroitNews.com: Sphinx finals Saturday at Orchestra Hall

The Sphinx Symphony Orchestra will perform Saturday evening at Detroit's Orchestra Hall. 
(Photo: Kevin Kennedy)


Michael H. Hodges, Detroit News Fine Arts Writer

Jan. 30, 2019

It's one of the highlights of the annual classical-music calendar -- the Sphinx Competition finals, to be held Saturday evening at Detroit's Orchestra Hall, in which three superbly talented young classical musicians compete for a $50,000 top prize.

The performance, said Sphinx President and Artistic Director Afa Dworkin, will feature the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra performing Leonard Bernstein’s "Candide Overture" and "Ballade" by the 19th-century black composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor. 

"Taylor hasn’t been played much at all," Dworkin said. "Many don’t know about him, but he was a fantastic composer -- prolific and extraordinarily gifted."

Saturday's performance will be the culmination of three days of competition, as young black and Latino string players from across the U.S. compete before an internationally renowned panel of judges.

Musicians are divided into two age categories -- secondary school students, and those 18-30.


The three younger finalists will compete Friday, in a performance that's already overbooked. Senior-division finalists will take the stage Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Free tickets are still available (a $5 donation is suggested), but you must reserve seats at sphinxmusic.org

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