Valerie Coleman’s stirring ‘Umoja’ is a Philadelphia Orchestra milestone: The first classical work by a living African American woman that they have performed.

by Peter Dobrin, Updated: September 20, 2019

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s program note Thursday night said the concert marked the first time the orchestra had played a work by Valerie Coleman, and that her piece was an orchestra commission and world premiere.

The greater significance behind the debut of Coleman’s Umoja, Anthem for Unity, though, is this: It was the first time the Philadelphia Orchestra had ever performed a classical work by a living African American female composer. And so the concert raised a two-part question fraught with complexity and paradox. What took it so long, and why does it matter?

Let’s start off by calling Umoja, Anthem for Unity exactly what it is apart from the question of who wrote it. It’s a terrific work. The piece — umoja means unity in Swahili — arcs from serene peace to racing tension before emerging in sunlit joy. That’s a lot in 10 or so minutes. Coleman is not primarily an orchestral composer (she was best known for years as the flutist in Imani Winds), but her new work is a powerhouse of emotional directness and bold orchestration.

As for the who behind the piece, it does matter. For all kinds of reasons.

An orchestra spokesperson said the group believes this is the first time it has commissioned a new work from a female African American composer. That it took it 120 years of actively commissioning composers before landing on this demographic says a lot about how little the orchestra has noticed the city it has lived in all this time. Coleman’s identity is an important factor to many, but especially to children all over who may never have thought this world was open to them — as composers and listeners.

The messaging is more delicate than many realize. My Asian American daughter, no stranger to concert halls, was 5 or 6 when we saw an Asian American girl playing piano at one of the orchestra’s family concerts. She whispered to me that it had never occurred to her that such a thing was possible.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the Coleman premiere. On Facebook not long ago, orchestra piccolo player Erica Peel posted a shot of a page from the score. “Erica solo,” it says at bar 146. And in fact, Umoja has a concerto grosso feel at times. There’s a tasty bass clarinet solo, a spritely breakout moment for oboe played by Philippe Tondre, guesting in the principal chair for the evening, and other section solos.

The piece has its origins in a 1997 version for women’s choir and it has been adapted for other forces. But here it seems to have arrived at its inevitable state, where texture and instrumental contrast take on emotional hues. It opens with the promise of spring, like a beginning. Let’s hope it is. A full-length orchestral piece from Coleman next would be welcome.