John Malveaux: DSO.org: Detroit Symphony Orchestra Digital Concerts

 Nokuthula Ngwenyama

John Malveaux of MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

Detroit Symphony Orchestra digital concerts include music by composers of African descent: Philip Herbert, George Walker, William Grant Still, Chevalier De Saint-Georges, Adolphus Hailstork, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and Florence Price

Thursday September 10)

PHILIP HERBERT: Elegy: In Memoriam – Stephen Lawrence.  DSO strings are featured in Philip Herbert's remembrance of a Black British teenager murdered in an act of racist violence

Friday September 18 

WALKER: Lyric for Strings

STILL: Serenade for Orchestra

CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES: Symphony No. 1 in G major

Highly varied in style, George Walker’s elegiac Lyric for Strings and William Grant Still’s expressive Serenade showcase mid-20th century works from two prominent African American composers. Saint-Georges, born Joseph Bologne, was the son of a French plantation owner and his African slave, who rose to prominence in 18th-century France as a champion fencer, violinist, composer, and conductor 

Thursday October 1

ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK: Baroque Suite   

 

Thursday November 5

NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA: Primal Message (world premiere of orchestral version)

Violist-composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama writes “music of bold, mesmerizing character,” including her captivating viola quintet Primal Message, heard here in the world premiere of its orchestral version.  

November 6)

FLORENCE PRICE: Five Folksongs in Counterpoint 

Florence Price’s arrangement of Spirituals for string quartet are equal parts hymn-like and lyrical.  

See photo of violist/composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama