NPR.org: 'The Albany Symphony's Spirituals Re-Imagined At Carnegie Hall'

[Donal Fox (Photo by Christophe Diaz)]

Barbara Wright-Pryor sends us this announcement for a concert which took place Tuesday, May 10, 2011. The entire concert can be heard at NPR.org:

Donal will have the New York premiere of his “Hear De Lambs A-Cryin'” at Carnegie Hall with the Albany Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Spirituals Re-Imagined Project, May 10, 2011. The concert will be broadcast live from Carnegie Hall on NPR stations nationwide. During intermission there will be a featured interview with Donal at the piano hosted by Elliott Forrest for NPR and WNYC/WQXR.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra will give the New York premiere of Donal Fox's "Hear De Lambs A-Cryin'" at Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, May 10, 2011, 7:30PM, as part of the The Spirituals Re-Imagined Project (Albany Symphony Commissions) The program entitled Spring For Music: Spirituals Re-Imagined include works by George Tsontakis, John Harbison, Donal Fox, Tania Leon, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Aaron Copland, and more. Albany Symphony Orchestra, David Alan Miller, Music Director and Conductor, Nathan De'Shon Myers, Baritone. The entire concert will broadcast live from Carnegie Hall on NPR stations nationwide. Mr. Fox will be one of the composers featured in an interview conducted by NPR host Elliott Forrest during intermission.

NPR.org

Classics in Concert

by Brian Wise

ALBANY SYMPHONY

David Alan Miller, music director

"SPIRITUALS RE-IMAGINED"

George Tsontakis: Let the River Be Unbroken

"The Spirituals Project":

John Harbison: "Ain't goin' to study war no mo'"

Donal Fox: "Hear de' lams a-cryin'"

Bun Ching Lam: "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"

Tania León: "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel"

Daniel Bernard Roumain: "Harvest"

Kevin Beavers: "Deep River"

Richard Adams: "Stan' Still, Jordan"

Stephen Dankner: "Wade in de' Water"

Albany Symphony Commissions

Nathan De'Shon Myers, baritone

Copland: Appalachian Spring – complete ballet

National Public Radio: 'Quake Crushes Haitian Violinist's Hand, But Not His Spirit'

[“Romel Joseph, founder of The New Victorian School in Haiti, and his daughter Victoria perform at the Aventura Cultural Center in Miami on Jan. 8. It was Joseph's first performance since last year's earthquake. Neil Oxenburg | Courtesy of Victoria Joseph”]

WGBH.org

NPR Staff

Saturday, January 15, 2011

“Last January, Romel Joseph found himself trapped under the rubble of the collapsed school he founded in Port-au-Prince; his pregnant wife was killed. A year later, he has regained enough strength to start playing music again and is making good on a promise to rebuild the school. From his hospital bed, Joseph promised: 'The only thing I do know is as soon as I am able to walk and I am functional that I will go back to Haiti, and I will start the reconstruction of the Victorian School.'

“Sure enough, about a month later, he returned to Haiti and began to rebuild the school. During that time, he also wrote a book and nursed himself back to health, paying special attention to his crushed left hand. That's his fingering hand, the one the Julliard-trained musician uses to press the strings of his violin. A year after the earthquake, Joseph, like much of southern Haiti, is rebuilding. He has returned to Haiti several times to oversee the reconstruction of the New Victorian School. In September, a temporary shelter was set up, where 208 students resumed their studies.

“Even with three broken fingers on his left hand, Joseph has regained enough strength to begin playing the violin again. There are signs of hope everywhere.” “Having to remain resilient in the face of tragedy is not unfamiliar to Joseph. He lost his eyesight as a child, and 10 years before the earthquake struck, a fire destroyed The New Victorian School. Though the loss of his wife and physical recovery has been trying, Joseph remains optimistic. 'Eventually, life has to go on,' Joseph tells Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz. 'This is a whole new episode of my life. I have to follow the mission I have for the rest of the time I have around.'"

Topics.NPR.org: “George Walker: 'NPR has chosen my most recent Albany Recording as one of the five best cds of contemporary music for 2010.'”

[George Walker, Great American Orchestral Music, Vol. 2; Gregory Walker, violin; Andrzej Krzyzanowski, solo flute; Sinfonia Varsovia; Ian Hobson, conductor; Albany Records Troy 1178 (2010)]

When we visited the Topics.NPR.org page this morning we were delighted to find that this was the top article:

Topics.NPR.org

“George Walker: 'NPR has chosen my most recent Albany Recording as one of the five best cds of contemporary music for 2010.'

George Walker (b. 1922) is featured at AfriClassical.com and has a website of his own, http://georgetwalker.com/ Today he sent us news of recognition from National Public Radio for his most recent recording: I thought that you might be interested in... Full Article at AfriClassical”