WHEC.com: 'There are more than 70 classically trained African-American musicians' at Gateways Music Festival

[To see a video of Kelly Hall-Tompkins, click on this image in the upper right corner of the WHEC.com website]

Opening the gates to classical music

Posted at: 08/11/2011

By: Janet Lomax | WHEC.com

“They play with major orchestras and symphonies from across the country but for the next four days they are in Rochester taking part in the Gateways Music Festival. There are more than 70 classically trained African-American musicians including Grammy award winning pianist Terrence Wilson. They will all play in a variety of venues around town - from private homes to church sanctuaries to a full orchestra concert at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater on Sunday.

“For violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins this is a homecoming -- a chance to see what's changed since she graduated from Eastman School in 1993. Since then, the esteemed violinist has played all over the world as a soloist and as a member of the Ritz Chamber Players. She says this event helps link many African-American classical musicians with one another. 'The Gateways Music Festival has been significant in bringing us together and through these relationships we have cultivated, by being here, new projects have started. For example the Ritz Chamber Players started 10 years ago because of the Gateways Music Festival.'

“Barbara Jones is co-chair of the Gateways Music Festival planning committee. She told News 10NBC Gateways helps dispel myths about African-Americans and classical music. 'When you think about classical music, you must remember to include African-Americans -- that there is a clear role that we have played in the past, that we play now in composing classical music, in conducting classical music and in playing classical music.'"

Pianist Terrence Wilson and Soprano Kishna Davis Perform Gershwin With Baltimore Symphony Orchestra July 28 & 29

[Kishna Davis and Terrence Wilson]

Carl Topilow will conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on two consecutive nights in a Gershwin program featuring Terrence Wilson, pianist and Kishna Davis, soprano. Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and Variations on I Got Rhythm for Piano and Orchestra, are listed as repertoire at the website of Terrence Wilson.

On Thursday, July 28 at 8:00 pm the concert will be at the Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda, Maryland.

On Friday, July 29 at 7:30 pm the venue will be Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, Maryland.

Pianist Terrence Wilson & Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven's 'Pastorale' Mar. 4 & 5, 8 PM

[Terrence Wilson]

Pianist Terrence Wilson received a Grammy Nomination for his Naxos recording with the Nashville Symphony of Michael Daugherty's Deus Ex Machina. He is about to perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale) wih the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Neal Gittleman, on two consecutive evenings:

Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

Classics Series: Beethoven's Pastorale

Neal Gittleman, conductor

Featuring Terrence Wilson, piano

Friday, March 4, 2011, 8:00 PM

Saturday, March 5, 2011, 8:00 PM

Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center

411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Daugherty Rosa Parks Boulevard

Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S. 125

Beethoven Symphony No. 6 in F major, op. 68, "Pastorale"

Pianist Terrence Wilson Nominated for Grammy: 'Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra'

[Michael Daugherty Metropolis Symphony, Deus ex Machina; Terrence Wilson, pianist; Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Naxos 8.559635 (2009)]

AfriClassical has frequently written about the pianist Terrence Wilson, including his performance of the Michael Daugherty piano concerto Deus Ex Machina. The Naxos CD including that performance has received 5 Grammy Nominations, including “Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra (Terrence Wilson, piano).”

Music.EINNews.com

“Michael Daugherty's Metropolis Symphony and Deus Ex Machina, with Giancarlo Guerrero conducting the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, led the way with nominations in five categories -- Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra (Terrence Wilson, piano), Best Classical Composition (Deus Ex Machina) and Best Engineered Classical Album (Mark Donahue, John Hill and Dirk Sobotka).”

Peoria JournalStar on Terrence Wilson: 'Symphony crowd wowed by pianist's approach'

[Terrence Wilson]

AfriClassical has frequently written about the pianist Terrence Wilson, whose website is: http://www.terrencewilsonpiano.com/. On September 25, 2009 we posted: “AfriClassical Interviews Terrence Wilson on Naxos CD of 'Deus ex Machina' by Michael Daugherty.”

Peoria JournalStar

By Gary Panetta

Posted Oct 24, 2010

PEORIA — “There's a strange unpredictability about Terrence Wilson, the pianist who appeared Saturday night with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. Strange because, after all, what Wilson played - namely, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 - is written down, frozen on the page in black and white. Yet this youthful-looking pianist performed with an exciting, improvisatory air, as if this music wasn't familiar at all but coming alive under his fingertips, ready to go in unexpected directions.

"This is what any great performance - and Wilson's performance was by any standard, great - should be of any piece of music. But it's particularly fitting for Rachmaninov, whose grand, sprawling concerto invites a certain subjective interpretation."

"Wilson, whose presence has graced stages nationally and internationally, approached this music with a capacious imagination, a reminder that musical ability doesn't merely reside in fingers and muscle and posture. The fluid fingering, the mastery of tempo, the delicate shades of dynamics, the precise use of the pedal - in sum, sheer technical power - served the goal of musical insight. The disappointingly small crowd of 1,300 at the 2,200-seat Civic Center Theater was transfixed throughout the lengthy three movement piece. Then came applause, cheers and foot-stomping."

Terrence Wilson Plays 'Sonata for Piano' of James Lee, III With Ritz Chamber Players June 9

[TOP: Ritz Chamber Players BOTTOM: Dr. James Lee, III, Composer-in-Residence]

Pianist Terrence Wilson will join members of the Ritz Chamber Players for the June 9, 2010 Season Finale. The program includes Sonata for Piano of the group's Composer-in-Residence, Dr. James Lee, III, Associate Professor of Composition/Theory, Morgan State University.

RitzChamberPlayers.org
Finale Concert
Wednesday June 9, 2010
7:30 PM

Jacoby Symphony Hall

The Ritz Chamber Players bring a close to our 2009-2010 concert season by featuring the work of a great composer’s music based on folk themes. Our departing musical gift will express Dvořák’s belief that “the future music of this country must be founded upon what are called the Negro melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States.” Audiences will delight in this incredible program with the stunning and expressive Dvořák Piano Quartet No. 2 through to a vibrant work by Brazilian composer, Villa-Lobos, described as “the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music.”

MOZART Quartet for Flute and Strings no 1 in D major, K 285

JAMES LEE, III Sonata for Piano

VILLA-LOBOS Assobio a Játo (The Jet Whistle)


DVOŘÁK Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat major

Demarre McGill – Flute

Kelly Hall-Tompkins – Violin

Amadi Azikiwe – Viola

Tahirah Whittington – Cello

Terrence Wilson – Piano

Pianist Terrence Wilson Plays Piano Sonata of James Lee in Ritz Chamber Players Recital April 23

[Terrence Wilson]

[Above: Terrence Wilson. Below: Michael Daugherty Metropolis Symphony, Deus ex Machina; Terrence Wilson, pianist; Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Naxos 8.559635 (2009)]

AfriClassical has featured Pianist Terrence Wilson in recitals, orchestral appearances and his CD of Michael Daugherty's Deus ex Machina, Naxos 8.559635 (2009). On Friday, April 23, 2010 his recital program will include the Piano Sonata of James Lee, III, Composer-in-Residence of the Ritz Chamber Players.

Ritz Chamber Players Recital Series
Terrence Wilson, Pianist

Friday, April 23, 2010

8:00 p.m.

St. John’s Cathedral

256 East Church Street (Duval at Market Street)

Jacksonville, FL 32202

Free and open to the public! / Suggested Donation $10

Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Liszt Funérailles

Lee Piano Sonata

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Barber Piano Sonata

“Since his professional debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, American pianist Terrence Wilson has established a reputation as one of today’s most gifted young instrumentalists. He has already appeared with many other prestigious ensembles including the Houston Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach, the Atlanta Symphony under Yoel Levi, the Cincinnati Symphony under Robert Spano, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne under Jesus Lopez-Cobos, the Detroit Symphony under Neeme Järvi, the St Louis and Colorado Symphonies under Marin Alsop, the Minnesota orchestra, and the Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Columbus Symphonies. He has also made highly acclaimed recital debuts in New York, at the 92nd Street Y, in Washington, at the Kennedy Centre, and in Paris, at the Louvre. In 1998 Mr. Wilson was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in May 2001 he graduated from the Juilliard School where he received the prestigious Sony ES Award for Musical Excellence and most recently the William Petschek Award.”

Pianist Terrence Wilson & Brevard Symphony Orchestra Perform March 6 & 7, 2010

(Terrence Wilson)

AfriClassical's most extensive consideration of the career of the African American pianist Terrence Wilson came on Sept. 25, 2009, when we posted: “AfriClassical Interviews Terrence Wilson on Naxos CD of 'Deus ex Machina' by Michael Daugherty.” We recently learned of his participation in three concerts in two days with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. The first two concerts will take place at 2 PM and 8 PM at the King Center in Melbourne, Florida, on Saturday, March 6, 2010. The third will be at 7:30 PM on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at Community Church of Vero Beach:

“March 6, 2010 Saturday 2 & 8 PM

King Center, Melbourne

Symphonic Tributes

Terrence Wilson, piano

Lukas Foss – Night Music for John Lennon

Camille Saint-Saens – Piano Concerto No. 2 with Terrence Wilson

Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 7

“The BSO offers a Symphonic Tribute to several musical giants, from JS Bach to John Lennon, with this remarkable program. The late American composer Lukas Foss began composing his Night Music the morning after John Lennon was killed. Saint-Saen's brilliant 2nd Piano Concerto features an opening movement that is a loving tribute to the keyboard music of JS Bach. The concert concludes with Beethoven's magnificent Seventh Symphony, described by Wagner as 'the apotheosis of the dance.'"

“March 7, 2010 Sunday 7:30 PM

Brevard Symphony Orchestra: With conductor Christopher Confessore and pianist Terrence Wilson. Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901 23rd St., Vero Beach”

Terrence Wilson & Dr. William Chapman Nyaho Comment On 'Metropolis' CD Post

["Michael Daugherty Metropolis Symphony"; Terrence Wilson, pianist; Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Naxos (2009)]

Yesterday AfriClassical posted “Favorably reviewed for his Rachmaninoff 3, Terrence Wilson Has Naxos CD Coming September 29.” Rashida Black, Founder/Executive Director of The Myrtle Hart Society, told us The Winston-Salem Journal had reviewed a concert Terrence had given with the Winston-Salem Symphony on Sunday. We also announced that on Sept. 29, 2009 Naxos will release a Michael Daugherty CD on which Terrence Wilson is pianist. One of the works is “Deus ex Machina”, written expressly for him and commissioned by a consortium of U.S. orchestras. Naxos says that work has three movements:
I. Fast Forward (Di andata veloce) - 07:40
II. Train of Tears – 14:17
III. Night Steam – 11:22

Today AfriClassical has received two comments on the post by email. The first came from the pianist himself:
Hello Bill,
Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Terrence Wilson

A second comment was addressed to both AfriClassical and Terrence Wilson by Dr. William Chapman Nyaho, an African American pianist, educator and of Ghanaian heritage who was born in Washington, D.C., but was raised in Ghana. He has recorded two CDs, "Senku: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent", MSR MS 1091 (2003); and "ASA: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent", MSR MS 1242 (2008). Dr. Nyaho has also compiled and edited a landmark 5-volume work of sheet music, published by Oxford University Press, "Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora". He is profiled at Nyaho.com and AfriClassical.com:
Greetings Terrence
Wonderful hearing about you. Congratulations on the upcoming release! I will be looking for it! Looking forward to hearing more about you.
best regards
Nyaho