Sat 11/12 @ 7:30PM
The Akron Symphony’s next concert at E.J Thomas Hall is another intriguing mix of pieces that introduces listeners to some new music, some of it with familiar themes. The symphony describes it as “vibrant updates, ‘handshakes across the centuries’.”
And some of it sets a holiday mood without relying on the old standards, casting a modern (and Black) light on the Christmas story.
The concert opens with The Ballad of the Brown King (A Christmas Cantata), written in 1919 by 20th-century Black composer Margaret Bonds to a text by poet Langston Hughes; it tell the story of Jesus’ birth from the viewpoint of the Black King Balthazar. Baritone Frank Ward and soprano Louise Toppin join the orchestra for this work.
The concert also features Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances No. 2 and Fragments from the Letters of Saint Catherine, written by Black Akron composer Julia Perry (1924-1979). It concludes with Duke Ellington’s version of five of the best-known pieces from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, which are sure to have audience members dancing in their minds with not-quite-balletic steps.
The Akron Symphony’s music director Christopher Wilkins will be conducting the orchestra. For tickets go to Akron Symphony/Ellington.