Fri 9/29 @ 7:30PM
The Akron Symphony kicks off its 2023-24 season at E.J. Thomas Hall with possibly the most familiar and loved staple of the classical music repertoire — and a 2006 piece written by a contemporary Native American composer.
No one in the audience will be unfamiliar with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, which will conclude the program, conducted by ASO’s music director, Christopher Wilkins. The orchestra will be joined by the Akron Symphony Chorus, soprano Sirgourney Cook, alto Leah Heater, tenor John Pickle and bass Frank Ward on its “Ode to Joy” movement.
But the program will open with a work that comes from another world. Composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, who studied composition and piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music, will conduct his own work “Clans,” an excerpt from his longer work Lowak Shoppala’ (Fire and Light), which is infused with his Chickasaw heritage. The University of Akron’s Dr. LaDonna Blue Eye, a Choctaw Nation citizen, will narrate the work.
Get tickets here.