Music to exemplify the continuation of the dream
The Chicago Sinfonietta’s annual tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. will feature work by three African American composers. The concert will be recorded live from the Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College in Naperville by the Chicago Sinfonietta and streamed online beginning at 3 p.m. March 28.
The program includes “Dances in the Canebrakes” by Florence Price, “breathe/ burn: an elegy” by Joel Thompson and “Sinfonietta of Dreams” by Jeffrey Scott. The concert will close with the traditional “We Shall Overcome.”
Music director Mei-Ann Chen said the past year has been challenging, but they’ve tried their best to “keep the music going.” In September, they opened their season virtually. This concert has been a trademark of the Sinfonietta’s season for more than 30 years and is usually performed in the Chicago Symphony’s concert hall in January. This year’s show was postponed until March.
“We have three African American composers that we have championed. Two of them we have championed in the past and one is new,” she said. “With a young soloist that is a national rising star with a Chicago link — the daughter of one of our longtime members in the violin section. We didn’t want this great program we put together to disappear. We are grateful we’re able to present this at the end of this month.”
“Dances in the Canebrakes” by Florence Price is up first on the program. Price was a concert pianist, organist and composer who lived in Chicago before her death in 1953.
“She became the first African American woman in the country whose work was premiered by a major symphony orchestra,” Chen said. “In 1933, the Chicago Symphony premiered her first symphony, Symphony in E minor.”
“Dances in the Canebrakes” consists of three dances for piano originally written in the last year of her life, Chen said.
“These dances really bow to her African heritage utilizing Indigenous African rhythm.”
This is a signature piece for the Sinfonietta now. Chen has taken it all over the world and she took with her when she debuted with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London in 2019.
Also on the program is a world premiere by Joel Thompson titled “breathe/ burn: an elegy” composed in memory of Breonna Taylor and performed with cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing, daughter of Chicago Sinfonietta violinist Lucinda Ali-Landing, in the role of soloist.
Thompson wrote a multi-movement choral work called “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” literally taking the last words of seven African American victims of police violence in the country. The piece was premiered by the University of Michi
gan Men’s Glee Club in 2016.
“It was so powerful when I first saw it,” Chen said. “We did the Chicago premiere last year and I believe we were only the third performance of it in the country. A lot of orchestras are looking to program this when singing is allowed back in the hall.”
Chicago Sinfonietta CEO and president Blake-Anthony Johnson is a childhood friend of Thompson’s and made it possible to feature his new work.
The title of the piece, “breath/ burn,” is in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Chen said.
“I wanted him to just be able to write what’s in his heart and in his mind,” she said.
The third piece on the program is “Sinfonietta of Dreams” by Jeffrey Scott, which was inspired by and based on King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech given at Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Nov. 27, 1962. There are two parts: “Prayer” and “Hope.”
“I thought this ‘Sinfonietta of Dreams’ … is perfect for our Dr. King tribute concert. It was written for the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s death,” Chen said. “We could only do the first two movements because the last movement calls for a gospel choir. We would have loved to have a collaboration with a gospel choir in town but the safety measures prevent us from having any singing in the venue for right now. I thought the piece was so wonderful. There’s the ‘Prayer’ movement … and the ‘Hope’ movement. That is just perfect for our time. We need both prayer and hope to lift us out of this pandemic.”
She believes the concert will honor King’s memory.
“We are one of very few orchestras in the country that has consistently championed for African American composers. This is what we do yearlong,” she said. “Florence Price is someone we have championed … probably even before a lot of orchestras took notice of her. Joel Thompson’s world premiere — I can assure you there are very few world premieres right now.”
Scott’s piece honors King’s memory through music inspired by his famous speech.
“A lot of thought goes into our commitment. We didn’t back away,” she said. “Our president and CEO and our wonderful team took this challenge and turned it into an opportunity. How can we make use of our time and create something meaningful and beautiful?”
The show will end on a traditional note which was started by former director Paul Freeman.
“Maestro Freeman always asked the audience to hold hands in honor of the gospel tradition of singing side by side, singing ‘We Shall Overcome.’ This will be a part of our virtual concert experience and we encourage everybody from the safety of their homes to honor this tradition and sing ‘We Shall Overcome,’ ” she said. “It’s going to be a sing-along with the Chicago Sinfonietta. This will be our way of continuing our traditions. It’s a short concert. We’re talking altogether about 40 minutes of music.
“We encourage everyone to stay to the end and enjoy singing ‘We Shall Overcome’ and lifting our spirits and joining our spirits together through the virtual space in memory of Dr. King.”