Rarely Heard William Grant Still Oratorio & New York City Premiere of Florence Price Concerto, May 8 at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

“An Oratorio about One of The Great Horrors of American History” – ArtsJournal

Harry T. Burleigh Society and Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra Explore
Burleigh’s Symphonic Influence in From Song Came Symphony

Rarely Heard William Grant Still Oratorio & New York City Premiere of Florence Price Concerto
May 8 at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

NEW YORK, NY – April 2, 2019 – William Grant Still’s powerful oratorio “And They Lynched Him on A Tree” was premiered by the New York Philharmonic in the summer of 1940. Among the high-profile audience at that outdoor concert were composer Samuel Barber, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. The visually striking double choir – black mourners contrasting a white mob – must have been arresting, particularly in an era when “Strange Fruit” lyrics described an American reality.

“By mandating a racially segregated double chorus, Still empowers black artists to create art about black experiences,” said Harry T. Burleigh Society Executive Director Dr. Marti Slaten. “He also commands the audience to reckon with the brutal reality of the color line through lynching in America.”

The harrowing subject matter may have contributed to the oratorio’s scant performance history; now, one year after the National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened its doors, the Burleigh Society and Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra are set to revisit the piece.

Their May 8 concert, From Song Came Symphony, will explore the symphonic influence of composer Harry T. Burleigh, whose legacy is often tied to the concertization of the American spiritual. He is also increasingly credited as influencing some of the spiritual-inspired thematic material for the “New World Symphony” and “American String Quartet” of Antonin Dvorak. The Burleigh Society, which advances studies of black art music through scholarship and performance, hopes to broaden audiences’ understanding of Burleigh’s foundational contributions to American classical music.

Urban Playground Artistic Director Thomas Cunningham found programmatic inspiration in Jay-Z lyrics: Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk / Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run / Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly.

“Burleigh wrote art songs so that the following generation – William Grant Still, William Dawson, and Florence Price – could write symphonies and concert works,” said Cunningham. “Burleigh’s incorporation of African American music into Western Art music, and his advocacy for this new American music genre through his work at Ricordi, had a vast influence on remarkable composers of color in America.”

One such composer was Burleigh’s friend and colleague Florence Price, whose Violin Concerto No. 2 will receive its New York City premiere on the May 8 concert. The concerto, expected to be a highlight of the program, will feature violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, whose musical virtuosity and dedication to social justice make her an ideal collaborator.

Though Price’s work is enjoying increased popularity, organizers reject the idea of a “resurgence,” noting that African American classical music communities have never forgotten Price’s music. In fact, a community in Chicago paid tribute to her by naming Florence B. Price Elementary in her honor, with Violin Concerto No. 2 played at its opening.

“This concerto, completed just one year before Price’s untimely death in 1953, is a fascinating example of her applications of Black vernacular and Western classical principles,” said musicologist Kori Hill, who will deliver the pre-concert lecture. “It is an important component to understanding and fully appreciating her contributions to American classical music. We hope Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2 becomes a staple of the violin repertory in the years to come.”

“This program celebrates a lineage of American composers far too often overlooked and unheard,” added Cunningham. “By bringing this program to New York audiences, we hope to amplify these essential voices.”

www.burleighsociety.com / @burleighsoc

www.upchamberorchestra.org / @upchamberorch

Upcoming Event

Wednesday, May 8 Concert
7:30 p.m.
Langston Hughes Auditorium at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Harry T. Burleigh’s Influence on Symphonic Music

Increasingly credited as influencing some of the spiritual-inspired thematic material for the “New World Symphony” and “American String Quartet” of Dvorak, Harry T. Burleigh’s work also influenced other composers of the 20th century. This program includes William Grant Still's "And They Lynched Him on a Tree,” marking the first time the piece has been professionally performed in New York City since 1957, as well as spirituals by William Levi Dawson and Burleigh, and the New York City premiere of Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2. A pre-concert lecture by musicologist Kori Hill will contextualize this concerto within broader discussions of Black classical aesthetics and 20th c. Black music modernists’ relationship to antebellum-era music traditions. This concert is generously supported by grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy.
Tickets: burleigh.info/may8conc

About Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Acclaimed by The New York Times as “the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive” and for her “tonal mastery” (BBC Music Magazine) and “searing intensity” (American Record Guide), violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins is forging a dynamic career as a soloist and chamber musician. Winner of a Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize as well as a  Concert Artists Guild Career Grant, Ms. Hall-Tompkins has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Dallas Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of New York, and a Brevard Festival Orchestra under the baton of Keith Lockhart, in addition to numerous concerts and recitals in cities including Kiev, Ukraine; New York, Washington, Cleveland, Toronto, Chicago, Baltimore, and Greenville, South Carolina, and at festivals in France, Germany and Italy.

About Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra
Born in New York City in 2014, Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra (@UPChamberOrch) is a non-profit organization that prioritizes the music of women and composers of color to further enliven the classical canon. The ensemble is malleable in size, genre and venue, and creates new spaces for classical music in partnership with our diverse, vibrant audience. Urban Playground broadcasts historically marginalized voices, and nurtures emerging composers. Musicians from Urban Playground currently play with the New York Philharmonic, Beyoncé, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Broadway, Late Night television programs, and lead a variety of solo and chamber projects.

About The Harry T. Burleigh Society
The Harry T. Burleigh Society (@burleighsoc) is a non-profit organization that advances studies of black art music through scholarship and performance. Grounded in African American history and culture and committed to social justice, the Society continues Burleigh's radical legacy of disrupting boundaries and challenging social norms. Fortified by the beauty and bravery of his model, the Society consciously shapes arenas where encounters between disparate racial, religious, generational, national, and creative groups can thrive. Founded on the 150th anniversary of Burleigh's birth, the Society follows generations of African American music-makers and intellectual laborers, working to center their foundational contributions to American music.