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Chicago, IL - This season, Chicago Sinfonietta celebrates the 25th anniversary of its first orchestral album with Cedille Records, African Heritage Symphonic Series (AHSS) – Volume 1 released in 2000. The renowned, acclaimed CD set the orchestra’s focus in recorded sound.
The historical recording is the first in a three-CD series devoted to 20th century composers of African descent released by Cedille between 2000 and 2002. Conducted by Sinfonietta founder Paul Freeman, who recorded over 200 albums over his career, the series underscored Chicago Sinfonietta's mission of diversity and of celebrating and promoting music by BIPOC composers and helped to firmly establish its reputation as a leader in the field of diversity.
Acclaimed as “10/10 — A sonic and musical treasure” by ClassicsToday.com, with the music praised as “all first-class…” by Fanfare magazine when it was released, AHSS is as meaningful today as it was 25 years ago.
James (Jim) Ginsburg, Founder, President and recording producer of Cedille Records, said, “Having produced two previous album projects with Maestro Freeman, both including but not specifically featuring the Chicago Sinfonietta, I was thrilled when he came to me at the turn of the new century with a project very much his own, designed to showcase the nation’s most diverse professional orchestra. Freeman planned the three-volume African Heritage Symphonic Series on Cedille as an update to his (then out-of-print) 1970s Black Composers Series of LPs for CBS, carrying his championing of composers of color on record right up to the end of the century. This helped put the Chicago Sinfonietta “on the map” nationally and internationally, bolstered Freeman’s already impressive legacy, and introduced many listeners for the first time to important composers such as Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and (the now famous for his film scores and Pulitzer Prize winner) Michael Abels (the Sinfonietta’s performance of Abels’ Global Warming in 2002 marked the first time his music had appeared on a recording).”
Sidney Jackson, President and CEO of Chicago Sinfonietta, commented, “As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chicago Sinfonietta’s landmark release on Cedille Records, we are reminded of the enduring power of bold artistic vision and the importance of documenting voices that have historically been underrepresented in classical music. This recording was more than a collection of performances; it was a declaration of who we are and what we stand for. A quarter-century later, its message still resonates deeply. It’s a testament to the legacy of Maestro Paul Freeman and the many artists who contributed to that moment, and it challenges us to keep pushing boundaries, championing diversity, and creating space for all voices in classical music.”
Dave Belden, Chicago Sinfonietta violinist who was part of the historic album series, remembers the recording sessions: “I loved recording with Paul because he was so calm and efficient. Paul and Jim Ginsburg were very prepared and designed a plan for the sessions that wouldn't exhaust us. We recorded this album immediately after playing the two concerts over the weekend, so it was very fresh for everyone.
“One specific memory I have is of William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony. Some years earlier, we had performed a section of the piece along with the recording of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Those performances had been magical. During the recording session, I could hear Dr. King in my head as we played.”
Belden continued, “A recording is like a photo. It’s a snapshot of a moment in time when a group of musicians and producers and engineers and staff came together in order to add their mark to the recorded canon. Today, with audio and video technology being so accessible and everyone recording themselves all the time for social media, it’s good to remember how special and unusual it was for an orchestra [back then] to record an album.”
Recorded in 2000 at Dominican University’s Lund Auditorium in River Forest, Illinois, and produced by Cedille Records Founder James Ginsburg, African Heritage Symphonic Series – Vol. 1 includes works by three composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Dance Negre from his African Suite, and the Petite Suite de Concert, based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Clown and the Columbine; African Suite (selections) by Nigerian composer Fela Sawande’s (who incorporated West African influences into Western music) and William Grant Still’s popular work, Symphony No. 1, “Afro-American”.
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