Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to Premiere Kathryn Bostic's August Wilson Symphony Narrated by Phylicia Rashad

On Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 8:00 pm at Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, Grammy Award-winning conductor Lucas Richman and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will premiere Kathryn Bostic’s August Wilson Symphony. Through music, art and text, the program will include tributes to two Pittsburgh Hill District legacies, photographer Teenie Harris and playwright August Wilson, as well as a visual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Local artists and ensembles will also showcase talent in the Pittsburgh region. Tony Award-winning actress,Phylicia Rashad, will narrate. 

Composed by Kathryn Bostic, the August Wilson Symphony pays tribute to the iconic playwright with music inspired by the 10 Play Cycle Wilson wrote based on his life experiences growing up in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Phylicia Rashad will be the host and narrator for the concert. Ms. Rashad will read passages from August Wilson’s plays before each movement.

Kathryn Bostic scored several August Wilson plays including Gem of the Ocean (Broadway), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (directed by Phylicia Rashad), and Radio Golf. The August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh hired her to score and sound design scenes from his plays in the 2011 Augustin August tribute to the playwright. Bostic also scored the PBS American Masters documentary August Wilson – The Ground on Which I Stand, which inspired her to create the August Wilson Symphony and will include narrated excerpts from his plays.

Also featured on the program is 14 year-old cellist, Ifetayo Ali, who was the Junior Division 1st Place Laureate of the 2017 Sphinx Competition, performing Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor. The program will also include pianist, composer, and vocalist, Kathryn Bostic, performing her own composition State of Grace, a tribute to playwright August Wilson. A percussion ensemble from the Pittsburgh Cultural Arts Collective, under the direction of Thomas Chatman, will open the program, followed by vocalist Anqwenique who will perform Take My Hand, Precious Lord.

A jazz combo will perform a piece about Teenie Harris called Teenie Time by Jay Ashby that will feature the PSO’s Jeffrey Grubbs on contrabass and Victoria Luperi on clarinet. The Hill District Unity Choir led by Director Jason Washington will close the concert with a special arrangement ofLift Ev’ry Voice and Richard Smallwood’s An Anthem of Praise.

Before the concert, audiences are invited to come to exhibits and pre-concert presentations throughout Heinz Hall. A jazz combo featuring Alton Merrell, Jeffrey Grubbs, James Johnson III, and Anqwenique will play in the Grand Lobby following the concert.

This concert marks a re-launch of a collaboration between the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Hill District community.

The Pittsburgh Symphony would like to recognize and thank the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania for its supporting partnership of this concert.  This concert is also generously supported by Macedonia FACE.

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The PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, known for its artistic excellence for more than 120 years, is credited with a rich history of the world’s finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004).  This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” in 1944 and John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. The Pittsburgh Symphonyhas a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. Its “Pittsburgh Live!” series with Reference Recordings has resulted in back-to-back Grammy Awards in 2015 and 2016. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series “Previn and the Pittsburgh.” The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900 — including international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America—the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest orchestras.

HEINZ HALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is the year-round home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, Heinz Hall hosts many events that do not feature its world-renowned Orchestra including Broadway shows, popular touring artists, comedians, speakers and much more. For a full calendar of upcoming non-symphony events at the hall, visit heinzhall.org.

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Contact: Laura D. Soldati, Interim Director of Public Relations
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsoldati@pittsburghsymphony.org

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