Events & Tickets

Special Event
I Dream a World: Chamber Music in Historic Overtown
Lyric Theater of the Black Archives, Overtown
Location: 819 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136
Program
- Dett : Juda (Dance) from In the Bottoms
- Joplin : Solace
- Joplin : The Entertainer
- Europe : Castle House Rag
- Waller : Handful of Keys
- Williams : Night Life
- Waller : Viper Drag
- Price : Selections from Octet for Brasses and Piano
- White : Basque Folk Song
- Still : Mvt. II from Suite for Violin and Piano
- Milhaud : "Caramel mou"
- Johnson : "The Charleston"
Arrive early! Join us for a free pre-concert reception from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at Hampton Art Lovers Gallery in The Historic Ward Rooming House, located at 249 NW 9th Street, Miami, FL 33136. Wine and light bites will be available. Parking is free for all ticketholders.
In collaboration with the Black Archives History & Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc., join New World Symphony for an evening of jazz and chamber music at the Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown. Like Harlem, Overtown experienced its own cultural renaissance in the 1930s, and served as a refuge for artists like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald when they performed in Miami.
Location: Historic Lyric Theater - 819 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136
This concert is part of the I Dream a World festival. Click here for a full listing of festival events.
I Dream a World: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond is made possible with support from the NWS Collaborations Fund, the NWS Fund for New Ventures and the Keith and Renata Ward Family Fund. Knight Foundation and New World Symphony: Reimagining Classical Music in the Digital Age.
I Dream a World Festival Pass
A Festival Pass is your ticket to two weeks of live music, film, art and learning. For $150 or less, attend as many events as you’d like by showing your festival pass at the door. Click here to choose a Festival Pass.
Program
Robert Nathaniel Dett
(1882-1943)
In the Bottoms
(1913)
V. Juba (Dance)
Noah Sonderling, piano
Scott Joplin
(1868-1917)
Arranged by David Zimbalist
Solace
(1909)
James Zabawa-Martinez, violin I; Luis Salazar, violin II
Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola; Vivian Chang, cello
Scott Joplin
(1868-1917)
The Entertainer
(1902)
Wesley Ducote, piano
James Reese Europe
(1881-1919)
Arranged by Michael Linville
Castle House Rag
(1914)
Jakob Lenhardt, clarinet; Morgen Low, trumpet
Chase Waterbury, trombone; Andrew Abel, tuba
Jennifer Marasti, drums; Noah Sonderling, piano
James Zabawa-Martinez, violin; Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola
Vivian Chang, cello; Jakob Gerritsen, bass
Fats Waller
(1904-1943)
Arranged by Wesley Ducote
Handful of Keys
(1929)
Wesley Ducote, piano
Mary Lou Williams
(1910-1981)
Night Life
(1930)
Wesley Ducote, piano
Jakob Gerritsen, bass
Jennifer Marasti, drums
Fats Waller
(1904-1943)
Arranged by David Zimbalist
Viper Drag
(c. 1934)
James Zabawa-Martinez, violin I; Luis Salazar, violin II
Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola; Vivian Chang, cello
Florence Price
(1887-1953)
Octet for Brasses and Piano
(1930)
II. Andante cantabile
III. Tempo moderato
Noah Sonderling, piano; Spencer Bay, Henry Bond, horn
Kenneth Chauby, Morgen Low, trumpet
Guangwei Fan, Chase Waterbury, trombone; Andrew Abel, tuba
Clarence Cameron White
(1880-1960)
Basque Folk Song
(1961)
Jakob Lenhardt, clarinet
Noah Sonderling, piano
William Grant Still
(1895-1978)
Suite for Violin and Piano
(1943)
III. Gamin
Luis Salazar, violin
Wesley Ducote, piano
Darius Milhaud
(1892-1974)
Lyrics by Jean Cocteau
"Caramel mou," Op. 68
(1920)
Erin Alford, mezzo-soprano; Jakob Lenhardt, clarinet
Morgen Low, trumpet; Guangwei Fan, trombone
Jennifer Marasti, percussion; Wesley Ducote, piano
James P. Johnson
(1894-1955)
Arranged by David Zimbalist
"The Charleston"
(1923)
James Zabawa-Martinez, violin I; Luis Salazar, violin II
Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola; Vivian Chang, cello
BLACK RENAISSANCE: CHAMBER MUSIC IN HISTORIC OVERTOWN
The music comprising this program is emblematic of the full, reverberating nature of both Black sound beyond the geographic borders of the spaces that framed Black life and the geopolitical borders of America. The harmonies, rhythms and melodies you will hear only frame one aspect of this story, as this music is intertwined with larger cultural narratives that represent how Black people embodied freedom, resistance and transcendence through their movement. It is no mistake that this concert begins and ends with music that references the shifting of Black dance practices from the insularity of their respective communities to global stages. We begin with the Juba, a dance that represented resistance to subjugation and the denial of personal freedom in the American context, and we end with a dance that symbolized the liberation of Europe from its cultural norms following World War I.
In the Bottoms is one of R. Nathaniel Dett’s most well-known piano works. It reflected the utility, practicality and accessibility that underscored many of his early works, which correlated with teaching stints at various Black colleges. This five-movement suite depicts various aspects of Black life in the river bottoms of the South. Juba is its final movement and is based on the dance and musical practices that evolved out of the enslaved experience. It marks one of the earliest forms of Black dance that entered America’s consciousness in the 19th century. The Juba’s origins extend back to slaves from the Kongo region that were brought to Charleston, SC. It involved stomping and the slapping or “patting” of various parts of the body (e.g., arms, legs, chest, etc.). After the Stono Rebellion in 1739, drums and other rhythmic instruments were outlawed in slave communities. The percussive sequence of intricate rhythmic patterns associated with the Juba represents how enslaved Africans adapted their traditional practices to the constraints of the New World and created a new idiom of expression.
In the mid-to-late 19th century, lyrics and instrumental accompaniment were added to the dance, and it was integrated into minstrel shows. Despite this dubious connection, Black composers like Dett and later Florence Price, embraced the intricate rhythmic patterns associated with the Juba, and employed it as a sonic marker of Blackness in their compositions.
James P. Johnson’s “The Charleston” and Darius Milhaud’s “Caramel mou” (Shimmy) signify how folk dances like the Juba spawned variant forms of Black dance practices as Blacks migrated and birthed new identities. These dances and their promotion through various forms of popular culture during the first two decades of the 20th century significantly influenced a generation of American and European composers. There are many speculations about the origins of the Shimmy. However, most historians trace its origins back to the dance tune “Shimmy Sha Wabble,” written by Spencer Williams in 1917. The song and the dance, which largely encompassed the shaking of one’s shoulders or upper body, grew in popularity when white performers, most notably Mae West, integrated it into their performances.
The Charleston reflected the emergence of new cultural forms as southern Blacks migrated northward to urban cities. Much like the Juba, the Charleston draws its origins from the dance practices of enslaved Africans in the city it refers to. The rhythmic pattern heard is a clave or habanera rhythm James P. Johnson heard and articulated in numerous ways during his time in Charleston in the early 1920s. The song and dance were introduced in the 1923 musical Runnin’ Wild and, like the Shimmy, they became associated with jazz culture during the 1920s. The Black music theater culture that Johnson worked in can be heard in the music that defined a generation of composers who emerged during this period, including Darius Milhaud. His “Caramel mou” represents how European composers advanced an idiom that drew on the nuances, harmonies and rhythms that defined the early New Orleans jazz aesthetic. Its beginning invokes the collective improvisation and melodic interplay that took place between lead instruments in early jazz. Milhaud heard these sounds in London in 1919, and they sparked in him an interest in jazz culture that ultimately led to him visiting the U.S. and Harlem years later.
The influence of Black dance practices also extends to the compositions of Scott Joplin. Ragtime emerged in the late 19th century as a new form of popular music and spawned several dances that shifted the context of America’s dance culture away from those of Old-World Europe well into the first four decades of the 20th century. Although most associate the syncopated melodies of Ragtime with dances like the Cakewalk, Turkey Trot and Tango, the origins of this genre and its distinct performance approaches extend back to slavery.
Ragtime was one of many forms of syncopated instrumental music that enslaved musicians performed during slave gatherings. The melodies were largely played on fiddle or banjo and accompanied by handclapping and stomping. The juxtaposition of the two created the distinct rhythmic tension or unexpected rhythmic accents. The word “ragtime” developed out of Black musicians’ identification of playing in a highly polyrhythmic style as “ragging the rhythm.” Ragtime’s popularity and growing impact beyond the Black community was fueled by a perfect storm of factors: 1) the growing popularity and affordability of pianos in the late 19th and early 20th century; 2) a growing infatuation amongst Americans with leisure culture or the activities that defined their non-work lives; 3) growing debates about what defined American culture and identity; and 4) the intellectual and cultural imprint of the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair.
While not the first to publish Ragtime compositions, Scott Joplin’s works signified the standardization of a particular structure and harmonic formula. Joplin’s compositions displayed a fusion of elements drawn from European marches, Romantic-era piano repertory and Black folk music traditions. At the time of his death in 1917, Joplin had composed one ballet, two operas and approximately 53 rags. His music fell into relative obscurity until the 1970s, when his music was featured in the award-winning film, The Sting, and pianist Joshua Rifkin recorded a series of albums focused on the compositions of Joplin.
The compositions of Mary Lou Williams, Fats Waller, Florence Price and William Grant Still included in this concert point to the divergent sides of the Renaissance’s identity. They represent the paradox that existed between the assimilationist, elitist politics that underscored the movement and the aspirational and influential sounds of Harlem’s migrant community and the leisure culture industry it cultivated. Night Life and Handful of Keys represent how the piano served as a means of survival in the lives of southern Blacks during the first wave of the Great Migration. The Stride piano style developed out of the rent party culture of the Northeast. These parties not only provided a financial safety net for working class Blacks who had their dreams of freedom squeezed by low wages and high rents in Northern cities, but they also served as important sub-communities that provided respite from the social and psychological effects of racism. Lastly, the transition of this virtuosic form of piano music from the insularity of these Black spaces to the stages of America’s theaters and nightclubs during the 1920s primed American and European audiences for the emergence of early jazz.
Florence Price and William Grant Still exemplified what the ideological leader of the Harlem Renaissance, Alain Locke, envisioned as the New Negro-era composer. Both grew up in the prodigious Black community of Little Rock, Arkansas. Their exposure to a vibrant musical life, but also advanced public-school curriculum in the segregated school system contributed to their matriculation to prominent colleges. Although their lives would take different directions, both would become important in advancing the Renaissance movement.
Still spent his early years as a composer immersed in the musical life of New York, working first for W.C. Handy’s publishing company, then as musical director for the first Black-owned recording company, Black Swan Records. His aspiration, however, extended to the classical music realm. By the time he composed the Suite for Violin and Piano, Still was no longer living in New York. He and his second wife, Verna Arvey, had moved to Los Angeles. However, this work displays how the culture of Harlem and the artistic communities that defined the Renaissance still influenced his work. Each movement of this composition is based on a noted Black artist. The movement performed during this concert was based on sculptor Augusta Savage’s famous work Gamin. The title derives from a French word used to characterize streetwise kids. Still’s music seemingly represents the energy that emanates from one navigating the streets of Harlem. The left hand summons the vernacular forms of piano music that came out of the rent parties and nightclubs of Harlem. It first invokes the rhythmic and harmonic ostinato that characterizes Boogie-woogie, a blues-based form of piano music. It soon shifts to the type of intricate bass motives associated with Harlem stride piano. The violin fills out this musical interplay with blues-tinged melodies.
Following her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, Florence Price began a career teaching. She served as the chair of the music department at Clark University (now Clark-Atlanta University) before marrying Thomas J. Price. Seeking an escape from the racial violence that pervaded the South during the years following World War I, Florence Price and her family moved to Chicago in 1927. Her Octet for Brasses and Piano points to the budding Renaissance movement that was taken shape in Chicago during the 1930s. It is emblematic of Price’s engagement with the fertile musical life of Chicago’s Black community and the reawakening of her compositional voice. Although this work is dated three years after her arrival, little is known about its performance history. This work was one of dozens found in an abandoned home outside of Chicago in 2009. Its lost history is symbolic of the challenges Price and the other Black composers featured in this concert faced in having their music regularly performed during their lifetimes.
—Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle
Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle is University Distinguished Professor at Miami University in Ohio. Her scholarship and teaching have been primarily in the areas of African American music (classical and popular), jazz, and gender and popular music. She served as the Scholar in Residence for the Women in Jazz Initiative at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City (1999-2001) and has worked closely with a number of educational programs including the Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, Jazz@Lincoln Center, NPR, Rock `n' Roll Hall of Fame Lecture series and the BBC. She is the author of biography Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams and served as Associate Editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of African American Music. She holds degrees from The Ohio State University and Virginia State University and is curator of the New World Symphony's annual I Dream a World festival.
Robert Nathaniel Dett
(1882-1943)
In the Bottoms (1913)
V. Juba (Dance)
Noah Sonderling, piano
Scott Joplin
(1868-1917)
Arranged by David Zimbalist
Solace (1909)
James Zabawa-Martinez, violín I; Luis Salazar, violín II
Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola; Vivian Chang, violonchelo
Scott Joplin
(1868-1917)
The Entertainer (1902)
Wesley Ducote, piano
James Reese Europe
(1881-1919)
Arranged by Michael Linville
Castle House Rag (1914)
Jakob Lenhardt, clarinete; Morgen Low, trompeta
Chase Waterbury, trombón; Andrew Abel, tuba
Jennifer Marasti, tambor; Noah Sonderling, piano
James Zabawa-Martinez, violín; Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola
Vivian Chang, violonchelo; Jakob Gerritsen, contrabajo
Fats Waller
(1904-1943)
Arranged by Wesley Ducote
Handful of Keys (1929)
Wesley Ducote, piano
Mary Lou Williams
(1910-1981)
Night Life (1930)
Wesley Ducote, piano
Jakob Gerritsen, contrabajo
Jennifer Marasti, tambor
Fats Waller
(1904-1943)
Arranged by David Zimbalist
Viper Drag (c. 1934)
James Zabawa-Martinez, violín I; Luis Salazar, violín II
Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola; Vivian Chang, violonchelo
Florence Price
(1887-1953)
Octet for Brasses and Piano (1930)
II. Andante cantabile
III. Tempo moderato
Noah Sonderling, piano; Spencer Bay, Henry Bond, trompa
Kenneth Chauby, Morgen Low, trompeta
Guangwei Fan, Chase Waterbury, trombón; Andrew Abel, tuba
Clarence Cameron White
(1880-1960)
Basque Folk Song (1961)
Jakob Lenhardt, clarinete
Noah Sonderling, piano
William Grant Still
(1895-1978)
Suite for Violin and Piano (1943)
III. Gamin
Luis Salazar, violín
Wesley Ducote, piano
Darius Milhaud
(1892-1974)
Lyrics by Jean Cocteau
"Caramel mou," Op. 68 (1920)
Erin Alford, mezzo-soprano; Jakob Lenhardt, clarinete
Morgen Low, trompeta; Guangwei Fan, trombón
Jennifer Marasti, percusión; Wesley Ducote, piano
James P. Johnson
(1894-1955)
Arranged by David Zimbalist
"The Charleston" (1923)
James Zabawa-Martinez, violín I; Luis Salazar, violín II
Elizabeth Doubrawa, viola; Vivian Chang, violonchelo
EL RENACIMIENTO NEGRO: MÚSICA DE CÁMARA EN EL HISTÓRICO OVERTOWN
La música que conforma este programa es emblemática de la naturaleza plena y reverberante de la sonoridad negra, más allá de las fronteras geográficas que enmarcaron la vida de los afroamericanos y las fronteras geopolíticas de los Estados Unidos de América. Las armonías, ritmos y melodías que escucharán solo muestran una parte de esta historia, ya que esta música está entrelazada con narrativas culturales más amplias que representan cómo las personas de raza negra encarnaban la libertad, la resistencia y la trascendencia a través de su movimiento. No es casualidad que este concierto comience y termine con música que hace referencia al cambio de las prácticas de danza negra, desde la insularidad de sus respectivas comunidades a los escenarios locales. Comenzamos con la Juba, un baile que representaba la resistencia al sometimiento y la negación de la libertad personal en el contexto estadounidense, y terminamos con una danza que simbolizaba la liberación de Europa de sus normas culturales después de la Primera Guerra Mundial.
In the Bottoms es una de las obras más conocidas de Nathaniel Dett. Reflejó la utilidad, practicidad y accesibilidad que demostraron muchas de sus primeras obras, las cuales se correlacionaron con períodos de enseñanza en varias universidades negras. Esta suite de cinco movimientos representa varios aspectos de la vida de los afroamericanos en el sur. Juba es el último movimiento y está basado en las prácticas musicales y bailables que surgieron de la experiencia de la esclavitud. Este movimiento marca una de las primeras formas de danza negra que entraron en la conciencia estadounidense en el siglo XIX. Los orígenes de la Juba se remontan a los esclavos de la región del Congo que fueron traídos a Charleston, SC. Se trataba de zapatear y de darse palmadas en varias partes del cuerpo (por ejemplo, brazos, piernas, pecho, etc.). Después de la rebelión de Stono en 1739, los tambores y otros instrumentos rítmicos fueron prohibidos en las comunidades de esclavos. La secuencia percusiva de patrones rítmicos intrincados asociados con la Juba representa cómo los africanos esclavizados adaptaron sus prácticas tradicionales a las limitaciones del Nuevo Mundo y crearon un nuevo lenguaje de expresión.
A mediados y finales del siglo XIX, se agregaron letras y acompañamiento instrumental al baile, y fue integrado en las actuaciones de los juglares. A pesar de esta dudosa conexión, compositores afroamericanos como Dett y luego Florence Price, acogieron los intrincados patrones rítmicos asociados con la Juba, y los emplearon como un marcador sonoro de afroamericanismo en sus composiciones.
“The Charleston” de James P. Johnson y “Caramel mou”(Shimmy) de Darius Milhaud representan cómo danzas folclóricas como la Juba generaron varias formas de danza negra mientras los afroamericanos emigraban y recomenzaban con nuevas identidades. Estos bailes y su promoción a través de la cultura popular durante las primeras dos décadas del siglo XX influyeron significativamente en una generación de compositores estadounidenses y europeos. Existen muchas especulaciones sobre los orígenes del Shimmy. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los historiadores rastrean sus orígenes hasta la melodía de “Shimmy Sha Wabble”, escrita por Spencer Williams en 1917. La canción y el baile, que mayormente se trataban del movimiento de los hombros o la parte superior del cuerpo, creció en popularidad cuando intérpretes blancos, especialmente Mae West, lo integraron en sus actuaciones.
El Charleston reflejó el surgimiento de nuevas formas culturales mientras los afroamericanos del sur emigraban hacia centros urbanos más al norte. Al igual que la Juba, el Charleston se originó de las prácticas bailables de los africanos esclavizados en la ciudad a la que se refiere. El patrón rítmico que se escucha es un ritmo de clave o habanera que James P. Johnson escuchó y articuló de numerosas maneras durante su estancia en Charleston a principios de los 1920. La canción y el baile se escucharon por primera vez en el musical de 1923 Runnin’ Wild, y como el Shimmy, fueron asociados con la cultura del jazz durante la década de 1920. La cultura de teatro musical negro en la que Johnson trabajó se escucha en la música que definió a una generación de compositores que emergieron durante este período, incluyendo a Darius Milhaud. Su “Caramel mou” representa cómo los compositores europeos desarrollaron un lenguaje que representaba los matices, armonías y ritmos que definieron la estética temprana del jazz de New Orleans. Su comienzo evoca la improvisación colectiva y el juego melódico que sucedía entre los instrumentos líderes en los comienzos del jazz. Milhaud escuchó estas sonoridades en Londres en 1919, y despertaron en él un interés en la cultura del jazz que lo llevó a visitar los Estados Unidos y Harlem años después.
La influencia de los bailes afroamericanos también se extendió a las composiciones de Scott Joplin. El ragtime surgió a finales del siglo XIX como una nueva forma de música popular y generó varios bailes que cambiaron el contexto de la danza en la cultura estadounidense alejándola del Viejo Mundo europeo por lo menos durante las primeras cuatro décadas del siglo XX. Aunque muchos asocian las melodías sincopadas del ragtime con bailes como el cakewalk, el turkey trot y el tango, los orígenes de este género y su forma de interpretación se remontan a la esclavitud.
El ragtime fue una de las muchas variantes de música instrumental sincopada que interpretaban los músicos esclavizados durante reuniones de esclavos. Las melodías se tocaban mayormente en el violín o el banjo, acompañadas de palmadas y zapateo. La yuxtaposición de los dos creó la tensión rítmica distintiva o los acentos rítmicos inesperados. La palabra “ragtime” surgió de la identificación de los músicos afroamericanos al tocar un estilo altamente polirítmico como “rasgando el ritmo”. La popularidad del ragtime y su impacto creciente más allá de la comunidad negra fue impulsada por una perfecta combinación de factores: 1) la gran popularidad y asequibilidad de los pianos a finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX; 2) una creciente obsesión entre los americanos con la cultura del ocio o actividades que definían su vida fuera del trabajo; 3) debates sobre la definición de cultura e identidad estadounidenses; y 4) la huella intelectual y cultural de la Feria Mundial de Chicago en 1893.
Aunque no fue el primero en publicar composiciones de ragtime, las obras de Scott Joplin representaron la estandarización de una estructura particular y una fórmula armónica. Las composiciones de Joplin mostraron una fusión de elementos inspirados por las marchas europeas, el repertorio para piano del Romanticismo y las tradiciones musicales folclóricas afroamericanas. Antes de su muerte en 1917, Joplin había compuesto un ballet, dos óperas y aproximadamente 53 ragtimes. Su música cayó en una relativa oscuridad hasta la década de 1970, cuando fue incluida en el premiado filme The Sting, y el pianista Joshua Rifkin grabó una serie de discos enfocados en las composiciones de Joplin.
Las obras de Mary Lou Williams, Fats Waller, Florence Price y William Grant Still incluidas en este concierto apuntan a los lados divergentes de la identidad del Renacimiento. Ellos representan la paradoja que existe entre la política asimilacionista y elitista que subrayó el movimiento y las sonoridades aspiracionales e influyentes de la comunidad migrante de Harlem, así como la industria de la cultura del ocio que cultivaba. Night Life y Handful of Keys representan cómo el piano servía de medio de supervivencia en las vidas de los afroamericanos del sur durante la primera ola de la Gran Migración. El estilo pianístico de Stride se desarrolló a partir de la cultura de las fiestas de alquiler del noreste. Estas fiestas no solo proporcionaban una red de seguridad financiera para los afroamericanos de la clase trabajadora que vieron sus sueños de libertad reprimidos por bajos salarios y altos alquileres en las ciudades del norte, sino también sirvieron como importantes subcomunidades que proveían un respiro de los efectos sociales y psicológicos del racismo.
Finalmente, la transición de esta forma virtuosística de la música para piano, desde la insularidad de estas comunidades negras a los escenarios de los teatros y clubes nocturnos de Estados Unidos durante la década del 20, preparó al público estadounidense y europeo para el surgimiento del jazz. Florence Price y William Grant Still ejemplificaron lo que el líder ideológico del Renacimiento de Harlem, Alain Locke, visualizó como el compositor de la era del Nuevo Negro. Los dos crecieron en la prodigiosa comunidad afroamericana de Little Rock, Arkansas. Su exposición a una vibrante vida musical, pero también a un avanzado currículo en el sistema de escuelas públicas segregacionistas contribuyeron a su matrícula en prominentes universidades. Aunque sus vidas tomarían diferentes direcciones, ambos se convertirían en importantes figuras del Renacimiento.
Still pasó sus primeros años como compositor sumergido en la vida musical de Nueva York, trabajando primero para la compañía editorial W.C. Handy, y después como director musical de la primera compañía discográfica de propiedad afroamericana, Black Swan Records. Su aspiración, sin embargo, se extendió al ámbito de la música clásica. Para el momento en que compuso la Suite para Violín y Piano, Still ya no vivía en Nueva York. Él y su segunda esposa, Verna Arvey, se habían mudado a Los Ángeles. Sin embargo, esta obra representa cómo la cultura de Harlem y las comunidades artísticas que definieron el Renacimiento todavía influenciaban su obra. Cada movimiento de esta composición está basado en un notable artista afroamericano. El movimiento interpretado durante este concierto está basado en la famosa obra Gamin de la escultora Augusta Savage. El título se deriva de una palabra francesa utilizada para describir a los niños callejeros. La música de Still aparentemente representa la energía que emana de caminar las calles de Harlem. La mano izquierda resume las formas vernáculas de la música para piano que salieron de las fiestas de alquiler y los clubes nocturnos de Harlem. Primero invoca el ostinato rítmico y armónico que caracteriza el Boogie-woogie, un género de música para piano basado en el blues. Pronto cambia a un intrincado motivo del bajo asociado con el piano stride de Harlem. El violín llena esta interacción musical con melodías teñidas de blues.
Después de sus estudios en el New England Conservatory of Music, Florence Price comenzó una carrera como docente. Se desempeñó como Presidenta del Departamento de Música de la Clark University (ahora Atlanta University) antes de casarse con Thomas J. Price. Buscando un escape de la violencia racial que invadió al sur durante los años posteriores a la Primera Guerra Mundial, Florence Price y su familia se mudaron a Chicago en 1927. Su Octeto para Viento Metal y Piano apunta al incipiente movimiento renacentista que se estaba formando en Chicago durante la década de 1930. Es emblemático el compromiso de Price con la fértil vida musical de la comunidad afroamericana de Chicago y el despertar de su voz composicional. Aunque esta obra data de tres años antes de su llegada, poco se sabe sobre su historia interpretativa. Esta obra fue una de varias docenas encontradas en una casa abandonada fuera de Chicago en 2009. Su historia perdida es un símbolo de los desafíos que Price y los otros compositores afroamericanos incluidos en este concierto enfrentaron para que su música fuera interpretada regularmente durante sus vidas.
—Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle
Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle es Profesora Distinguida de la Miami University en Ohio. Sus estudios y su trabajo como pedagoga han sido principalmente en las áreas de música afroamericana, jazz, género y música popular. Participó como Becaria en Residencia en la Iniciativa de Mujeres en el Jazz del Museo de Jazz Americano en Kansas City (1999-2001) y ha trabajado con un número de programas educacionales incluyendo el Festival de Mujeres en el Jazz Mary Lou Williams del Kennedy Center, Jazz@Lincoln Center, NPR, la serie de conferencias del Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame y la BBC. Es la autora de la biografía Alma sobre Alma: La vida y música de Mary Lou Williams y se desempeñó como editora asociada de la Enciclopedia de la Música Afroamericana, que cuenta de tres volúmenes. Es graduada de Ohio State University y de Virginia State University y es curadora del festival anual de New World Symphony I Dream a World (Yo sueño un Mundo).
Translated by Maria Paulina García
Erin Alford, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Erin Alford joins Florida Grand Opera this season as a Studio Artist, where she is currently performing the role of La Ciesca in the hilarious double-bill of Gianni Schicchi and Buoso’s Ghost, and will cover the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville in the spring. For her debut at the Arsht Center as Fidalma in El matrimonio secreto last fall, Ms. Alford was praised for being “statuesque and spunky,” her “powerful mezzo,” and for “exhibit[ing] the best sense of classical style in the cast” (South Florida Classical Review). Last season, she performed Second Woman and Dido cover in Dido and Aeneas with Opera San José, returned to Pensacola Opera as Zweite Dame in The Magic Flute, and joined Opera Santa Barbara as a Chrisman Studio Artist, covering Hannah After in As One and performing song cycle The Starry Night with renowned American composer Jake Heggie at the piano. Additionally, she was named a 2022 Tennessee District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Other notable roles performed include Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, the title role in Massenet’s Chérubin and Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. Ms. Alford received her master of music in her hometown at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, and earned her bachelor of art in music at UC Berkeley.
Musicians of the New World Symphony

A laboratory for the way music is taught, presented and experienced, the New World Symphony consists of 87 young musicians who are granted fellowships lasting up to three years. The fellowship program offers in-depth exposure to traditional and modern repertoire, professional development training and personalized experiences working with leading guest conductors, soloists and visiting faculty.
NWS Fellows take advantage of the innovative performance facilities and state-of-the art practice and ensemble rooms of the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center, the campus of the New World Symphony and home of the Knight New Media Center.
In the hopes of joining NWS, nearly 1,000 recent music school and conservatory graduates compete for available fellowships each year. The Fellows are selected for this highly competitive, prestigious opportunity based on their musical achievement and promise, as well as their passion for the future of classical music.