Rhythms of Resilience features African American composers and choral works.
The Virginia Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert, Rhythms of Resilience, Saturday at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News.
The show features African American composers including William Grant Still, Adolphus Hailstork and Florence Price. The program also includes choral works by Richard Smallwood, Moses Hogan and Duke Ellington’s symphonic jazz suite, “Harlem.”
Contemporary composer James Lee III’s “Fanfare for Universal Hope,” which premièred last year with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, will open the evening.
VSO principal guest conductor and Norfolk native Thomas Wilkins will conduct.
“I am truly honored to be a part of this project,” Wilkins said in a news release. “The program represents the incredible diversity and richness of our creative spirits and subsequent artistic endeavors, spanning many generations.”
