From Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to Wynton Marsalis, VSO presents a Symphonic Tribute to Black History Month
Measha Brueggergosman and associate conductor Andrew Crust cohost program that also has works by George Walker, Jessie Montgomery, Dee Daniels, and more
Vancouver actor Garfield Wilson (front left), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra associate conductor Andrew Crust (centre), and VSO members at A Symphonic Tribute to Black History Month.
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Symphonic Tribute to Black History Month, part of the Parc Retirement Living Tea & Trumpets Series, premieres February 25 at 2 pm at The ConcertHall.ca presented by TELUS. The program remains online until the end of the season.
THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY Orchestra’s next installment of Tea and Trumpets is a Symphonic Tribute to Black History Month. Like other shows in the series, the February afternoon event is a mixed bill, a chance to reconnect with past composers and discover current and rising talent. What’s different is the conversation that flows throughout.
Co-hosted by VSO associate conductor Andrew Crust, Nova Scotia Symphony artist in residence and community ambassador Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, and soprano Measha Brueggergosman, the concert (which was recently recorded at the Orpheum Theatre) features works by Black composers, past and present, from around the world, including Vancouver vocalist Dee Daniels and local actor and vocalist Garfield Wilson. Bartholomew-Poyser is on the board of Orchestras Canada and is the chair of its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility committee. Between songs, the three hosts talk about everything from musical styles and musicianship—to colonialism, diversity, and racial reckoning in the arts.
Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser is artist in residence and community ambassador at Symphony Nova Scotia.
“We have some great, nice discussions between the three of us, about where the industry is and what we can do moving forward,” Crust says in an interview with Stir. “This season we have been focusing more than ever on the diversity of composers and guest artists in a general sense, and I’m so excited that our industry is finally tackling this issue in a very real way. The really important thing is not just responding to the momentum of this year and looking at the short term; we have to think about long term, because the arts are all about long term.
“You don’t become a famous soloist or conductor or composer in a short-term way; it takes years and years to build that,” he says. “A lot of arts organizations are responding to the moment but we also need to continue this trajectory and build up the careers of living composers and living performers and artists. I can’t wait for the time when programming works by Black composers and Black artists is no longer an event but it’s the norm. We need these great works to enter the canon and remain there.”
The February presentation quashes outdated stereotypes related to classical music and reflects the broader reality of the genre that many are still waking up to: it’s not just Beethoven and Brahms.
“When people think about classical music, they often think about centuries-old music from dead, white Europeans, but classical music is a term that stretches over a period of centuries, and in the 20th and 21st centuries, it is increasingly diverse in styles and influences, especially in North America,” Crust says. “We have jazz in our orchestral music; we have everything from hip hop to electronic influences. All of these 20th century North American musical inventions exist thanks to Black musicians.
Vancouver actor and vocalist Garfield Wilson narrates an excerpt of Wynton Marsalis’s “The Fiddler’s Tale”.
“There was a time when Western classical music was ruled by white European men, but it’s not the case anymore,” he says. “It’s a living part of our field and so how do we have those diverse voices speak in as many ways as possible?”
On the program is 4 Novelletten for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 52 by Victorian-era composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was of mixed West African and English heritage, began playing violin at age five, and confronted racism through his compositions. There’s Lyric for Strings by esteemed composer George Walker, a concert pianist, academic, and grandson of a slave, who won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1996. The piece is so moving as to be otherworldly: “The way I would describe ‘Lyric for Strings’ is you can’t put the emotion that it’s portraying all at the same time into words,” Crust says. “It’s sad and celebratory and mournful.”
There’s “Starburst” by Jessie Montgomery, whose compositions include solo, chamber, vocal, and orchestral works. The New York-based violinist and educator is affiliated with the Sphinx Organization, which supports young African-American and Latinx string players, and is composer-in-residence for the Sphinx Virtuosi, the organization’s flagship professional touring ensemble.
Vancouver jazz, blues, gospel, and R&B singer-songwriter-pianist Dee Daniels performs a few pieces, including “Let Freedom Ring (The Ballad of John Lewis)”, which she wrote in honour of the late US congressman and civil-rights leader. Daniels drew on an opinion piece the respected statesman sent to the New York Times just two days before he died last summer at age 80. One of the lines from the essay read “Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.” So inspired, she composed the melody in under an hour.
Wilson is a British-born artist who immigrated to Canada at age six with his Jamaican family, launching his acting and musical career in Edmonton before moving to Vancouver. He narrates and enacts an excerpt of “The Fiddler’s Tale” by musical legend, innovative composer, and cultural leader Wynton Marsalis. The piece was inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s haunting, jazz-tinged L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale).
Among the other works on the program, which includes musical direction by VSO maestro Otto Tausk, is a spiritual performed by Brueggergosman. The acclaimed songstress was in Vancouver to present masterclasses at the VSO School of Music and to participate in VSO’s recent gala, The Show Must Go On: Stories of Resilience, which raised more than $500,000 for the VSO and the VSO School of Music.
Measha Brueggergosman performs a spiritual at VSO’s Symphonic Tribute to Black History Month.
Being a conductor in the 21st century means being able to shift nimbly from style to style—an opportunity Crust is grateful for.
“The reason I wanted to be a conductor is that it is a field where you never stop learning or discovering new things,” says Crust, who’s also the newly appointed music director of the Lima Symphony Orchestra in Ohio. “I love jumping from Wynton Marsalis to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. It’s exciting and keeps things fresh.”
All of the works are samplings from longer VSO programs available now or forthcoming via theConcertHall.ca, the orchestra’s virtual home.
“Visibility is another key element,” Crust says. “It’s not just about discovering old and new pieces but it’s also about showing everyone out there that if you are interested in this field, it is for you.”
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