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2022-23 BSO Season

Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope

Join the BSO and a lineup of remarkable guest conductors and performers for a series exploring some of the most complex issues of our time. Through three orchestral programs and additional performances and events, the festival will inspire thought and conversation around music as cultural witness.

Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope is supported by the generosity of the Elinor V. Crawford Living Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.

  • Lucia Lin headshot with violin

    Community Chamber Concert - Fenway Center, Boston

    Lucia Lin and Bracha Malkin, violins
    Rebecca Gitter, viola
    Owen Young, cello
    Charles Overton, harp
    April Sun, piano
    Michael-Thomas FOUMAI Printing Kapa and Defending Kalo, for harp and violin
    BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat, Op. 74
    STILL Ennanga, for harp, piano and string quartet

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    Fri Mar 3, 2023 - 1:30pm

    Fenway Center, Boston, MA

  • portrait of Kabria Baumgartner

    Panel Discussion

    Dr. Kabria Baumgartner (Tufts University), panelist
    Dr. Kerri Greenidge (Northeastern University), panelist
    Dr. Kendra Taira Field (Tufts University), panelist

    Since the late 19th century, Boston has been home to many African American composers, musicians, and performers from the likes of Flora Batson, Robert Nathaniel Dett, Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, and Roland Hayes. Long before Boston’s Symphony Hall opened in 1900, these performers found support within Black communities across the diaspora, and cultivated a Black artistic tradition embedded in the legacy of African descended musicians in Boston’s contemporary classical music scene. Join scholars Dr. Kerri Greenidge, Dr. Kendra Field, and Dr. Kabria Baumgartner in lecture and discussion about Boston’s classical music history and the African descended musicians, performers, and composers who have shaped it.

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    Fri Mar 3, 2023 - 5:30pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • Andre Raphael in front of a black background

    Casual Friday: André Raphel conducts Still and Caine with the Uri Caine Trio, Barbara Walker, vocalist, and Catto Chorus

    American conductor André Raphel leads this first program in a series exploring complex social issues. The centerpiece of these concerts is Philadelphia jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine’s gospel and popular music-based The Passion of Octavius Catto, which tells of the 19th-century civil rights leader’s fight for justice. In four movements, “Longing,” “Sorrow,” “Humor,” and “Aspiration,” William Grant Still’s 1930 Afro-American Symphony, his best-known work, is a blues-tinged panorama of the composer’s heritage.

    After the performance, Uri Caine and André Raphel will take questions from the audience. See what else makes this Casual Friday concert special >

    Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope is supported by the generosity of the Elinor V. Crawford Living Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.

    Support for these performances of “The Passion of Octavius Catto” has been generously provided by Vita L. Weir and Edward Brice, Jr., and Pamela Everhart and Karl Coiscou.


    Andre Raphel, conductor
    Uri Caine Trio
    Uri Caine, piano
    Mike Boone, bass
    Clarence Penn, drums
    Barbara Walker, vocalist
    Catto Chorus

    STILL Symphony No. 1, Afro-American

    Uri CAINE The Passion of Octavius Catto

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    Fri Mar 3, 2023 - 8:00pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • portrait of Mathew Vera

    Concert: A Spiritual Fantasy

    Castle of Our Skins
    Matthew Vera, violin
    Annie Rabbat, violin
    Ashleigh Gordon, viola
    Lev Mamuya, cello
    Special Guest Student Performers from Project STEP

    WHITE (arr. Rita POFIRIS) Spiritual from From the Cotton Fields, Opus 18
    PRICE Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for string quartet
    TILLIS Spiritual Fantasy No. 12 for string quartet (25 mins)
    Anthony R. GREEN Catto’s Courage
    (featuring special guest student performers from Project STEP)

    A Spiritual Fantasy highlights African American composers who had a woven connection with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and William Grant Still: Clarence Cameron White was born five years after Coleridge-Taylor and later studied with him; Florence Price was born six years before Grant Still and grew up as neighbors in Arkansas; Frederick Tillis was born the same year audiences first heard Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony. All were greatly influenced by the Negro Spiritual, a truly unique expression of African American strength, resilience, and community. A Spiritual Fantasy explores these themes in music, knowing the same sense of strength, resilience, and community were pivotal forces that inspired civil rights activist Octavius Catto, whose story is told in the BSO's later performance of The Passion of Octavius Catto.

    Co-Presented with Boston Conservatory at Berklee

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    Sat Mar 4, 2023 - 6:00pm

    Studio 106 at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston, MA

  • Andre Raphael in front of a black background

    André Raphel conducts Coleridge-Taylor, Still, and Caine with the Uri Caine Trio, Barbara Walker, vocalist, and Catto Chorus

    American conductor André Raphel leads this first program in a series exploring complex social issues. The centerpiece of these concerts is Philadelphia jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine’s gospel and popular music-based The Passion of Octavius Catto, which tells of the 19th-century civil rights leader’s fight for justice. English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s charming potpourri Petite Suite de Concert dates from about 1911. In four movements, “Longing,” “Sorrow,” “Humor,” and “Aspiration,” William Grant Still’s 1930 Afro-American Symphony, his best-known work, is a blues-tinged panorama of the composer’s heritage.

    Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope is supported by the generosity of the Elinor V. Crawford Living Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.

    Support for these performances of “The Passion of Octavius Catto” has been generously provided by Vita L. Weir and Edward Brice, Jr., and Pamela Everhart and Karl Coiscou.


    André Raphel, conductor
    Uri Caine Trio
    Uri Caine, piano
    Mike Boone, bass
    Clarence Penn, drums
    Barbara Walker, vocalist
    Catto Chorus

    COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Petite Suite de Concert
    STILL Symphony No. 1, Afro-American
    ---- Intermission----

    Uri CAINE The Passion of Octavius Catto

    See Details

    Sat Mar 4, 2023 - 8:00pm

    Sun Mar 5, 2023 - 2:00pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • A woman with dirty-blonde hair plays the flute, with other flutists playing next to her

    Special Chamber Music Concert

    The BSO’s principal players and special guests present a program of chamber works exploring themes of cultural and musical identity. The concert will include spoken introductions by composers, as well as a post-performance discussion.

    Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope is supported by the generosity of the Elinor V. Crawford Living Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.


    with BSO members Associate Principal Flute Elizabeth Klein, violinist Lucia Lin, and cellist Alexandre Lecarme
    and Jorge Soto, conductor
    Charles Overton, harp
    Joy Cline Phinney, piano

    KAY Sonata for bassoon and piano
    Michael-Thomas FOUMAI Printing Kapa and Defending Kalo, for harp and violi
    James Lee III Chôro sem tristeza for flute solo
    Jessie MONTGOMERY Sgt. McCauley for winds and strings

    This is a free, ticketed event.

    See Details

    Tue Mar 7, 2023 - 7:30pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • "What I Hear" - Anthony Davis

    For this season’s final "What I Hear" event, American composer Anthony Davis curates a program of chamber music in connection with the BSO's performance of his You Have the Right to Remain Silent later that evening. New England Conservatory musicians perform a program including his works Middle Passage, Still Waters III, and the aria “They Wanted a Girl” from his opera Amistad, along with Alvin Singleton’s Be Natural, for strings. BSO Artistic Administrator Eric Valliere moderates a conversation with the composer.

    See Details

    Thu Mar 9, 2023 - 5:30pm

    Williams Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA

  • portrait of David Sterling Brown

    Panel Discussion: The Right to "Remain" Silent vs the Right to Fully Express

    David Sterling Brown, panelist
    Anthony Davis, panelist
    Terrell Donnell Sledge, panelist
    Keith Hamilton Cobb, panelist
    David C. Howse, panelist
    Robert Manning, Jr., panelist

    A Private Conversation in Public

    The Right to "Remain" Silent vs the Right to Fully Express

    Six Black men, all creative professionals, discuss amongst themselves a question: What expression, however pressing, however relevant, do we make public, and what are we liable to encounter as a consequence? Relating to the BSO’s performances of Anthony Davis’s You Have the Right to Remain Silent, panelists include the Pulitzer Prize Winner Composer Anthony Davis, Shakespeare and critical race studies scholar David Sterling Brown, Ph.D.; actor and community arts advocate Terrell Donnell Sledge; Emmy nominated actor Keith Hamilton Cobb; a recognized leader in the Boston arts and theatre scene, David C. Howse; and NAACP Theatre Award winner Robert Manning, Jr. We invite the BSO audience to be present and to listen to them as they discuss the nuance between public expression and consequences as it pertains to racial injustice: The Right to "Remain" Silent vs. The Right to Fully Express.

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    Sat Mar 11, 2023 - 5:30pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • Anthony McGill holding a clarinet and smiling in front of a gray background

    Thomas Wilkins conducts Bonds, Davis, and Dawson with Anthony McGill, clarinet

    In the second program of a series of concerts exploring complex social issues, conductor Thomas Wilkins leads clarinetist Anthony McGill in Anthony Davis’ concerto You Have the Right to Remain Silent, a musical response to a tense encounter with law enforcement in a case of mistaken identity. Margaret Bonds’ spiritual-based Montgomery Variations is a 1963 tribute to Montgomery, Alabama, and to Martin Luther King. William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony was a huge success upon its premiere at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1934 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski. The symphony’s themes are taken from the melodies of spirituals.

    Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope is supported by the generosity of the Elinor V. Crawford Living Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.


    Thomas Wilkins, conductor
    Anthony McGill, clarinet

    BONDS Selection from Montgomery Variations (I. Decision; II. Prayer Meeting; III. March)
    Anthony DAVIS You Have the Right to Remain Silent, for clarinet and orchestra
    Intermission

    DAWSON Negro Folk Symphony

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    Thu Mar 9, 2023 - 7:30pm

    Fri Mar 10, 2023 - 1:30pm

    Sat Mar 11, 2023 - 8:00pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • Julia Wolfe sitting with her hands under her chin

    Panel Discussion: Her Story

    Arielle Gray (WBUR), moderator
    Julia Wolfe, composer
    Dr. Jane Kamensky (Harvard University), panelist
    Dr. Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine (Lehman College), panelist

    Julia Wolfe’s Her Story captures the ongoing struggle for women’s voices in America. Lorelei joins forces with the Boston Symphony to tell this important history. Moderated by WBUR’s Arielle Gray, Wolfe and a panel of scholars discuss the history and process of building this spectacular work. From a letter of Abigail Adams to the words of Sojourner Truth, Her Story is a personal and emotional response to the ongoing quest for equal rights.

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    Sat Mar 18, 2023 - 5:30pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

  • Giancarlo Guerrero sitting on a stool in front of a beige background

    Giancarlo Guerrero conducts Górecki and Wolfe with Aleksandra Kurzak, soprano and Lorelei Ensemble

    In this third concert in a series exploring complex social issues, frequent guest Giancarlo Guerrero leads American composer Julia Wolfe’s BSO co-commissioned Her Story, featuring the Lorelei Ensemble women’s vocal group. Originally commissioned to commemorate the centenary of women’s right to vote in the U.S., the piece broadly speaks of the continuing struggle for women’s rights. The three movements of Polish composer Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs movingly contemplates the anguish of the separation of a mother from her child.

    Festival: Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope is supported by the generosity of the Elinor V. Crawford Living Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.

    GÓRECKI performed with English supertitles


    Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
    Aleksandra Kurzak, soprano
    Lorelei Ensemble
    Beth Willer, conductor
    Eliza Bagg, soprano
    Taylor Boykins, alto
    Sarah Brailey, soprano
    Meg Dudley, soprano
    Christina English, alto
    Stephanie Kacoyanis, alto
    Michele Kennedy, soprano
    Emily Marvosh, alto
    Sophie Michaux, alto
    Sonja DuToit Tengblad, soprano
    Anne Kauffman, stage director
    Jeff Sugg, scenic, lighting, and production designer
    Márion Talán De La Rosa, costume designer
    Andrew Cotton, sound designer

    GÓRECKI Symphony No. 3, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
    Intermission
    Julia WOLFE Her Story, for vocal ensemble and orchestra (Co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, the National Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. The Boston Symphony Orchestra commission is through the generous support of the New Works Fund established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Morton Margolis Fund.)

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    Thu Mar 16, 2023 - 7:30pm

    Fri Mar 17, 2023 - 1:30pm

    Sat Mar 18, 2023 - 8:00pm

    Symphony Hall, Boston, MA