In Wednesday’s (5/8) Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein writes, “For ages, mankind has been fascinated by rivers, not simply as natural resources and avenues of commercial conveyance, but also as symbols, metaphors and ideas. Countless artists, composers, writers and thinkers have pondered the significance of these wondrous bodies of water and how they impact on culture, society, geopolitics and, closer to our own time, the very future of our planet. Beginning this week, nearly 20 Chicago institutions are joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association in a month-long, multi-genre festival examining the importance of rivers in music and culture. … The musical basis of ‘Rivers: Nature. Power. Culture,’ as the festival is called, will consist of symphony concerts, chamber music performances, jazz and other presentations that cut across the spectrum of CSO and CSO Presents series. … Conductor Mei-Ann Chen kicks off the festival [Thursday] by leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first performances of Florence Price’s 1934 symphonic suite ‘Mississippi River.’ A longtime Chicago resident, Price was the first African-American woman composer to have her music played by a major orchestra, thanks to the CSO at the Century of Progress World’s Fair here in 1933.” The article includes a complete listing of festival events.
Posted May 8, 2013
