On January 20, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform the world premiere of Kathryn Bostic’s August Wilson Symphony at Heinz Hall, conducted by Lucas Richman. The August Wilson Symphony pays tribute to the award-winning playwright with music inspired by the ten-play cycle Wilson wrote based on his life experiences growing up in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. The program will also include tributes to another Pittsburgh Hill District icon, photographer Teenie Harris, as well as a visual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Local artists and ensembles will showcase talent from the Pittsburgh region, and fourteen-year-old cellist Ifetayo Ali, junior division winner of the 2017 Sphinx Competition, will perform Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor. The host/narrator will be actress Phylicia Rashad, who will read passages from Wilson’s plays before each of the musical work’s movements. Bostic has scored several August Wilson plays, including Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and Radio Golf, and she wrote the score for the PBS American Masters documentary August Wilson—The Ground on Which I Stand, which inspired her to create the August Wilson Symphony.
Posted December 6, 2017
