“The repertoire of African-American composers will take center stage at an upcoming Johnstown Symphony Orchestra concert” on March 9, writes Kelly Urban in Saturday’s (2/23) Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, PA). “The program will include ‘Symphony No. XI’ by Joseph Bologne, known as the Chevalier de St. Georges, who was a composer and virtuosic violinist from Guadalupe who moved to France and was active at the same time as Mozart. The rest of the featured composers in the program include American composers William Grant Still, Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Rosephanye Powell and Moses Hogan and Johnstown Symphony Chorus’ director Jeffrey Webb. Slides of composers will be projected during each piece…. In addition, the Johnstown Symphony Chorus will join the orchestra to present American choral music…. [Music Director James Blachly] said he wants to put the JSO at the forefront of what a lot of orchestras around the country are starting to do, which is to diversify the repertoire it performs…. ‘This concert represents a board-led effort to not only expand the audience that comes to our concerts by making everyone welcome, but to expand the experience of our existing audience members,’ Blachly said.”
Posted February 27, 2019
