The Maryland Symphony Orchestra will premiere Fanfare of a Flower, a new work by James “Kimo” Williams commissioned to mark Music Director Elizabeth Schulze’s 20th anniversary leading the ensemble, on a November 16 concert entitled “The American Symphony.” Schulze will lead the program at the newly renovated Maryland Theatre Performing Arts Center in Hagerstown, which also will include Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). Kimo Williams is a composer, rock musician, and U.S. Army Vietnam veteran who has written multiple orchestral works influenced by his experiences in the military. He lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, near the orchestra’s home in Hagerstown, Maryland. He has composed for ensembles including the Alabama Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and the string quartet ETHEL. He has taught at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Chicago’s Sherwood Conservatory of Music, and Columbia College Chicago. In 1998, he co-founded the U.S. Vietnam Art Program with his wife, Carol Williams; the program creates opportunities and promotes communication through the arts between the U.S. and Vietnam.
Posted November 7, 2019
