Awadagin Pratt

Leah Gordon

Christopher G. Smith

Johnetta Moore

Artrell Allen

Dr. Justen Seay

Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra

 Pianist and composer George Walker wrote the “Lyric for Strings” while a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of Music. Originally written as        the second movement of a string quartet, it was later broadcast on radio in a string orchestra version titled “Lament.” Walker dedicated the work        as an elegy “To my grandmother.” Walker creates an endless line of melody, sincerity, and beauty in a short work that conveys his deep        understanding of music in a manner that comes directly from the heart.

        Little is known of the performance history of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s tone poem, “Touissaint L’Ouverture” beyond the premier on October         26th, at London’s Queen's Hall. Lost to history, the handwritten and fragmented score was transcribed by our own principal timpanist, Marty        Jenkins for this performance. The work was only recently revived and this MVSO performance is among the very first to be heard worldwide.        Written as an homage to the Haitian general of the same name who fought for independence and the end of slavery in Haiti, the work        demonstrates the richly romantic and soaring melodies that Coleridge-Taylor is known for.

The Ordering Of Moses