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STEP IN THE MEDIA
MUSIC REVIEW
Performance Celebrates King With Varied Music, Words
By JEFFREY JOHNSON
Special to The Courant
January 16 2007
BLOOMFIELD -- The Hartford Symphony Orchestra presented its eighth annual concert celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday evening.
After invocations and opening statements, it was 8-year-old Clark Robertson who cut through to set the perfect atmosphere. He said he learned that King "did not fight with his hands; he fought with his words."
The program itself fused a deeply mixed collection of music that included movements from Beethoven, Haydn and Vivaldi, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, George Walker, Miles Davis and others.
The evening had an elegant flow. The imaginative design of the event created the feel of sacred ceremony by including readings of poetry and an elaborate narration by the Rev. Dr. Alvan Johnson Jr., incorporating text from a speech King gave in 1959 at the Bushnell in Hartford.
Part of the message of this event was transmitted through the talent and potential of three young musicians who were given an opportunity to perform with the orchestra.
Tony Rymer, a 17-year-old cellist, played the first movement of the Haydn Concerto in C major, and later joined HSO's principal cellist, Jeffrey Krieger, for the opening movement of Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Violoncelli. Rymer has a powerful presence developed well beyond his years. His intonation is rock solid, and he has a sophisticated sense of musicality. He is ready for primetime.
Vocalist Elliott Brown, a junior at Bloomfield High School, sang Schubert's "Ave Maria," and returned in the second half of the program as soloist in "It Takes a Village," by Joan Szymko. Brown's strong baritone voice filled the church with confident and resonant sound.
Guitarist Raymond Clark III, a 15-year-old student from Bloomfield High School, took control of an extensive and soulful improvised solo during the Miles Davis standard "All Blues."
The fusion of diverse elements in this program felt like it came from The King Philip Singers and the Rising Star Community Chorus. Even when they were not singing, their presence created a circle that embraced the performers who were onstage. But they could sing! They led the audience in the anthem, "Lift Ev'ry Voice," then led by Phyllis McMeans, sang the Hall Johnson a cappella arrangement of "I've been 'buked, and I've been Scorned," and later performed "My Tribute," by Andraé Crouch, accompanied by the orchestra.
The evening closed with an encore arranged from the "Hymn Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross." HSO music director Edward Cumming explained that at the close of rehearsals, the choir often spontaneously started to sing this hymn, and so they arranged it for chorus and orchestra as a closing to this unique event.
Of all possible ways to recognize, contemplate and celebrate the legacy of King, it is hard to imagine topping this one.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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