• Mon. 31.05.
  • 8.00 p.m.
  • Hamburg
    ·Elbphilharmonie

Black Music Matters

Internationales Musikfest Hamburg

›Hope in the Night‹

American star-baritone Thomas Hampson has repeatedly championed the dissemination of American music. But while names like Aaron Copland and Charles Ives have in the meantime reached European concert halls, composers of African-American descent have gone largely unnoticed. Who knows that there is an African-American Pulitzer Music Prize winner named George Walker or that until the 1950s William Grant Still’s ‘Afro-American Symphony’ was the most performed symphony by an American composer of all time? In his new project, Hampson presents composers from three generations who shine a light on the most diverse facets of African-American creativity.

Programme

    • Valerie Coleman (*1970)
    • Umoja (Anthem for Unity)
    • William Grant Still (1895–1978)
    • Golden Days from: ›Costaso‹
    • William Grant Still
    • A Dream Wasted from: ›Highway 1‹
    • William Grant Still
    • What does he know of Dreams from: ›Highway 1‹
    • William Grant Still
    • Final Duet from: ›Highway 1‹
    • George Walker (1922–2018)
    • Lyric for Strings
    • Hale Smith (1925–2009)
    • 4 Negro Spirituals
    • Hale Smith
    • There is a Balm in Gilead
    • Traditional
    • He’s Got the Whole World (arr. Margaret Bonds)
    • William Dawson (1899–1990)
    • Negro Folk Symphony

Conductor

Roderick Cox

Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award by the U.S Solti Foundation, Berlin-based American conductor, Roderick Cox, has been praised as a conductor who is »paving the way« (NBC News) and recognised as a »trailblazer…a conductor who will be amongst the vanguard« (Minnesota StarTribune). Cox has gained international attention for recent appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera and Philharmonia Orchestra (London).

Highlights this season include his debuts with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Montpellier, and San Francisco Opera (Il barbiere di Siviglia); as well as returns to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, and Chineke! Orchestra for a for digital concert from the Royal Festival Hall.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include performances with such as Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Dresdner Philharmonie or Cleveland Orchestra; in the theatre, he made his opera debut at the Houston Grand Opera. Engagements re-arranged to future seasons as result of the COVID-19 pandemic include New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Kristiansand Symfoniorkester.

Roderick Cox was previously Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra under conductor Osmo Vänskä in 2016 for three seasons having served as assistant conductor for a year.

Soprano

Leah Hawkins

A native of Philadelphia and recent graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, soprano Leah Hawkins begins the 2020-2021 season with a debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas (Desdemona). She will reprise the role for debuts at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, Greek National Opera, and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. COVID-19 cancellations include La Bohème (Musetta) with Opera Memphis, Dead Man Walking (Sister Catherine) with The Metropolitan Opera, and her debut with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Valery Gergiev.

Recent performances at The Metropolitan Opera include Porgy & Bess (Strawberry Woman), Pique Dame (Masha), Suor Angelica (Alms Collector), and Aida (High Priestress). She has performed with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra or Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She is a 2018 Sullivan Foundation Award Winner, and the 2018 recipient of The Richard F. Gold Career Grant (The Shoshana Foundation) from Washington National Opera. She has received awards from The Young Patronesses of the Opera/Florida Grand Opera Vocal Competition, The Chautauqua Opera Guild, Yale School of Music, George London Foundation, Marcello Giordani Foundation, Opera Ebony, NANBPWC, Inc., and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Soprano

Louise Toppin

Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, New Zealand, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Broadway’s Hudson Theater, and Lincoln Center.

Represented by Joanne Rile Artist Management, she toured in ›Gershwin on Broadway‹ with pianist Leon Bates and currently tours in that show with Joseph Joubert, piano and Robert Sims, baritone.   She has recorded eighteen compact disks of primarily American Music including solo CDs Songs of Illumination, (Centaur Records), and on Albany Records Ah love, but a day, He’ll Bring it to Pass, (Joseph Joubert, piano), Witness with the Czech National Symphony, Heart on the Wall with the Prague Radio Symphony and La Saison des fleurs,  Her newest releases due out in 2021 are Songs of Love and Justice and Summer.Life.Songs (two CDs of songs for soprano by Adolphus Hailstork); Duos (with countertenor Darryl Taylor on African American vocal chamber music) and The Soprano Songs of T. J. Anderson with pianist John McDonald.

Her recent performances include the 150th celebration of the ratification of the 13th amendment for Congress and President Obama at the U.S. Capitol; a performance in Havana, Cuba with the women’s orchestra Camerata Romeu and the opening of the Smithsonian’s African American Heritage Museum.

Tenor

Lawrence Brownlee

Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as »an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory« (The New York Times), »one of the world’s leading bel canto stars« (The Guardian), and »one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today« (NPR).

Highlights of Brownlee’s 20-21 season include Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, his role debut as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at New National Theatre Tokyo, Arturo in I Puritani with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Tonio in La Fille du Regiment with Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège. In concert, Brownlee reprised Lawrence Brownlee and Friends at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Giving Voice at Houston Grand Opera, Lawrence Brownlee and Friends and Cycles of My Being with Opera Philadelphia, as well as a virtual recital with pianist Myra Huang for the Schubert Club International Artist Series, a virtual concert with the the Tallahassee Symphony, the tenor solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Tulsa Symphony, and a virtual recital with Music Worcester. In spring 2021, Brownlee joined The Juilliard School as a Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member. His album Amici e Rivali with Michael Spyres and Maestro Corrado Rovaris, released on Warner Classics & Erato, the first ever to exclusively feature Rossini’s tenor duets.

Baritone

Thomas Hampson

Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone, has received international honors for his artistry and cultural leadership. Long recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, his operatic repertoire is over 80 roles, and his discography comprises more than 170 albums, including multiple nominations and winners of the Grammy Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque. This season, Thomas makes highly anticipated role debut as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, under the baton of Zubin Mehta. In future seasons, he will create the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring at Opernhaus Zürich.

Notable engagements on the concert stage include opening the Oslo Philharmonic’s season in August 2020 with their new Chief Conductor, Klaus Mäkela. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, he returns as Artistic Curator for the ›Schubert Week‹ with the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. Hampson also debuts a new series part of his long-term project ›Song of America‹ entitled ›A Celebration of Black Music.‹ The three-concert series features Hampson and numerous guest singers performing songs and works largely by black American composers as part of the digital Hamburg International Music Festival.

Conductor

Roderick Cox

Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award by the U.S Solti Foundation, Berlin-based American conductor, Roderick Cox, has been praised as a conductor who is »paving the way« (NBC News) and recognised as a »trailblazer…a conductor who will be amongst the vanguard« (Minnesota StarTribune). Cox has gained international attention for recent appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera and Philharmonia Orchestra (London).

Highlights this season include his debuts with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Montpellier, and San Francisco Opera (Il barbiere di Siviglia); as well as returns to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, and Chineke! Orchestra for a for digital concert from the Royal Festival Hall.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include performances with such as Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Dresdner Philharmonie or Cleveland Orchestra; in the theatre, he made his opera debut at the Houston Grand Opera. Engagements re-arranged to future seasons as result of the COVID-19 pandemic include New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Kristiansand Symfoniorkester.

Roderick Cox was previously Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra under conductor Osmo Vänskä in 2016 for three seasons having served as assistant conductor for a year.

Soprano

Louise Toppin

Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, New Zealand, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Broadway’s Hudson Theater, and Lincoln Center.

Represented by Joanne Rile Artist Management, she toured in ›Gershwin on Broadway‹ with pianist Leon Bates and currently tours in that show with Joseph Joubert, piano and Robert Sims, baritone.   She has recorded eighteen compact disks of primarily American Music including solo CDs Songs of Illumination, (Centaur Records), and on Albany Records Ah love, but a day, He’ll Bring it to Pass, (Joseph Joubert, piano), Witness with the Czech National Symphony, Heart on the Wall with the Prague Radio Symphony and La Saison des fleurs,  Her newest releases due out in 2021 are Songs of Love and Justice and Summer.Life.Songs (two CDs of songs for soprano by Adolphus Hailstork); Duos (with countertenor Darryl Taylor on African American vocal chamber music) and The Soprano Songs of T. J. Anderson with pianist John McDonald.

Her recent performances include the 150th celebration of the ratification of the 13th amendment for Congress and President Obama at the U.S. Capitol; a performance in Havana, Cuba with the women’s orchestra Camerata Romeu and the opening of the Smithsonian’s African American Heritage Museum.

Baritone

Thomas Hampson

Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone, has received international honors for his artistry and cultural leadership. Long recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, his operatic repertoire is over 80 roles, and his discography comprises more than 170 albums, including multiple nominations and winners of the Grammy Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque. This season, Thomas makes highly anticipated role debut as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, under the baton of Zubin Mehta. In future seasons, he will create the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring at Opernhaus Zürich.

Notable engagements on the concert stage include opening the Oslo Philharmonic’s season in August 2020 with their new Chief Conductor, Klaus Mäkela. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, he returns as Artistic Curator for the ›Schubert Week‹ with the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. Hampson also debuts a new series part of his long-term project ›Song of America‹ entitled ›A Celebration of Black Music.‹ The three-concert series features Hampson and numerous guest singers performing songs and works largely by black American composers as part of the digital Hamburg International Music Festival.