MSO, Cade Chapel continue musical partnership
Free concert rejoices in the rousing power of music, both classical and brand new
Jackson, Mississippi — A second musical gift to the city of Jackson –Symphony in the Community– is set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 26, at Cade Chapel M.B. Church located at 1000 W. Ridgeway St. in Jackson. This unique collaboration between the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church is free and open-to-the public.
MSO’s “Symphony in the Community: A Collaboration with Cade Chapel” is an hour-long celebration of poetry and music ranging from orchestral classics to contemporary songs and instrumentals.
This matinee program will predominately feature the music of Mississippi-born composer William Grant Still in three works, including music from his landmark “Afro-American” Symphony No. 1, which in 1931 became the first symphony written by an African-American composer performed by a leading orchestra. Pianist Stephen Sachs will be featured in Still’s “Blues” from Lenox Avenue and Yamekraw, a 1928 Carnegie Hall collaboration by Still with composer James P. Johnson and the W.C. Handy Orchestra. The Cade Chapel Chorale will also be featured in a performance of the “Finale” from The Color Purple. Other music on the program ranges from 300-year old music by Johann Sebastian Bach to music by contemporary American composer Jessie Montgomery.
Poetry will also play a prominent role with readings of three poems. “A Beginning for New Beginnings,” a title which reflects the principal concert theme is by Greenville-born Angela Jackson, who now lives in Chicago. The poem “Blues for a Mississippi Boy,” was written by one of Mississippi’s greatest poets, Etheridge Knight, who was born in Corinth in 1931.
MSO Music Director Crafton Beck described the adventurous partnership between Cade Chapel and the Mississippi Symphony as “having grown from the realization that our institutions have parallel missions to nurture the spirit through music and word.” Cade Chapel’s Pastor Reginald Buckley said, “The complex beauty of the human experience is perhaps expressed best through a unique combination of faith, art and spirit. Bringing a variety of musical genres and artistic expressions together will invite us to more deeply explore and experience each other and appreciate our interconnectedness. We are excited to continue this journey as we merge, blend and fuse together something necessarily new.”
Attendees will be invited to an open conversation with performers following the concert.
The Mississippi Symphony includes this concert among the others of its 78th season of a full roster of more than 20 major concerts and dozens of educational performances across the state, including a broad range of music genres in a variety of venues.
Facial masks are required in the sanctuary of Cade Chapel M.B. Details are at cadechapel.org or facebook.com/cadechapel. Find out more about this concert and other performances throughout the MSO season at msorchestra.com. This season is supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency.
What: Symphony in the Community: A Collaboration with Cade Chapel
Who: Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
When: 3:00 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 26, 2023
Where: Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, 1000 Ridgeway Street, Jackson, MS 39211