Jazz violinist Regina Carter performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra during its recent American Music Festival.
In Sunday’s (6/11) Times Union (Albany, NY) Joseph Dalton writes, “Another ambitious slate of events encompassing numerous styles, genres and disciplines characterized the Albany Symphony Orchestra’s latest American Music Festival and it all came to a fitting close Saturday night at EMPAC with an extraordinary new orchestral work, Adolphus Hailstork’s Symphony No. 4, ‘Survival.’ The piece is monumental in scale with five interconnected movements that share a poignant and dramatic flow rich in color, detail and sentiment…. The performance, led by David Alan Miller, made a strong case for the composer … The prolific Hailstork, an Albany native, deserves recognition as among America’s finest symphonists. Under the title ‘Convergence,’ this year’s festival was the culmination of the orchestra’s three-year exploration and celebration of Black American culture, an endeavor that will surely be ongoing…. In his symphony Hailstork referenced racial struggles … A more … personal perspective came in the world premiere of ‘Forgiveness,’ a spoken word concerto with text written and read by Marc Bamuthi Joseph and music by Daniel Bernard Roumain…. The piece received a sustained ovation. Jazz violinist Regina Carter was back on hand in selections from David Schiff’s ‘Four Sisters’ concerto … following up a terrific concert with her ensemble, joined by some ASO members, at the Egg.”
