“Wynton Marsalis may not have written his first symphony in response to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre,” writes James D. Watts Jr. in Sunday’s (6/6) Tulsa World (OK). “But one would be hard-pressed to think of a more appropriate way officially to conclude the city of Tulsa’s commemoration of this tragedy than with a performance of this epic work,” which premiered in 1999. “Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra joined forces with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, and a group of singers drawn from some 50 local churches, schools and arts organizations under the name of the Tulsa Community Commemoration Choir, to perform ‘All Rise: Symphony No. 1,’ Sunday afternoon…. The concert was presented in collaboration with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission…. Sunday’s performance, perhaps because of the context of this moment in this place, resonated on a deeper, more spiritual level.” Led by David Robertson, “there were dazzling solos by members of the Tulsa Symphony (a cello-violin duet between principal cellist Kari Caldwell and associate concertmaster RonnaMarie Jensen was exceptional) as well as of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra…. About 100 descendants of survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre were provided with tickets for the concert.”
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