May 25, 2021 marked a year since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer as fellow police officers looked on, sparking mass protests and a national reckoning about policing and racial equity. In addition to adopting statements and plans of action to address equity, diversity, and inclusion, orchestras have responded by commissioning music dedicated to remembering Floyd and other Black Americans killed in recent acts of violence. In March, the Chicago Sinfonietta performed the world premiere of a new cello concerto by Joel Thompson written in memory of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was slain by police officers in her Louisville, Kentucky home in March 2020. Subtitled breathe/burn, the concerto featured cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing as soloist and Antoine T. Clark as conductor. On the same concert, Sinfonietta Music Director Mei-Ann Chen led Dances in the Canebrakes, William Grant Still’s arrangement of a Florence Price suite; Jeff Scott’s 2018 Sinfonietta of Dreams; and Roy Ringwald’s arrangement of “We Shall Overcome.”
The month of May featured several world premieres on related themes. Four California orchestras co-commissioned John Wineglass to write Alone Together for strings and percussion, honoring George Floyd. The Pacific Symphony gave the world premiere, with performances by the Fresno Philharmonic, Monterey Symphony, and San Jose Chamber Orchestra to follow. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Principal Second Violin Angela Fuller Heyde premiered Kareem Roustom’s Second Violin Concerto, which the composer wrote “in memory of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too many others.” The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra streamed a concert entitled “Songs of Sorrow, Songs of Hope” dedicated to George Floyd. The program featured the world premiere of Brent Michael Davids’s Taptonahana for solo flute, with SPCO Principal Flute Julia Bogorad-Kogan, Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross for String Quartet, and the adagio from George Walker’s String Quartet No. 1. The Minnesota Orchestra premiered Carlos Simon’s string quartet “An Elegy: A Cry from the Grave,” in memory of Floyd and other victims of racial violence. Next March, Piotr Gajewski will lead the National Philharmonic in the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s requiem cantata in tribute to George Floyd, A Knee on the Neck, at the Strathmore Center in Bethesda, Maryland with the National Philharmonic Chorale and vocal soloists.
